Ibby Osman – Chair of National BAME Youth Forum Wales

Ibby Osman is an individual who is passionate about tackling social injustice. His passion for
change began with his involvement with Cardiff Youth Council (CYC) back in 2012. CYC is
an organisation that believes every young person has rights. They are a representative
council for 11 to 25-year olds who advocate for positive change and children rights across
the city. One of the first projects Ibby Osman worked on alongside Cardiff youth Council was
to start a campaign called ‘Don’t Hate, Educate’. This project was introduced to tackle racial
and religious discrimination in Cardiff. Cardiff Youth Council elected Ibby Osman as a
Member of Youth Parliament UK for Cardiff in 2016. He was able to work on ‘Make Your
Mark’ project which is the most extensive consultation for young people in the UK. Ibby was
the lead coordinator for Cardiff in 2016. The result of the ballot paper emphasised that
people in Cardiff saw knife crime as a huge problem. As Ibby was their representative as a
Member of Youth Parliament UK for Cardiff, he was able to discuss this issue in the House
of Parliament.

Back in 2017, Ibby was part of the group that went to Germany on a youth exchange to see
how the city of Stuttgart is a child-friendly city and how he can work collaboratively on a
UNICEF project. Ibby was also in a group who worked on a plan for what education should
be in 2030. Additionally, he was part of the group who supported a project for the Grand
Council event as he was an executive member for the committee. Grand Council is an event
that involves students and staff across Cardiff to come together, brainstorm and propose
ideas on an issue.

Ibby Osman works with the Children’s Commissioner for Wales in a voluntary capacity for
over eight years now. In that time, he has worked with two different Commissioners in the
role. Ibby has been with the organisation in various positions through youth advisory and
community involvement. Ibby Osman role is to primarily support the Children’s
Commissioner for Wales with her policy-making decisions. Ibby has been an influential team
member who has supported the children’s commissioner in several different forms, including
advocating in meetings and social media.

Ibby has also worked on issues such as Islamophobia, Mental Health and Tackling Poverty.
Over the eight years, Ibby Osman has had opportunities to appear on live TV broadcasts,
meet with influential politicians and campaign on key issues. Ibby is a champion of
Children’s rights and had numerous platforms where he was able to share his passion and
enthusiasm for it. Ibby has helped the Children Commission for Wales and members of her

team to deliver a document to the Prime Minister in 2016 looking at the comparison between
poverty and young people in Wales. This document was then later shared with the UN when
the Prime Minister made his speech. Through this, they were able to introduce legislation to
protect children from homelessness and poverty.

Ibby has been active within Cardiff by working with Citizens Cymru and played a crucial role
in getting the job compact created and running in Cardiff. Through his work on the project,
we can see organisations such as Cardiff Council and many businesses in Cardiff become a
living wage employer.

Ibby Osman was recently recruited as a Young Research Officer for the National Lottery
Community Fund his role entails gathering the views, experiences and priorities of young
people in Wales. Representing the views of young people in Wales and make sure their
voices are heard. Ibby helps design future funding opportunities for youth organisations.
While also conducting youth-led research to inform the development of a new funding
programme for projects supporting young people.

Building relationships with key personal has enabled Ibby to work closely with organisations
such as Children in Wales and Public Health Wales. Ibby decided to volunteer for these
organisations to tackle the inequality that young people face in health, education and
employment in the 21st Century. Aware of the many year’s young people have been
disadvantaged in school, especially those from a BAME background; he joined ESTYN as a
student inspector to advocate for equality for his peers across Wales. Ibby role is to primarily
work with ESTYN to ensure that schools and colleges are meeting expectations of their
students and offering the highest possible service in education and training.