About Alan Wu

Brisbane & Melbourne, Australia

Mobile: +61 433 125 469
Email:
Web: http://www.alanwu.org/

Profile

Alan WuBorn in Shanghai, Alan Wu, 26, has spent more than half his life representing young people and their interests, advocating and developing mechanisms for youth participation, and building the capacity of other young people to better participate in their communities.

Alan’s work as the youngest and longest-serving Chair of the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition helped lead to the re-establishment, in 2007, of a federal Minister for Youth position – the first since early 2004 – and the announcement of $2million in new annual federal funding for the youth affairs peak and associated activities for young Australians. This is the first time in over a decade that Australia has had a properly-resourced youth peak to represent the rights and interests of young people in national policy discussions. In recognition of his work, Alan was named a finalist in the 2008 Young Australian of the Year Awards, received the 2008 Australian Human Rights Commission’s Young People’s Human Rights Commendation, and was amongst the youngest invitees to the Australia 2020 Summit.

Alan currently serves on the National Executive of the Australian Republican Movement and on the Classification Review Board, a statutory authority that provides final classification and related consumer advice regarding publications, films and computer games in Australia. Alan also hosts The Wellspring (http://www.alanwu.org/), a web log about youth leadership opportunities in Australia and at the United Nations (UN).

Internationally, Alan has previously served as Special Envoy for Young People to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and as the only young person on the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, through which he has led Australian delegations to 14 international UN conferences. In 2002, Alan served as the youth representative on the Australian delegation to the World Summit on Sustainable Development. He later played a coordinating role in helping develop and then lobby member states to adopt what became UNEP’s first Long-term strategy on engagement and involvement of young people in environmental issues. Most recently in 2007 Alan became the first young Australian to develop and deliver Australia’s statement on youth participation at UNESCO to representatives from 193 member nations.

Alan has previously served on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Advisory Council, as the youngest-ever Director of the International Young Professionals Foundation and on the Editorial Board of the Melbourne Journal of International Law. He has held positions with Oxfam’s International Youth Parliament, the Commonwealth Youth Parliament, the Australian National Youth Week National Planning Group, the Australian National Youth Roundtable, and the Foundation for Young Australians.

Alan has presented on youth affairs for numerous organisations including the Asia Education Foundation, the World Bank and the United Nations. He is the youngest-ever person to be invited to speak at the Alfred Deakin Innovation Lectures, the youngest-ever recipient of the Future Summit Leadership Award, and amongst the youngest participants in the Asialink Leaders Program. He is a 2009 and 2010 Australia Day Ambassador.

Alan maintains interests in:

  • the role of international institutions in promoting human development,
  • building social capital and the capacity of communities to engage in decision-making, and
  • innovative social and political applications of new technology.

Recent & Upcoming