WHAT IS UNYDP

UN Youth Delegates (YDs) are young people who officially represent the interests of the youth of their country at the United Nations. They are selected to accompany their government’s diplomatic delegation to the UN meetings.

The underlying principle of youth participation in the work of the United Nations is that it leads to better policy and programmatic responses to the problems facing young people today. The United Nations recognizes that young people around the world are both a major human resource for development and key agents for social change, economic development and technological innovation. The inclusion of young people in official delegations to intergovernmental meetings not only enriches the debate and policy dialogue, but also strengthens existing channels of communication and cooperation between Governments and young people. Moreover, upon return to their home countries, youth delegates often promote continued progress in the development and implementation of youth policies at the national level and encourage other young people to participate more fully in the development of their communities and nations.

Including UNA-UNYA Youth Delegates in the Italian government delegation to the United Nations General Assembly will make Italy one of the successful cases of implementation of the United Nations Youth Delegate Programme, and will confirm the Italian full commitment to the work of the United Nations, not only as a 60 years long Member States, as re-elected member of ECOSOC and as non-permanent member to the United Nations Security Council, but also as a promoter of youth at UN level.

The World Programme of Action for Youth, adopted by the General Assembly in 1995, on the tenth anniversary of the first International Youth Year, focuses on increasing the quality and quantity of opportunities available to young people for full, effective and constructive participation in society. The WPAY initially identified 10 priority areas to guide policy and action regarding youth development extended to 15 in 2007, these are:

• Education
• Employment
• Hunger and poverty
• Health
• Environment
• Drug abuse
• Juvenile delinquency
• Leisure-time activities
• Girls and young women
• Participation
• Globalization
• Information and communication technologies
• HIV/AIDS
• Youth and conflict
• Intergenerational relations

In particular, it invites Governments to strengthen the involvement of young people in international forums by considering the inclusion of youth representatives in their national delegations to the General Assembly (General Assembly resolution 50/81, paragraph 107). This invitation has been renewed several times in subsequent resolutions (52/83, 54/120, 56/117, 58/133, 59/148, 60/2, 62/126).

Furthermore, the Secretary General is working with dedication to involve young people in the UN, and in January 2013 he appointed Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi of Jordan as his first ever Envoy on Youth to advocate for addressing the development needs and rights of young people, as well as to bring the work of the United Nations with and for youth closer to them.

Moreover, young people has been a major stakeholder (Major Group for Children and Youth) during the Post-2015 Development Agenda negotiation and are considered central advocates for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).

The role of a youth delegate to United Nations intergovernmental meetings differs from country to country.

Youth delegates may participate in several intergovernmental meetings at the United Nations. Most official youth delegates participate in the General Assembly, but some also attend functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council.

The Italian YDs will attend the 72nd UNGA session that will represent the coronation of the launching of the Italian Youth Delegate Programme.
As part of the delegation, YDs generally attend the formal sessions of the chosen UN body and they are usually allowed to hold a speech. They participate in formal and informal consultations with regular diplomats, cooperate with YDs from other countries in writing or amending draft resolutions relevant to youth issues. Together with the YDs of other countries they write “youth newsletters” which they distribute to the diplomats of the 193 countries present. They organize so called “side-events”, i.e. meetings, where they invite diplomats and inform them about the situation of young people pertaining to a certain policy issue (e.g. Climate Change, Sustainable Development, Youth Unemployment).

After returning from New York they write reports for Ministries, NGOs and youth organisations, attend follow-up meetings with the youth delegates from other European countries, meet civil servants, youth activists, NGOs, heads of youth organisations, parliamentarians, local politicians and many representatives of the press. Finally, they participate in the selection procedure for the youth delegates of the following year.