Aseel Jamal Soboh

Aseel is an 18-year-old Palestine refugee from Lebanon. She was a member of the first-ever Agency-Wide Student Parliament, which comprises 22 students representing the voices of over half a million Palestine refugee girls and boys studying in more than 700 schools operated by UNRWA in the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank.

Being a student parliamentarian at such a young age changed her personality a lot – going from being a little girl that is scared of facing the world to the girl who became a representative for her peers in front of the whole world. She has had the chance to share the voices of her peers at international conferences and events such as the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York and the Child Rights In Action (CRIA) Conference in France.

One action Aseel would like everyone to take:

“I think that the word "empowerment" is a strong word that we all need to hear more often! It is the process of supporting another person or people to enable them to discover their personal power. It is a desire, a belief, and an action. Empowerment is freedom, it is being who you are, and it is choosing your own way to success. To empower someone is to share with them your power and let them be shining stars in their own way.”

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