SustainUS made excellent progress at the Commission for Social Development which took place from February 6th through the 15th. After roughly 40 days of intensive preparation and training prior to the event, the delegation, consisting of five delegates split between the two weeks of the Commission, arrived at the UN headquarters. The presence of SustainUS helped address the obvious lack of youth present at the negotiations. Overall, roughly 25 youth were present at the Commission who worked together closely developing strategies for the promotion of issues important to youth. Based on what was taking place in the negotiations, the youth present decided to collaboratively focus on strategically important issues: mainstreaming youth employment into national development strategies; ensuring youth participation in decision making processes; creating an environment to allow for youth entrepreneurship; and the strengthening of review mechanisms for previously established goals and targets. A speech was given during the plenary by two of the youth representatives, Emily Gayong Setton and Nadim Sobhani, highlighting these. The final document provided recognition of the importance of youth in multiple sections, addressing some, but not all of our concerns.

To see bios and pictures of our delegates, keep reading...

Bob Ma was born in China and grew up in Singapore and Canada. He is a sophomore at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania concentrating in Business & Public Policy. He has a passion in social entrepreneurship, especially in social justice. In college, Bob founded Solacetics, an intercollegiate socio-political action network, with a grant from mtvU. He is an avid SustainUS'er, having participated in CSD 15 and CSocD 46, and is looking to continue involvement with SustainUS. In his free time, he enjoys reading non-fiction, studying philosophy, and doing anything worthwhile.

 Dani Maniscalco received a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Spanish from Villanova University in 2005. She is currently finishing thesis work to complete a Master’s of Science in Technology and Policy from MIT in Cambridge, MA. While at Villanova, she studied abroad in Spain and served on mission trips to Latin America to work with Los Ninos and Trinity Missions in San Juan, Costa Rica. She also lead a group of peers to Cape Town, South Africa to work with Habitat for Humanity in one of the townships. Last summer she worked as an intern for UN-Habitat at UN Headquarters in NYC, and last year she attended CSD-15 as a SustainUS delegate. She is very interested and dedicated to sustainable development, particularly with regards to energy, and looks forward to helping further international collaboration and implementation to this end.

Emily Gayong Setton is originally from Seoul, South Korea, and has lived in the U.K. and the U.S. She is currently a senior at Columbia College in New York, studying Political Science and Human Rights. She has worked for the Asia Program Department of WITNESS, Amnesty International, the Center for the Study of Human Rights, and the Child Rights Unit of Committed Communities Development Trust in Mumbai, India. She spent the Spring of 2007 studying East Asian International Relations and North Korean Politics at Yonsei University in Seoul. As a Mellon Mays Fellow, she traveled to Bhopal, India in the summer of 2007 to conduct research on the Transnational Activist Movement for Justice in Bhopal. She now serves as a Corporate Action Network Coordinator for the Business and Human Rights Program of Amnesty International and is a member of the national advisory board for Students for Bhopal. Current research and advocacy interests include the human rights crisis in Burma, youth empowerment, and shareholder activism.

Enrique was born in Amecameca, a small town in Mexico. In Amecameca, he worked in the Proyecto Sierra Nevada, to raise ecological awareness in the region and took part in the first Children's assembly in the state. He was also a member of the youth council in 2004. He attended the Mahindra United World College of India, where he volunteered at Sanskaar Farm, led Mother Teresa's home for mentally challenged women and VIH Children and was a translator assistant for a Spanish physician during the Tsunami Relief in Pushpavanam Village, India, in March 2005. Currently he is pursuing undergraduate studies at College of the Atlantic, in Maine. He also volunteers with Big Brothers and Sisters.

Matt Maiorana is currently a second year at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. Here he is working towards his B.A. in Human Ecology with a focus on Environmental Policy. He has been very involved with SustainUS in the past year and is currently the National Policy Co-Coordinator. This past December he attended the UN climate negotiations in Bali, Indonesia as a SustainUS youth delegate. Matt has worked on multiple activist campaigns at the local, state, national, and international level through SustainUS, Sierra Student Coalition, Energy Action, and through various grassroot initiatives. When not campaigning for a better future, he likes to backpack, eat ice cream, and climb trees.