St Swithun’s young activist selected as UNICEF Youth advisor

St Swithun’s sixth form student and incoming head girl Jamie See has been selected as one of eight UK Youth Advisors for UNICEF.

Jamie’s appointment was the result of a rigorous selection process and an interview by the UNICEF youth lead. Her application included a video in which she explained her commitment to championing children’s rights and a recital of her poem 'There Must Be a Reason For Why We Are Here' with which she won the Hampshire Young Poets Competition.

Previous youth advisors have spoken at events like the COP26 summit and conducted interviews for Sky News. Jamie’s UNICEF role will give her the opportunity to talk to leaders and decision makers worldwide and she is aiming to use her two-year term to highlight the issues she is most interested in: gender equality; women’s rights; protecting free speech; and access to education for all.

Speaking about her term of office, Jamie See commented: "I’m very excited to be representing young people as part of the UNICEF UK youth advisory board and to amplify children’s voices and concerns in decision making."

St Swithun’s headmistress Jane Gandee said: "A clear focus for us as a girls’ school is to make sure our sixth form students leave with the skills and confidence to address the stark male-female inequalities in public life; only a third of MPs and 8% of FTSE 100 company leaders are women. Jamie will speak in a credible and compelling way on the matters which are important to her and other young people. We are delighted that she has been selected to be a UK Youth Advisor for UNICEF."