YCF's World Day of Social Justice Celebration

Social justice covers a range of issues including, poverty, discrimination, human rights, diversity, equality, equity and environmental rights. World Social Justice Day allows people to reflect and progress to improve society and ensures all people, regardless of their background have equal opportunities, access and rights. World Social Justice Day aims to give a voice to marginalised communities and allow them to achieve social equity.

The Young Camden Foundation hosted an event to celebrate World Social Justice Day along with the young ambassadors. The event was hosted in the Old Diorama studio, which is local and allowed us to contribute back to the community. bb

During the event, a panel discussion was hosted with young ambassador Sahra Abukar and Saba Asif and was hosted by Ellie Lewis. The panelists shared their insightful views concerning the inequalities existing in Camden and the biggest barriers to social justice for young people.

The speakers acknowledged marginalised communities lack access to opportunities in education, employment and housing, and due to the lack of youths being able to gain experience, there is a lack of youth employment. Being able to overcome this, they described promoting social equality in schools and in the way they teach. I was intrigued to hear insights about how young people are affected by inequalities in Camden. Although Camden is one of the most diverse boroughs, there still seems to be barriers for young people in Camden to social justice, including disparities in education, employment, and housing.

One of the biggest barriers is a lack of access to quality education and job opportunities. Many young people in marginalized communities lack the resources and support systems needed to succeed academically or find stable employment. Housing instability also disproportionately affects low-income communities, exacerbating the cycle of poverty.

Being able to have a greater grasp on how inequality still exists in all sectors, and personal experiences, allowed me to reflect on the ways to tackle social justice like being active on social media, protest, and gaining understanding of injustice. Although progress is happening, there is still a lot that needs to change to have an equal society, as the system perpetuating inequality is deeply entrenched. Young people must take action and push for change through advocacy, education and forest action. Recognising how non-violent protests still remain one of the most powerful ways to challenge injustice with some of the most monumental protests including Black Lives Matter protests, which is gaining more public knowledge as social media has become a pivotal way to raise awareness for protests.

The Mayor of Camden showed her appreciation for the event and shared insightful words about the panelists' answers. This was followed by a World Social Justice Day Bingo where we were able to reflect on key dates to help us progress in justice in a competitive environment. Aya Elgool, former young Camden ambassador, performed a moving spoken word performance. I was extremely grateful to be able to host an informative event and be able to learn new knowledge throughout the event.