Nadine Clopton, a graduate student at Lehigh studying Environmental Policy and Design, recently became the first UN Youth Representative in history to run for, and be elected as a Director on the United Nations Non- governmental Organization Executive Committee. The UN NGO/DPI (Non-Governmental Organizations/Department of Public Information) Executive Committee represents thousands of NGOs around the world and serves as the liaison between the NGO community and the United Nations.
Clopton started her work with the UN by working with Caring and Living as Neighbors, an NGO located in Australia that focuses on health access, advocacy, and education for children with chronic illnesses living in low-middle income countries. Nadine has shown a strong interest in the UN programs offered at Lehigh since she was a first-year student. Clopton served as the first Youth Representative in the world at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland while studying abroad and was also elected to serve as a youth chair on the UN NGO/DPI Executive Committee. “We want their stories to trickle upwards,” Clopton said. “That way, we can hear the hopes, needs, priorities, and challenges that Youth Representatives are facing around the world and in their hometowns.”
Nadine and other Youth Representatives from the UN are currently working on a Youth Climate Action Declaration. With Nadine at the forefront of this campaign, the document lists about 50 recommendations which were built off the Global Climate Strike and were distributed at the United Nations Climate Summit in September. The declaration calls on global leaders to take action against climate change by establishing climate change curricula in schools, incentivizing eco-friendly business development, and allocating half of all urban spaces as green spaces.“Youth deserve a chance to craft the policies that are going to affect them for the duration of their lives,” Clopton said.
Finding a balance between her work at Lehigh as a graduate student and the United Nations has been challenging, but Nadine is still working vigorously to create opportunities for youth development around the world and across the UN system. Nadine’s focus, as seen by her undergrad professors, is on social justice, inequalities, and inequities.
Although there is plenty of work to be done at the UN, Nadine still likes to focus on parts of Lehigh she can engage and better. She is currently working with the Office of Sustainability by drafting and assessing Lehigh's campus for a walkability and bike path plan. Nadine is also focused on getting underrepresented clubs into the Student Senate to accomplish more equitable respresentation of the student body. Nadine says "Right now, Senate is split inot Greek, athlete, and everyone else. We want to coalesce the Lehigh community in a way that there is equitable represesentation around campus."