'Youth participation at the heart of sustainable development'

Delhi, India: The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme contributes to peace and development through volunteerism. UNV is inspired by the conviction that volunteerism can transform the pace and nature of development and by the idea that everyone can contribute their time and energy towards peace and development. In 2014, UNV released a youth volunteerism strategy to help engage youth in volunteering.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is the nodal Ministry for UNV in India. In partnership with UNDP, both are increasingly working together for youth volunteerism and development. Taking forward this partnership for continued discourse on youth development, national UN Volunteers Mr. Auro Shashwat and Mr. Preetam Sengupta were invited to attend the Youth Leaders’ Forum prior to the Asia Region Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting. This was convened by the Commonwealth Secretariat and hosted by India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports under the title ‘Youth Participation at the Heart of Sustainable Development’ from 27 to 30 July 2015.

The first two days witnessed youth leaders strengthen their resolve to amplify the collective youth voice in the eight Asian Commonwealth member states of Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka. Two working groups – one of which was voluntarily moderated by national UN Volunteer Preetam – were formed to develop a set of recommendations from young leaders towards the upcoming Youth Ministers Meeting. 

These recommendations were eventually condensed into the Youth Declaration, a comprehensive list of issues such as sustainable youth employment opportunities and having a greater say in the development of the region’s future. Youth leaders called on the Ministers to partner with them to strengthen and cultivate inclusive, democratic, autonomous and youth-led National Youth Councils in all Asian Commonwealth countries, and at the regional level for engagement with youth bodies in other blocs such as the European Union, the Pacific and the Caribbean.

At the Ministers’ Meeting, youth ministers and senior officials committed to tackling high youth unemployment and lack of youth participation. They recognized that providing a greater role for young people in decision making is essential for the region’s development. Highlighting the untapped potential of young people, India’s Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Hon Sarbananda Sonowal said, “The challenge before all of us is to develop and empower young people to enable them to realize their full potential and to contribute to the development of their respective nations.”

Supporting the call by youth leaders, ministers committed to backing a youth-focused monitoring mechanism for the Sustainable Development Goals, including the disaggregation of data and analysis using the Commonwealth Youth Development Index. Design and implementation of national youth policies was another key topic during discussions. 

Ministers reinforced their commitment to youth work, viewing it as an essential component to underpin youth development and empower young people in their communities. They agreed to invest in youth work education and collaborate with the Commonwealth consortium to create a bachelor’s degree in youth development work. Ministers committed to taking a collective, regional approach to peace building and conflict resolution. They noted that young people and youth ministers can play an integral role in promoting friendship, understanding and unity throughout the region.

Promoting youth participation in governance by Emilio Valli, UNV Program Officer in Kyrgyzstan, with inputs from Maria Urpi, former international UN Volunteer, and from Ms. Jana Nagnitschenko, former international UN Youth Volunteer

Kyrgyzstan: With over one billion people still living on less than a dollar a day, global development and the fight to end world poverty will continue to be top priorities for the international community for decades to come.

National consultations on a post-2015 global development agenda have been finalized in more than 70 countries with the aim to ‘localize' the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identified in the global agenda.

In the Kyrgyz Republic, youth accounts for 30 percent of the total population, and youth had a correspondent share of the total number of participants to the national consultations. The focus group- and interview-based consultations were organized in four out of the seven provinces of the country. Youth leaders from five provinces of the country participated in the Youth Forum. In total, at least 50 percent of the national consultations’ participants were representatives of the country’s provinces.

Representatives of marginalized groups comprised up to 10 percent of the total number of participants. Overall, at least 50 percent of the consultations’ participants were women.

In addition to the national consultations, the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) had organized a set of eleven thematic consultations on conflict and fragility; education; environmental sustainability; governance; growth and employment; health; hunger, food and nutrition; inequalities; population dynamics; energy; and water. The implementation of these thematic consultations was coordinated through the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme’s Field Unit.

A report with the preliminary findings from the national and thematic consultations was published in March 2013.

The second phase of the consultations was launched soon afterwards, and an important positive result was achieved when a national roundtable of stakeholders validated the findings and recommendations of the draft Final Report on 4 September 2014. This crucial event roundtable was in turn followed by a series of workshops to identify and debate the lessons learned from applying the framework of ’localized’ MDGs, draw conclusions and key messages, and formulate recommendations to the national and international actors with regard to the alignment of global SDGs with the national development priorities.

The sustainable development issues were also discussed at the Youth Forum: “We are in the Country’s Post-2015 Development Agenda” held in July 2014, and at the Regional Conference: “Post-2015 Agenda: Gender Equality, Women Empowerment, and Sustainable Development”, July 2014.

Moreover, the internet platform www.2015.kg, established during last year’s consultations, and the UN Kyrgyzstan Facebook page were used to report and update the interested general public on the process; collect the opinions and views on the country’s priority development areas; and support the ‘mapping’ of capacity building interventions deemed important to build effective institutions within the post-2015 development agenda’s framework.

Furthermore, on International Volunteer Day (5 December 2014), young local volunteers, coached by applying a peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing approach, initiated and guided by an international UN Volunteer, carried-out the “My World Kyrgyzstan” survey in Osh, receiving feedback from 150 citizens.

In total, over 350 state and municipal officials, representatives of non-commercial organizations, youth activists and academics participated in the focus groups and interviews, as well as in the round table (4 September) and Youth Forum: “We are in the Country’s Post-2015 Development Agenda” (2-3 July).

A special note must be made about the active participation of youth alongside senior colleagues in all phases of the national consultations. Young people discussed the future of the country’s development agenda, and the role and place of youth in decision-making processes at both local and national level.

Active UN Youth Volunteers and international UN Volunteers have been involved in each activity.