UNITED NATIONS — Jayathma Wickramanayake, 28, says she remembers observing the first U.N. secretary-general's envoy on youth a few years ago and thinking how glamorous the post must be.
“When you look at it from the outside, through social media and different events, you always feel like it's such a fancy job to have. You get all this exposure and there are thousands of young people who are very supportive of you,” Wickramanayake said.
“And then, at the same time, you can go and meet a president or prime minister and say, ‘Young people in your country have these problems and what are you doing about it?’ I was quite fascinated by the power and the visibility and the opportunity to meet so many young people who are doing similar work,” she continued.