Professor Leila Sadat speaks during a UN Youth Envoy meeting Jan. 9. Her knowledge and experience relates to Youth Envoy’s goal of peace, justice and strong institutions. “I spent a lot of time at the UN,” Sadat said. “There are a lot of meetings. There are a lot of gatherings. There are a lot of things that are fun in addition to hard work.”

Leila Sadat speaks to the audience of students. She detailed her roles in international law, foreign affairs and their intricacies. “I’d always been interested to learn how international crimes were dealt with,” Prasad said. “Listening to Dr. Sadat talk about her work and the organization she is a part of helped me understand it.”

Leila Sadat writes on a whiteboard while she speaks. She explained the differences between the United Nations International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. “This court [UN-ICJ] only hears cases involving states,” Sadat said. “[The ICC] hears cases involving people.”

A wristband promoting the effort to ratify a treaty against international crimes against humanity sits on a desk. Sadat handed them out to students in attendance. “We need the wristbands, we need a campaign [and] we need advocacy,” Sadat said.

Club president Nethmi Amarakone (10) concludes the meeting after screening the documentary Never Again Jan. 8. President of UN Youth Envoy is Amarakone’s first leadership role as a Ladue student. “There is so much to do as a club leader,” Amarakone said. “[I] have to make sure to get people involved in events for this club.”

Club social media manager and co-founder Nevinka Amarakone (10) and member Sanvi Prasad (10) watch the 2017 documentary Never Again created by the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative. The documentary examined the lack of a treaty addressing ongoing crimes against humanity. “[I was] shocked because they were talking about crimes happening around the world that I had never heard of before,” Prasad said. “I made up my mind to inform myself more.”