STATE DEPARTMENT - A Tunisian woman who pushed past a culture of low expectations in her hometown and a Gaza man who uses social media to help Palestinians tell their stories to the world are among this year's recipients of the Emerging Young Leaders Awards.
The awards, presented April 20 by the U.S. State Department, recognize young people from around the globe for their initiatives to improve conditions in their communities.
Among the 10 recipients is Ahlem Nasraoui, a Tunisian woman who has started a program to confront terrorism and extremism, and who has launched several initiatives designed to train women. She made these strides against great odds.
"In my hometown, where I come from, nobody is expecting that you are a leader or that you can be one," said Nasraoui, who grew up in the country's Kasserine region.
Nasraoui remains a hopeful and steadfast advocate for cultural transformation.
"As a young person, nothing can define you — the place, or birth or race," she said. "Stand up to be a change-maker."
Gaza native Basel Almadhoun is being recognized for organizing social media talks in Gaza that have helped Palestinians in isolated regions share their stories with the world.
The TEDx Program "is designed to help communities, organizations and individuals to spark conversation and connection through local TED-like experiences."
Almadhoun says his passion for the spoken word grew out of his experience as a high school exchange student in the U.S. state of Oregon, where he developed a love for debate.
He started a small debate club when he returned to the Gaza Strip, and eventually turned to social media as an effective platform.
"In Gaza, we have so many people with great stories that want to be heard outside, but [because of] the border closure, the conflict that is happening, and the many things that are affecting all of these people, they cannot come out of the Gaza Strip and meet people outside," he said.
The other recipients are from Afghanistan, France, Georgia, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Malta and Myanmar.
"They represent the power of young people to launch grass-roots initiatives to improve their communities," said Evan Ryan, the assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs.
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"Whether they are working to promote interfaith dialogue, entrepreneurship, social justice, civic engagement — these young leaders are jump-starting the change the world needs now," she said in a ceremony honoring the recipients.
In addition to visiting Washington, the honorees will travel to cities across the U.S. where they will participate in professional meetings and meet their American counterparts.
Later, they will reconvene in Washington, D.C., to share experiences and explore ways they can collaborate on future projects.
, from Kenya
Hassan, an ethnic Somali, has developed youth-led groups spearheading dialogue and reconciliation among ethnic clans in her home region of Kenya.
"We have to love each other and we have to be together to share the ideas," she said. "We have to respect each other's religion."
Hassan teaches children the value of life and warns them of the dangers of joining extremist groups and being used to cause conflict in a community.
, from Afghanistan
Mohsanyar founded the social media campaign "Afghanistan Needs You" in an effort to counter the idea that youth need to leave Afghanistan for a better life.
"Afghanistan has changed a lot since 2001, and the youth should stay in the country and help their future or to make their future," he said.
His social media campaign received 26,500 "likes" in its first seven months. He works as a job placement specialist and serves as president of a professional network that promotes universal education, entrepreneurship and civil society engagement.
, from Malta, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in London
Briffa is Malta's youth ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), where she helped lead a campaign against violent extremism at an OSCE human rights conference last year.
She has focused on youth issues ranging from gaining access to health care and education to countering online hate speech, and she led after-school courses on conflict resolution.
, from Honduras
Fernandez was raised in Cofradía, a suburb of San Pedro Sula, a Honduran city that has been called "the murder capital of the world."