Anti-poverty group The ONE Campaign is launching its flagship ‘Youth Ambassador’ programme for 2015.

The programme will see 250 young people from across Europe lobby their politicians and decision-makers to end extreme poverty by 2030.

This year’s Youth Ambassador programme will launch in the UK on Thursday, 8 January, with Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Ireland and Italy following suit in the coming weeks.

The young volunteers will be campaigning to keep international development at the top of the political agenda for world leaders.  2015 is a significant year as all 193 members of the United Nations come together to agree a new set of goals and targets for ending extreme poverty around the world.

A series of international events will shape the ambition of these new goals. The UK general election in May will be swiftly followed by the G7 Summit in Germany in June, the Financing for Development Conference in Ethiopia in July, and the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.

Here it will be up to world leaders to choose between setting out an ambitious new path for lifting the final one billion people out of extreme poverty, or settling for the status quo.

Diane Sheard, UK Director of ONE, said: “The calibre and enthusiasm of this year’s Youth Ambassadors is incredibly impressive.  These young people will be a force to be reckoned with – I can’t wait to see what they achieve.

“2015 is a big year here at home and around the world. Politicians have an opportunity to help the world’s poorest people lift themselves out of poverty.  Our Youth Ambassadors will make sure they do just that. I wish them the best of luck at changing the world for the better.”

The 35 Youth Ambassadors from across the UK will have their work cut out for them, raising awareness of what’s at stake and building on last year’s successful programme.

In 2014, the programme saw over 140 young people from across Europe come together ahead of the European elections, lobbying MEPs to sign the ‘ONE VOTE 2014’ pledge and promise to keep the EU’s promises on aid.

After six months of incredible work, these Youth Ambassadors successfully persuaded 391 MEPs – well over half of the European Parliament – to sign the pledge and commit to working to help the world’s poorest people.

The 2014 UK Youth Ambassadors visited 10 Downing Street and the European Parliament as part of their time on the programme.  The programme was supported by Bill Gates and former President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso.