Georgia takes youth parliament role to international level

Rochdale Borough Youth Cabinet member Georgia Jones represented the United Kingdom at the Model European Parliament (MEP) conference in Malta.

Georgia, 17, a student at Rochdale Sixth Form, has been a youth councillor at Rochdale Borough Council and a member of the youth cabinet for over 14 months. She is also a Pioneer of Sustainable Hope (POSH) representative for the borough as she is passionate about campaigning and working to tackle climate change and educate her peers.

Georgia’s passionate work has opened many doors and opportunities for her, including a trip to Malta earlier in November with the Model European Parliament as a representative, not just of the borough of Rochdale, but the whole UK.

The MEP is an international simulation of the working of the European Parliament for students aged 16–19 and aims to give young people an insight into how it works.

 

 

Her family and college supported her with this trip and during the event she played an active part in the committee of women’s rights and gender equality, discussing how gender based discrimination still affects many young people today and if political gender quotas are the solution to ensure fairer representation.

The MEP were so impressed with Georgia at the event that they have offered her the role of Committee President.

Gottfried Oehl, head of MEP, and Louise Duplaix and Rina Morina, corporate presidents, said: “During the general assembly Georgia asked multiple good questions to other committees. She was well informed and enthusiastic and was very keen to prefect the resolution. She was one of the most active and impressive members of the committee, especially during the general assembly where she actively defended our resolution. We strongly believe in her potential and therefore recommend her to hold the position of Committee President.”

Georgia is excited to take them up on their offer. She will be attending the MEP in Bulgaria next year to work further on this area and gain more experience. She said: “This trip was such a wonderful experience. I’m passionate about making a positive change for young people’s future and this is going to give me a great opportunity to do this. I am so honoured to be asked to be Committee President. I made some wonderful friends on this trip, we’ve even arranged to meet in Luxembourg in January which I’m looking forward to. I’m really thankful for this opportunity.”

Georgia will now work on feeding back to her fellow youth cabinet members on everything that was discussed at the event.

Councillor Kieran Heakin, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “It’s wonderful to see how Georgia has progressed significantly over the year in many areas. She’s always enthusiastic to actually act on what she is working on and set a good example to those around her. Georgia spent many hours before her trip to Malta researching gender inequality and her dedication has clearly paid off. We’re so proud of her not only representing our borough but the whole of the UK, it’s a wonderful achievement.”

For more information on the work of Rochdale Youth Cabinet please visit:

• rochdale.gov.uk/youthservice