Youth Engagement in the G7
“Global Health & Solidarity” and “Youth, Peace & Security”. The wide range of policies addressed by Delegates reflects their broad expertise and extensive networks. Further, it allowed to address the different areas of focus and initiatives set out by the German Presidency and highlighted the importance to include youth as actors of any holistic approach to global challenges. Following the vision, that nothing about youth, should be decided without full and direct participation of young people, Youth7 made every effort to ensure the in-person (or online) participation of its repre- sentatives at the decision-making table, on the podium and at panels. From March 2022, Track Sherpa and Delegates met to exchange ideas and perspectives, share their academic and professional insights and develop a joint position on core recommendations. In exchange with external experts from research and policy development alike, each Track agreed on a set of core demands, which laid the ground- work to reach a negotiation result after only three days at the Youth Summit 2022. It is due to their commitment, that a unanimous vote gave the Youth7 Communiqué its strong mandate and inclu- sive character. Building on the official handover to Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Youth7 Commu- niqué became the centrepiece of advocacy efforts beyond the Youth7 Summit, both nationally and internationally, with Delegations disseminating the core demands and recommendations to their respective governments and civil society stake- holders. Youth7 aimed to secure, that in the G7 nothing about youth, should be decided without full and direct participation of young people.
YOUTH DIALOGUE ACROSS AND BEYOND THE G7
Carolina Claus & Christina Arkenberg
Youth7 accompanies the continuous dialogue of heads of state and government in the G7’s compre- hensive fora of political cooperation and negoti- ations. As the officially recognised framework for young civil society to extend their recommenda- tions to the rotating Presidencies, Youth7 invites youth activities and young leaders to raise their voices in multilateral cooperation and to take a stand on today’s global challenges. The annual G7 Leaders’ Summit is widely known to serve as an opportunity for intergovernmental cooperation at a high-profile venue, gifting specta- tors with a series of family photos and glimpses into the groups’ meetings. Yet the media interest only throws a spotlight for a few days on an ongoing work process, building upon numerous, less visible, meetings, workshops and stakeholder events, which take place over the course of each Presi- dency. And with most of the preparations for agree- ments at the highest-level taking place on working level, Youth7 joined the G7 dialogue process aiming to contribute to policies from conception to coordi- nation and adoption. Reflecting the continuous G7 process, the Youth7 Summit 2022 was preceded by months of working meetings and preparatory work, establishing thematic policy Tracks dedicated to “Green & Sustainable Planet”, “Economic Transformation for Shared Progress”, “Resilience of Democracies”,
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