A BRIGHTON campaigner enjoyed an “amazing and incredible” trip to New York after being chosen to attend a summit of world leaders.

Phil Reed, a research officer at the University of Sussex in the Institute of Development Studies, attended the UN General Assembly and saw speeches by the Pope and Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.

The 27-year-old said: “The visit was amazing, it was incredible and I am left with incredible memories.

“On the day of the opening of the general assembly we arrived at the UN headquarters at 4:30am and at that point the sun hadn’t risen but as the sun began to rise it was a beautiful view.”

The three-day conference in New York saw world leaders ratify 17 new global goals which Phil described as a ‘universal blueprint’ for a fairer world and to tackle the most pressing global issues.

Phil said one of the highlights was hearing activist and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai speak.

Miss Yousafzai became the laureate in recognition of her battle for girls to gain an education despite being shot in the head in Pakistan by the Taliban

Phil said: “The experience lived-up to expectations without a shadow of a doubt, to be able to hear both the Pope and Malala speak was special."

Phil was chosen to attend as a UK representative of the campaign group ONE.

ONE is an international, non-partisan, non-profit, advocacy and campaigning organisation that sets-out to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.

He said: “At ONE we work on tackling poverty and particularly poverty effecting females and the challenges of childbirth mortality and income inequality.”

Phil was selected to go on the trip after an application process where he wrote a motivational piece of writing before being voted by fellow members of ONE.

A spokesperson for ONE said: “ONE has seven million members worldwide and more than 100,000 members in the UK and all our members all make a valuable contribution.

“Phil fully deserved to be chosen to represent the organisation as he has demonstrated dedication and motivation as well as proving to be a consistent organiser."