Our Member of UK Youth Parliament Shifa travelled to London this month determined to make a change for young people in Cardiff and across the UK. We asked Shifa how the trip went and what they discussed, she had this to say.
“As an MYP for Cardiff, one of the opportunities I’ve been granted is the chance to debate in the House of Commons as part of UKYP’s Annual Conference. It was an exciting and interesting experience, and I particularly enjoyed getting to meet some of the 250 other MYP’s from across the UK for the first time, as well as getting to meet Sir Lindsay Hoyle. The main issue that was voted for in the last Make Your Mark Ballot was Health, so we were given 5 subtopics related to that to debate in the Commons, and then there was another vote to decide our focus for the academic year. The topics were:
• The Impact of Discrimination on Health
• Mental Health
• Cost of Living and Health
• Education and Health
• Environment and Health
I was lucky enough to be chosen to speak on the first topic, although the winning topic was Cost of Living & Health. I have also recently been selected as the Social Action Group member for Wales, meaning I will play a role in shaping the campaign for Cost of Living & Health over the coming months. Additionally, the full motion will be turned into a petition which, if it reaches 100,000 signatures, will be considered for debate in the House of Commons.”
Shifa is also one of the lead organisers for this years YouthCon bringing together young people and MYP’s from across Wales on the 11th March!
