ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2024
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. This year, 52,000+ young leaders applied to join the Class of 2024 on 6,000+ campuses across 170 nations. 280+ campuses worldwide (just 5%) were selected to host the 4,000+ Millennium Fellows.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT THOMAS JOHN ANDREWS, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2024.
University College Dublin | Dublin, Ireland | Advancing SDG 16, SDG 4 & UNAI 2
" "I believe youth empowerment and youth organisation is an extremely powerful force. In modern societies, young people are often undervalued and underestimated. This drive for youth empowerment drives my work and is at the core of all the projects that I do. I hope that my MCN project (and the project at large) helps to give young people a more active and meaningful stake in their present and future. It is clear to me that young people are central to the goals of the sustainable development goals and the work of the UN more generally." "
Millennium Fellowship Project: The Student Voter Empowerment Project
A disinterest in electoral participation has been a problem in Ireland for years and was clearly demonstrated by the low voter turnout in Ireland’s March 2024 referendums.
Our project was therefore dedicated to increasing voter engagement by educating individuals on the importance of participating in elections and empowering them to become active and informed voters. We strove to make the electoral process more accessible and inviting to all. With the Irish Parliament (Dáil) elections aligning with the duration of our project, they became our primary focus, serving as a platform to initiate a practice of voter participation amongst UCD students.
Our approach involved three goals: the first was developing a handbook establishing the mechanics and purposes of voting in an easily digestible manner. The second was conducting a campus survey to help us make the handbook as useful as possible. The third was hosting a voter registration drives across campus to reach students with no obvious link to politics.
Through these efforts, we sought to establish a culture of consistent voter engagement, empowering individuals to participate in the elections that will shape Ireland’s future.
About the Millennium Fellow
Thomas (Tom) Andrews is a 19-year-old student going into his second year of history and politics at University College Dubin. He is from a coastal town in the southeast of Ireland and now studies in Dublin. Tom is deeply involved in many projects, such as the European Youth Parliament (EYP), where he helps facilitate and organise youth conferences across Europe. He is also involved in UCD's Politics Society, Students Union, and Newspaper and is a member of many more groups and societies. He is passionate about social justice and youth activism. He has a particular interest in democracy, the rule of law, and public participation in governance. He has wide interests and appreciates many aspects of life, such as music, languages, and nature. He hopes to embark on the Millennium Fellowship to broaden and deepen his knowledge and to work on a global project with the UN.
