Chernor Bah, Chairman of the Youth Advocacy Group for the Global Education First Initiative. Chernor is a lead youth advocate for global education, a girl champion and former refugee from Sierra Leone. He is Youth Engagement Coordinator for A World at School. Chernor serves as the youth representative on the High-Level Steering committee for the UN Secretary General’s Global Education First Initiative and as Chair of the Youth Advocacy Group. In 2013, Chernor teamed up with other youth advocates around the world to launch the Youth Education Crisis Committee, advocating for the education rights of children affected by emergencies. Following years of civil war in his country, he founded and led the Children’s Forum Network, Sierra Leone’s children parliament. In that role, Chernor presented a report on the experience of Sierra Leonean children to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 2002, Chernor served as Junior Executive Producer of a UN Children/youth radio project, designed to involve young people in Sierra Leone’s post conflict discourse. Since then Chernor has worked with youth in Liberia, Lebanon, Haiti, Philippines and other emergency settings, leading efforts to strengthen youth voices in development and policy processes. A former UNFPA Special Youth Fellow, Chernor co-wrote a report titled “Will You Listen-Young Voices from Conflict Zones” and co-led the Youth Zones initiative. He holds an MA in Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelors degree from the University of Sierra Leone.
