A former Hay resident has been selected to be part of a panel which is organising a state-wide youth summit on the drought.
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Leo Fitzpatrick will be one of 11 members of the steering committee for the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund NSW youth summit on living with drought.
The summit will bring together 107 people aged between 14 and 24 from across the state and will aim to identify actions which can be taken to support areas affected by drought.
Mr Fitzpatrick said it is important to encourage younger people to talk about the impact of the drought and the summit is a great way of spreading the message.
"I think with older people there might be a stigma about it [the drought]," Mr Fitzpatrick said.
"We are hoping to make a change when it comes to how people are handling the drought.
"We are the future of not only farming, but the entire country."
The steering committee has the task of organising the agenda for the summit and selecting the participants, with an aim to put the solutions and recommendations arising from the summit to politicians and other decision-makers.
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Mr Fitzpatrick, who moved from Hay to Wagga Wagga in November last year to take up a position with NSW Health, said seeing his mother go through a shortage of work as a shed-hand and hearing stories at school of families who were struggling due to the drought made him want to work towards finding solutions to the issues brought about by the drought.
He said the summit aims to bring people together from across the state and provide a support network for those suffering from the drought.
"It's just a hand on their shoulder to let them know they are not alone," he said.
Mr Fitzpatrick will be joined by other committee members from across the state for the summit, with other members coming from areas such as Cowra, Dubbo, Picton and Walgett.
The summit will be held from October 9 to 11 at Lake Macquarie.
Those aged between 18 and 24 who are impacted by the drought and wishing to become a participant in the summit can apply by visiting www.unicef.org.au/droughtsummit.
Applications to participate in the summit will close on August 30 and all costs associated with attending the summit will be covered by UNICEF Australia.
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