EF challenge speech.

1. LET’S MAKE A CHANGE!
Lucia Ariza Segura
Ninth grade
What global issue are you most passionate about solving? Seems like
an easy question, right? Personally when I first heard it multiple ideas
came up into my mind. What would you expect? Right now, issues
affecting the global community and environment are just as common as waking up and
eating breakfast. I am sure that in the last three days you have heard about at least one of
them, they are everywhere, in every newspaper, in every news channel, even in our social
networks. And you know what’s worst? Even though we are aware of them, even though
we hear them every single day, we are doing absolutely nothing.
As a society, we just keep accumulating and letting issues pass by trough the years, but
never making significant decisions. So yes, we are being concernedly inefficient about our
actions to make a better future. We have become a society dealing every day with a
catastrophic destiny. In this way, if you ask me to choose one issue that I would like to
solve, it is definitely inequality around the world. Inequality may be one of the great
challenges to global development and communities’ social fabric. It has been on the rise
across the globe for several decades.
The challenges are underscored by UN chief Antonio Gutierrez in the foreword, in which
he states that the world is confronting “the harsh realities of a deeply unequal global
landscape”, in which economic woes, inequalities and job insecurity have led to mass
protests in both developed and developing countries. Some have reduced the numbers of
people living in extreme poverty. But economic gaps have continued to grow as the very
richest amass unprecedented levels of wealth. Hundreds of millions of people are living in
extreme poverty while huge rewards go to those at the very top. Consequently, inequality is
not just an economic concern, it is also the main base for plenty more issues like
malnutrition, overpopulation, diseases, even human rights violations, and believe me, the
last one is alarming.
How come, in fully 21st century, we are still lacking in equality? After all humanity have
been through, it is still really concerning. After wars, murders and conflict, we should have
understood that we are all human beings, no matter your social status or how powerful you
feel you are. Discrimination is simply inappropriate, it affects people’s opportunities, their
well-being, and their sense of agency. Persistent exposure to discrimination can lead
individuals to internalize the prejudice or stigma that is directed against them, manifesting
in shame, low self-esteem, fear and stress, as well as poor health.
Therefore, is our responsibility to fight against it, because as Kofi Ann said, “We may have
different religions, different languages, and different colored skin. But we all belong to one
human race”. A human race that claims for help, a human race that needs to start thinking
about the future and make a change, because our future is not just defined by the
environment, but our values and thoughts, and how we treat each other. So, why don’t we

2. start now? Start thinking about the consequences of your actions, it is not enough just to
talk about it, we need to act and make decisions. Think of others, we are not alone, our
future depends on every single one of us, let’s unite and transform the world.