Caroline won the opportunity after she entered The Observer Oxfam Young Journalist Competition. "This is a dream come true," said Caroline. "It combines my passion for global issues and my love of writing." On returning from the conference, Caroline will file a report with The Observer on an issue debated at the Parliament, which will hopefully be published.
"This experience will be invaluable for my work - I'm currently putting together a global web site for youth workers, which will be launched in late August. Meeting young people from all over the world is certainly the best way to find out what global issues young people care about."
The International Youth Parliament, an initiative of Oxfam International, brings together young activists from around the world to develop new solutions to global issues, such as trade, conflict and education. Some 300 young people from 120 countries will attend the second sitting of the parliament, where they will learn the skills they need to create positive and lasting change in their community.
"I first became interested in global issues as a young activist at university - campaigning on Jubilee 2000, then trade justice," said Caroline. "I was part of a group that successfully campaigned for Loughborough to be the first university to be solely powered by renewable electricity. We were thrilled when the campaign made it into Label, the student magazine. Now I have the opportunity to give other young campaigners recognition by writing about them for a national newspaper."
