Editor's Note: The following is a press release issued by the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.
Ronan Farrow, special advisor to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for Global Youth Issues, will give a speech on “Youth and Economic Opportunity” at Kyiv National Economic University on Friday, March 23. Farrow will be in Kyiv for a number of youth outreach events, including a meeting with the new U.S. Embassy Youth Council, a roundtable with young reformers, and as an opening speaker at the Docudays International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival.
Farrow was appointed special adviser in June 2011. His office oversees an historic effort to empower young people as economic and civic actors through U.S. programs, encourage governments to respond to youth through U.S. diplomacy, and directly engages young people around the world.
A lawyer, human rights advocate, and journalist, special adviser Farrow assumed his current role following two years as the State Department’s Special Adviser for Humanitarian and NGO Affairs in the Afghanistan and Pakistan office. Prior to joining the U.S. State Department, he served as spokesperson for Youth at UNICEF. His writings on humanitarian and human rights issues have appeared in publications including the Los Angeles Times, the International Herald Tribune and the Wall Street Journal, and he has appeared on MSNBC, ABC and CNN, advocating for children in armed conflicts.
In 2008, Refugees International gave Farrow their Humanitarian Award for “extraordinary service to refugees and displaced people.” In 2009, New York Magazine named him their “New Activist” of the year. In 2010, Harper’s Bazaar named him their “up-and-coming politician of the year.” Farrow is a graduate of Yale Law School and a member of the New York bar association. He has also served on the legal counsel team for the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, working on international human rights law issues.
The speech will take place at Kyiv National Economic University (Prospekt Peremohy 54/1), on Friday, March 23, from 1:30 to 2:30. The speech will be in the 2nd floor conference room, main building.
The speech will be in English. There will be press availability after the speech.
