The Book of Belonging was launched last week at the GOAL NextGen X-Change event. The book has over 29 contributions from Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Honduras, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Ireland. Two of the global youth contributors Sondra Mejia from Honduras and Aoife Sharkey from Ireland, spoke at the launch. There they met for the first time and read excerpts of the book aloud – sharing their insights on belonging.
Aoife Sharkey pictured at the GOAL NextGen X-Change event
Read the Book of Belonging for free, here: goalglobal.org/xchange/#belonging
The book launch sat alongside an exhibition which saw three exciting global artists share work inspired by their personal reflections on belonging: spoken word Nigerian-Irish poet and performer, FeliSpeaks; Dublin based street artist & activist, Emmalene Blake; and Turkish Illustrator & Animator, Mert Tugen. Their individual pieces explore the theme of belonging through topics like cultural identity, heritage, community connections, inclusivity and diversity.
Albert Ssebagala and Yvette Kuveya pictured at the GOAL NextGen X-Change event
Explore the exhibition: goalglobal.org/xchange/
Both the book and the artwork respond to the question ‘What makes you feel like you belong?’ GOAL NextGen commissioned quantitative research* to inspire the X-Change project, exploring how people across Ireland feel about the subject of belonging. In the Republic of Ireland, citizens identified:
● The World Feels Increasingly Polarized: 67% agree that the world feels ‘more polarized than ever before.’
● A Need for Greater Acceptance: Nearly half, 45%, disagree that Ireland ‘accepts everyone for who they are’, highlighting the need for generating cultures of belonging.
● A Belonging Age Gap: Older adults are more likely to say they feel like they belong, with 37% of those aged 35+ agreeing with the statement they feel like they belong. For those aged 18-34, this falls to 27% – over two thirds of this cohort don’t feel like they belong.
● What is Belonging to Irish people? The words used most commonly when asked about belonging were: community, family, friends, home, accepted, music, sports and local.
GOAL NextGen X-Change event
Speaking about the launch of the book, Victoria Walshe, GOAL Global Citizenship Manager, had this to say: “We want to tackle challenges of loneliness and social polarisation by creating an opportunity for people to reflect on how we all yearn to belong and to consider how we can all help others to feel like they belong. The theme feels more crucial than ever before. As a Humanitarian and Development Agency, GOAL encounters daily the challenges facing the global community. It is not possible for any one country, community, or sector to end poverty, fight inequality, tackle climate change and provide sustainable livelihoods. We must collaborate to become a global network of citizens, united in our ambition to improve our world.”
GOAL NextGen believes that everyone can create a fairer and more sustainable future for all. They encourage everyone to view themselves as a global citizen and an agent of change. Share your response to the question ‘What makes you feel like you belong?’. Tag @goalnextgen on Instagram with your thoughts.
GOAL NextGen X-Change drives global citizenship by bringing cross-cultural creative collaborations to life. The aim of X-Change is to harness the power of creativity to deepen the understanding of global justice issues, connecting the voices of young people around the world. In 2023, the first GOAL NextGen X-Change connected people through a creative collaboration with the iTunes number #1 single Spark, a one-off production by global artists from Ireland, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Colombia.
Discover more about GOAL’s NextGen Youth Programme’s mission here:
www.GOALglobal.org/youth/ or follow @GOALNextGen on Instagram for news.
