09 March 2023 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm GMT | Virtual Consultation
This event is being held in English & French
In September 2022, in the scope of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, Member States decided “to establish the United Nations Youth Office as a dedicated office for youth affairs in the Secretariat”. The UN Youth Office must become an unprecedented and highly effective advocacy tool to address political realities and catalyze action to influence the decisions that matter for the lived conditions young people are facing.
To materialize into such an agent of change, the UN Youth Office needs to be equipped with significant financial resources, to sustain its operational costs and staffing but also to allow grant making to existing representative youth and student organizations working on the ground. Much is talked about the need to invest in the youth sector, however investments in democratic structures for the interest representation of young people remains marginal.As the international student movement we represent the largest democratic and organized movement of young people worldwide and it is an imperative for student unions to formulate a clear position outlining what our constituency wants this office to develop into.
We therefor come together for a series of consultations to formulate a collective position paper and advocacy framework to influence decision makers involved in the process of determining the structure and mission of the UN Youth Office. Session participants will be asked the following questions:
- What should the governance structure of the UN Youth Office look like?
- What should be the core strategic and political priorities of the UN Youth Office?
- What can we as youth and student organisations do to influence the process?
