Inspirational Trip to the United Nations Convention in Thailand

What a week!🤩🇺🇳This past August I had the awesome opportunity to spend the week in Bangkok, Thailand, at the United Nations Convention Centre for the Humanitarian Affairs Asia 11th University Scholars Leadership Symposium for 2023 as 1 of 12 selected delegates representing University of Technology Sydney. I applied to this global short program a few months earlier, and was delighted to be accepted!

The whole week was jam-packed with experiences from the incredible journeys of speakers like Ifrah Ahmed, an Irish-Somali social activist working to end female genital mutilation, Felipe Queipo Rego, Digital Communication Officer at United Nations in New York, and Jack Growden, Founder of Litehaus International. The range of keynote speakers, all recognised leaders in the field of humanitarian affairs was so impressive, and their insights and experiences provided inspiration and guidance to attendees.

We also had the opportunity to attend some incredible workshops with the UN
agencies such as UN Women and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and spend a day in the community painting educational murals at Suroutmaijaroen School outside Bangkok, which was definitely my favorite day. I left feeling inspired, energised, repurposed (and just a tiny bit tired!), with a wealth of new connections and friends.

I spent 2 extra days in Bangkok in addition to the conference which ran from August 1 – August 4th with another UTS Delegate, Bethany Kelly. We loved exploring parts of the city with various USLS delegates and eating incredible street food. For lovers of second-hand fashion and markets, we both found great pieces at the Chatuchak Markets and Jodd Fairs.

With so much dysfunction and disaster in world news, it is experiences like these, bringing together young people from all over the world, that I feel most excited about the future, most confident in the capable minds of emerging leaders and most grateful that I find myself with the opportunity to
spend time in the room with them. A massive thank you to UTS BUILD for facilitating this opportunity, and to the entire HAA and United Nations teams who put this program together – it was definitely a week to remember!

Eliza Lo Russo
Faculty of Law
University Scholars Leadership Symposium in Thailand
BUILD Global Ambassador Grant recipient