International Youth Day: are you involved in a movement for change?

As young activists highlight their role in campaigns on social issues, tell us what movements you are involved in and what difference they are making With rallies, hackathons and guerrilla stunts - International Youth Day has got off to an eventful start as young people highlight the campaigns and movements that have shaped the past year.

Some 100,000 young activists are expected to take part in more than 100 events this week to mark the UN annual celebration on 12 August. This year, the theme is youth civic engagement, to shine a light on how young people are campaigning on social issues that matter to them, and to encourage others to get involved.

Those who were in central London on Monday might have seen some familiar young faces. Youth NGO Restless Development projected rarely-seen youthful photos of global icons such as Nelson Mandela, Eleanor Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi on to London landmarks such as Marble Arch and Trafalgar Square; it will be leading activities in London with campaign group Action/2015.

In Ghana, 1,000 young activists marched in solidarity with the Action/2015 campaign, which calls for countries to fulfil their aid commitments. Salma Ben Kahla, 24, who volunteers with the youth team for Action/2015, said young people are now playing a defining role in global events. “Youth in our country started a revolution and youth are leading the civil movement for change; we can do better as youth because we are powerful together,” she said.

In the past year, prominent examples of youth activism have included the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, which has brought issues of police brutality to the attention of media worldwide. Other youth-led movements have sprung up around the world to call for government action on a range of social issues.

Young people are thinking up more creative ways to get their voices heard. “Rap against rape” was the brainchild of two young Indian women using poignant lyrics to express the mood of the country’s growing feminist movement. In July, hundreds of passionate students in Taiwan stormed the compound of the education ministry to protest against revisions to high-school textbooks that they say present a biased version of history and are an attempt to “brainwash” them into accepting a “one China” policy. In a similar fashion, Peruvian studentsvehemently opposed new labour laws they view as exploitative.

Join the conversation

To mark International Youth Day, we’d like to hear from young people campaigning for change. What social movements are forming in your country and how are you involved? What challenges do you face? Leave your thoughts in the comment thread below, or contribute on Twitter @GdnDevelopment. If you have problems posting or prefer to get in touch anonymously, email us atdevelopment@theguardian.com.