I have decided to become a member of the AKS Soroptimists Youth Group because I am very interested in how the group gives people opportunities to help others from around the globe. I also decided to be a member because of the awareness of important problems that I may not have previously been aware of and how the group wants to spread the power of education and tries to help solve problems I would love to be involved with.

Grace – Year 10

I have decided to become a member of the Soroptimist Group because I believe that everyone deserves a chance, especially when it comes to education. With this, I believe that empowerment for women is very important, as well as human rights.

Georgia – Year 13

I am part of the Soroptimist Youth Group because I know that I will never live a life as hard as the lives of the people we will help. I understand this, and I understand that I will never truly know how some people feel. This is why I want to help, to make a difference, because as people in more privileged positions we need to do all we can to help those in need around the world. Ever since I was a child I have been passionate about equality and the freedom of people to do ‘basic’ things, such as eating, drinking and going to the bathroom. In everyday life we take these for granted and not only do I personally want to change these lives, I want to raise awareness in the community and get them to help as well. I suppose that I decided to become a member because of my need to know that I am doing something. That I am making a difference in the world. If you don’t try and make a difference wherever you can, you’re wasting your time, because that is why we are here. We are all here to change someone’s life, even just a minuscule amount, for the better.

Eve – Year 10

I had never heard of the organisation before, however when I heard about the work that they are doing I knew immediately that I wanted to be a part of it.

Lucy – Year 10

I feel strongly about equal rights and opportunities, especially for women in developing countries, as they are often disregarded. I also feel good about the fact that I will be able to help people all across the world, not just locally. As well as the fact that I want to spread awareness of the charity and what it does, because there are people who haven’t heard about it.

Caitlin – Year 12

I want to be a lawyer in the future, possibly going into human rights or criminology. I am already a member of AKS Action and have been a volunteer at a soup kitchen since being in Year 9. I really wanted to join the AKS Soroptimist Youth Group because I really enjoy volunteer work and working with charities.

Georgie – Year 12

It’s not enough to expect children to figure out their talents on their own, putting forward options for them to choose from is within our grasp, so as far as possible, we can provide these for our young people so they may become productive contributing citizens – happy in the parts they are playing in their nation building.

Every July a new crop of very vulnerable young people having no outlet of migration, education or jobs that past generations had, fall barren to the wayside awaiting a future at the mercy of the unsavory. Soroptimists of Jamestown had to look at the larger social and economic environment to see that this sector urgently has to be tended to – they have to be given the opportunity to give vent to their brilliance, creativity and need to change their world to better suit themselves.

President Michelle Cave said that in their research, Soroptimist of Jamestown found that young women and men coming out of school every year are too prey to violence, abuse and drugs – without tools to counter, our national investments into our young people fall on rocky ground. When you think about it, we feed, clothe and school our young people free for fifteen years at least, then tell them, go make a living. In our projects we are interested in giving social and economic tools to these large groups of people leaving school every year.

We have to help them deal with conflict and challenges. We have to encourage our young people to be active participants – responsible- in transforming the adverse conditions that plague them.

This has been the impetus behind everything the Soroptimists of Jamestown has done this year. We thank The Maria Holder Memorial Trust for contributing so ably to this our first foray into the training of young adults in the art of crafting wood.

Mr Onkphra Wells, master sculptor, of Bajan Artforms, an extraordinary human being – has taken these 20 young people between the ages of 15 and 21 – showing them how the wood responds to their designs; he is training them in more than just wood carving, he is honing them into adults who care about themselves, the world they are in.

I think sometimes we adults forget how fascinated we were with creating, when we were younger, the joy that I see in the eyes of these teenagers as they sit concentrating on their task, would behoove most.

In conceiving this project, we looked at building skills that were missing or on the downward trend – we are training some wonderfully, talented artists here and we thank the Maria Holder Memorial Trust for heeding our call to finance this 3 month project.

We are excited about the process but equally excited to see what these young people create as trained artists and business people.

These are 17 Goals with 169 Targets which were formally adopted by all Member States at the United Nations Summit, New York, in September 2015. Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI) were represented, as was Soroptimist International (SI).

The new SDGs aim to complete what the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) did not achieve, and go much further, addressing the root causes of poverty and inequality and the universal need for development that works for all people.

The new agenda is an action plan for: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. It will foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies and requires the participation of all countries, stakeholders and people. The ambitious agenda seeks to end poverty by 2030 and promote shared economic prosperity, social development and environmental protection for all countries.

Governments are united behind this agenda, which includes unprecedented inclusion of civil society and a stand-alone goal on gender equality – SDG 5.

We know now that without gender equality and a full role for women in society, in the economy and in governance, we will not be able to achieve the world we hoped for. These are the changes for which governments have repeatedly signed their support, with international protocols on non-discrimination, and on different aspects of rights and global goods.

To date, that support has not been felt all the way through society; consequently results have fallen short of aspiration. In 2015 there was a review of implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on its 20th anniversary. One-hundred sixty-seven countries reported their own successes in achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment. These reports are in effect national blueprints for action.

Soroptimist Goals link with the SDGs such that by achieving one you may be achieving another. We need action. Advocate for change.

Put ourselves and the world on the right side of history by working towards achieving the UN SDGs.