http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/un-youth-representatives/ Samah Hadid Samah Hadid is a 23-year-old human rights advocate and former Australian Youth Representative to the UN. Currently she is a member of the UN Experts Group on Youth, serves as the Youth Representative on the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, Australian Action Partner for Oxfam International Youth Partnerships and member of Amnesty International’s Diversity Steering Committee. Samah has previously completed a fellowship with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and selected as a participant to the Prime Minister’s 2020 Summit. She is a co-author of the book ‘The Future by Us’ . Benson Saulo Benson Saulo, 23, is the 2011 Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations and feels it is a significant honour to represent such a diverse and optimistic demographic at a national and international level. He believes his appointment is a reflection of the aspirations of young Australians and wants to see a more progressive and inclusive Australia.  He is the first indigenous Australian to be appointed since the role began in 1999. Benson’s Grandmother is Wemba Wemba (Swan Hill), his Grandfather is Gunditjmara (Warrnambool) and he grew up in Gomileroi Country (Tamworth). Benson began working at ANZ at the age of 15 and has held the positions of Assistant Manager in Business Banking and Business Analyst. Chris Varney Chris Varney, 24, is a passionate advocate for child rights and poverty reduction. His passion began as a 16-year-old Youth Ambassador for World Vision Australia. He went onto hold several voluntary leadership roles in World Vision’s youth movement ‘Vision Generation’ including Victorian State Director and National Co-Director. In 2009 he was appointed Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations. In this role, he organised both a national youth engagement tour and a report back tour during which he spread awareness of child rights to over 10, 000 young Australians. Chris is currently completing his Arts/ Law degree at Monash University and was recently awarded the Monash Student Alumni Award. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/