Ronan Farrow

KATE ROBERTS: You’ve accomplished a great deal in your 23 years. Why did you decide to dedicate your early career to global youth issues? You could be doing anything.

RONAN FARROW: The origin is more personal for me, because I grew up in a large family with adopted siblings from all over the world, many of them drawn from the corners of their communities where they were disenfranchised, oppressed, and a lot of them severely disabled. And it was powerful to see people, like my brother – who is adopted from Calcutta, was paraplegic and abandoned outside an orphanage – go from being the most silent person at the dinner table to the most vibrant voice and the greatest problem solver. I had in a microcosm the illustration of how powerful it can be to take young people and put their tremendous energy towards solving global problems. I wanted to do that, and I felt that as a young person I could connect with people and contribute to addressing problems that we share.

KR: You are the first person to hold the position as Special Advisor to the Secretary of State on Global Youth Issues. What are some examples of how you’ve been able to shape policy?

RF: We have a program that we launched in 10 countries in Latin America that brings young entrepreneurs to the U.S. and gives them grants to start their projects in their communities. I recently went to Norway, Turkey, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. At each of those embassies, we’re putting into place a youth advisory council, which will steer U.S. diplomacy and policy development in that country. They will have a formal role in providing input and making it known to our ambassadors what they view as challenges on the ground.

KR: In your job, you have the opportunity to interact with youth around the world. Is there something common across geographic barriers that you’re hearing from young people today?

RF: There are as diverse circumstances as one can imagine and people face very different challenges. But, there are unifying themes – unifying frustrations – around the world that young people face. That is exactly the basis of our global youth policy. It’s a recognition that wherever you are, you, as a young person, face the same frustration about not being able to find a livelihood, and in many cases, struggling to find a job. The second unifying theme is not being able to have a political voice in one’s national affairs. There very often is not a space created for young people to have their voices heard peacefully. And that has profound implications because in cases where young people can’t find a livelihood, and can’t make their voices heard, then they’re very often targets for recruitment by violent and extreme elements and that becomes a security challenge for all of us around the world.

KR: You’re very active on Twitter. How has using social media helped connect you to youth everywhere?

RF: It actually can be a very powerful tool, and I think that one of the lessons of the revolutions of the last year that have transformed realities on the ground is that things are changing, and not just because there are more young people than ever; it is historically unprecedented that the majority of the world’s population is under 30. They’re also more empowered than ever by new technologies. But one of the messages that we’re trying to carry forward is that social media is a great tool, but ultimately young people passionate in making a difference have to get out in their communities and do it in person as well. Social media is not a substitute.

KR: As you know, PSI’s focus is improving health around the world. Are there specific youth health issues that your office has really tried to address?

RF: The bedrock of a productive, empowered youth population is getting youth essential services, and that includes health. And often young people are most vulnerable to health issues. So we’ve collaborated heavily with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and part of that is uniquely targeting young people with outreach to combat HIV and AIDS. We’ve also worked on incorporating entrepreneurship elements in programming that focus on prevention and treatment for HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, such as working to empower younger community health workers.

KR: You were recently nominated as a Global Shaper with WEF. Do you think this sort of community-led platform is useful?

RF: I already feel that the discussions I’ve had with my fellow Global Shapers have been really productive. If we can really harness that dialog to build concrete initiatives that respond to some of the challenges that we’re all facing and seeing in our various lines of work, it can be a powerful thing. The link with WEF is part of what made me excited about it because so many of the challenges that young people face are economic, and so many of them require great economic thinkers. Tying into the resources that Prof. Klaus Schwab has offered makes a lot of sense for this.

KR: We’re all very lucky to have you in this position, Ronan. Congratulations on all of your accomplishments in this last year; it’s been a big year for you.

RF: It has been big, and I’m excited to see what comes next, and in particular what comes of the brave young minds that you’re doing so much good work with. It’s an exciting set of platforms you’re working with. Thank you for the work that you, PSI and WEF are doing.