9 Young People Making An Impact In 2024
Here are just some of the young people who are leaving their mark in the history books for 2024.
There’s a reason people always say young people are the future.
In 2024, young people — and children — all around the world stepped up when adults fell short.
They broke records, in sports, politics, law, led unprecedented protests for institutional change, spoke truth to power and even brought hope to millions of people around the world in the face of a genocide.
Here are just some of the young people who are leaving their mark in the history books for 2024.
1. Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke
21-year-old Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke became New Zealand's youngest member of parliament in 170 years.
As part of her first speech to parliament on Dec. 20, Maipi-Clarke, who represents the Hauraki-Waikato Māori seat performed the haka, a traditional Indigenous war dance, and spoke about the rights of New Zealand’s Indigenous communities.
She dedicated her speech to the children of New Zealand, saying that no matter what comes out of the government, she will ensure that they hear them.
“I am at your service in and outside of parliament,” she said. “I will die for you in these chambers. But I will live for you outside these four walls.”
2. Renad Attallah
A 10-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza has won the hearts of millions of people on Instagram with her love of cooking despite Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Renad has garnered more than half a million followers on Instagram, where she shares daily cooking videos and recipes, using the simplest ingredients she can find due to the war in Gaza.
“I am trying to escape the agony of war, bring joy to myself and to make others happy, and to wash away grief and sadness,” she said.
3. Young People In Georgia
Young people in Georgia are holding huge unprecedented protests against a “Russia-like law” that could crack down on opposition.
The law would require media, non-governmental and non-profit organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “carrying the interests of a foreign power”.
It was allegedly modeled after a 2012 Russian law, which allowed the Russian government to crack down on independent news media, nonprofits and activists who were critical of the Kremlin.
Protesters say the law could endanger democracy, derail Georgia’s hopes of joining the European Union and increase Russian influence in the country.
4. B-Girl Talash
Manizah Talash, the refugee breakdancer who was disqualified from the Olympics after wearing a cape that read “Free Afghan Women” has released a powerful statement about her actions.
In a statement shared on her Instagram on Aug. 14, Talash said she did what she did because “The world has forgotten about Afghan women”.
“Breaking is a form of expression, and so I felt that this is what I had to do, even if it meant being disqualified,” she wrote.
5. Lamine Yamal
Spanish football player, Lamine Yamal, has become the youngest person to score a goal at the UEFA European Football Championship, and people can’t believe he is only 16.
On June 10, Spain’s national football team, La Roja, and France’s team, Les Bleus, played against each other for a spot at the Euros final.
Yamal made history as the youngest player to score at the Euros, while also assisting his teammate, Dani Olmo, to score Spain’s second goal and secure the country’s victory and entry to the Euros finals.
6. Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change
On Wednesday March 29, the UN passed a resolution calling on the International Court of Justice – or ICJ – to issue a legal opinion on climate change and human rights.
The resolution was spearheaded by the Pacific Island of Vanuatu, after a group of students across the Pacific Islands launched a campaign for an ICJ advisory opinion on climate change.
Cynthia Houniuhi, the president of the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, said she and other law students from the Pacific Islands decided to launch the initiative because the pace of climate action was not proportionate to the rate climate change is hitting their communities.
“Climate change is the greatest threat to what we hold so dear to us in our cultures in the Pacific, and I will fight like my life depended on it, like those before me have, to ensure that the future generations have a life of dignity and cultural identity,” Houniuhi said.
7. Asna Tabassum
Asna Tabassum, the Muslim woman valedictorian for the University of Southern California whose speech was canceled, was asked in an interview on CNN if she endorses the abolishment of Israel, and her answer was iconic.
The university canceled her speech after she faced criticism for showing her support for Palestine on social media.
Asna Tabassum said in an interview on CNN she stands “for human rights, for equality and unequivocal and unconditional right to life for all people, including Palestinians.”
She then added that “the abolishment of the state of Israel is the “abolishment of an apartheid system,” which “subjugates Palestinians as dehumanized and Palestinian life as not worth the same as other human life.”
8. Benjamin “Bender” Julius Pearson
Benjamin Julius Pearson, known as “Bender”, is a 16-year-old YouTuber and journalist, known for his interviews and coverage of protests and public events to engage with demonstrators.
Bender was one of the few journalists on-the-ground when Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv fans began inciting violence and attacking locals following the match on Nov. 7.
Despite his young age, Bender insisted on continuing to cover the events as he was the only journalist reporting there at the moment.
Bender’s reporting has gained massive support on social media as he documented Israeli fans provoking people in Amsterdam, which led to people attacking them later, unlike mainstream media.
9. Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo, the Filipina American singer-songwriter best known for her hit “Driver’s License,” recently held her first concert in the Philippines and donated all proceeds to a women’s rights and health charity in the country.
For her first and biggest concert in the Philippines, Rodrigo chose to donate all the revenue to Jhpiego, a nonprofit that helps women and families worldwide with reproductive healthcare access, HIV/AIDS and infectious disease prevention, education and more.
Rodrigo described the concert as “the most special show and the most meaningful trip” in a post on Instagram, writing, “To say I’m grateful doesn’t even cut it.”
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