ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2021
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. In 2021, over 25,000 young leaders on 2,000+ campuses across 153 nations applied to join the Class of 2021. 136 campuses worldwide (just 6%) were selected to host the 2,000+ Millennium Fellows. The Class of 2021 is bold, innovative, and inclusive.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT ATALAY DEMIRAY, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2021.
Koç University | İstanbul, Turkey | Advancing SDG 3 & UNAI 3
" I like to participate in and organize activities that have greater impacts on our society. During my college years, I learned how to organize events, increase awareness of several topics step by step. However, I did not get any professional support or education for the organization of philanthropic events. I believe that being a Millennium Fellow will increase my skill-set and knowledge which will help our future projects in order to have a greater impact on our society. I am so excited to be a Millennium Fellow for meeting different people from different backgrounds with so many different ideas but for a common goal which is to have a greater beneficial impact on our society for our World. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Sexual And Reproductive Health for All
In Turkey, education for sexual and reproductive health is a mostly neglected issue because of prejudices and a lack of awareness. There is no formal education for sexual and reproductive health in the curriculum of the secondary education of Turkey and most parents do not provide necessary information and resources to their children because of cultural and religious beliefs. Even though most university students have become sexually active, they do not have enough knowledge on sexual and reproductive health and they tend to have risky sexual activities during their college years. Thus, most college students in Turkey have insufficient information and resources for their sexual health and several of them experience some adverse events related to their sexual health.
We planned a three-step intervention project to fill this knowledge gap among our peers to increase safer sexual attitudes and behaviors. Our educational intervention plan consists of three steps (a pre-assessment, an educational program, a post-assessment) focusing on three aspects of sexual and reproductive health such that reproductive anatomy and physiology, contraception, and sexually-transmitted diseases. Our project will be completed at the end of December, 2021.
About the Millennium Fellow
Atalay Demiray is a bright, young medical student in the Koç University School of Medicine and had a double major in International Relations due to his great interest in global politics and economy. He was born in Tekirdag, Turkey, and is currently studying in Istanbul, Turkey. Atalay is always interested in several global issues such as health inequalities, social justice, and women's right. Throughout his college years, he participated in and organized several activities within students' clubs to increase awareness of those topics. Atalay also took several positions within students' organizations including the chairman of KUMSA (Koç University Medical Students' Association), the treasurer of EMSA (European Medical Students' Association). During his term, those organizations and their activities significantly improved thanks to his outstanding leadership. Atalay aspires to be an obstetrics & gynecology doctor where he can advocate women’s rights further and provide her own contribution to the development of the United Nations' Sustainable Goals.
