KU student invited to speak at UN forum on trade and development

Saurabh Navande, a KU MSc international relations student, was on the panel for the World Investment Forum held by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in October in Geneva.

Representing India and Kingston University on the panel, Saurabh talked about sustainable development goals, multilateralism and UN Youth Strategy.

Having been approached to be on the panel by the UN in November 2017, Saurabh was the youngest person on the panel and is the youngest on the UN’s International Youth Council.

“I have been involved in social work since my college days and I had also started Yuvan Foundation which works on ground on climate action and quality education,” said Saurabh.

“I have taken it as my life goal to work on the sustainable development goals,” he added.

Saurabh started his non-profit organisation in 2016 in Pune, India and is still actively involved in undertaking government and external projects towards sustainable development.

“At the World Investment Forum I mainly spoke about neo-liberalism and freedom for young individuals to do business and trade in countries across the borders and how this could be made easier with the help of UN’s sustainable development goals,” added Saurabh.

Saurabh, 25, has been appointed as Global Youth Ambassador for Quality Education by Sarah Brown earlier this year.

Having studied a masters in social work before coming to Kingston, he has also been invited to speak at UN Youth Assembly in New York in February next year.