An inspiring partnership

Students deliver a rousing response to the presentation.

On Saturday, 19th March, Plan and the Global Poverty Project celebrated the unveiling of the presentation '1.4 Billion Reasons for Youth' at Federation Square in Melbourne. This interactive and inspiring multimedia presentation will help to educate young Australians about child rights and enable them to become leaders in the push to make a difference for the 1.4 billion people who live in extreme poverty.

The event was a great success, with school students, parents, community leaders and Plan supporters all lending their support to what is one of the most important developments in the education of Australian youth in issues of global poverty.

Logie-nominated actress Kate Bell was very impressive as host of the event, and Australian of the Year Simon McKeon delivered an inspiring speech on the power and energy that young people can harness to make a difference in their community. Plan CEO Ian Wishart engaged the audience with new ways of thinking about social responsibility: "My hope is that through the work of Plan and the Global Poverty Project, we’re taking a bigger message out to the community. In my experience, in the 21st century we have to come to terms with the fact that we all live on very small spaceship, Planet Earth, we’re all interlocked … this century we'll all have to learn – and hopefully this project will help young people understand – that global poverty is not 'their' problem, it’s not 'our' problem, it’s all of our problem. We all have to think differently about the way we use the earth and how we all have to help and protect each other."

Global Poverty Project CEO Hugh Evans received huge applause following his address about the power of collective youth action, reminding us all that great humanitarians such as Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela were teenagers as well when they started out on their journeys!

Global Poverty Project presenter d'Arcy Lunn then delivered the presentation, explaining how it is seen in schools, and then engaged young people in the audience with various activities.

But perhaps the most inspiring speech of the day was from a young student from Casey. During the question and answer session, he stood up and delivered an impassioned speech, declaring: 'Birds of a feather – we flock together! We want to get involved – we want to DO something!' The crowd responded with wild applause.

It is Plan's hope that there are many more young people out there who feel the same way, and we believe the 1.4 Billion Reasons for Youth presentation is the right tool to empower them to get involved in the fight against global poverty.

If you would like '1.4 Billion Reasons for Youth' to be presented at your school, click here to make a booking.