Global youth organisations meet alongside United Nations summit

Last week, 12 ICMYO (International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organisations) member organisations met in New York for its annual meeting to discuss how the network can strengthen cooperation among global youth organisations and to plan for next year.

The ICMYO members met from 28th to 30th September, just after the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit during which the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The meeting took place just down the street from the UN General Assembly.

All ICMYO organisations share a common goal of integrating youth fully into the debates and decision-making processes at the UN and influencing global youth policy processes, making this year’s meeting in the margins of the UN Summit and General Assembly all the more symbolic.

During the meeting a new taskforce was approved to coordinate the work of ICMYO throughout the year. Members gave updates on their activities as well as on UN policies and processes related to youth.

The European Youth Forum will continue to be a member of this ICMYO Task Force for the coming year, along with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), the World Organisation of Young Esperantists (TEJO), World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and World Alliance of YMCAs.

The participants discussed how to move forwards with ICMYO’s three main objectives: to represent the diverse voices of youth-led organisations globally; to facilitate cooperation among youth-led organisations at regional and global levels; and to strengthen coordinated political inputs to global youth policy.

They also held sessions with Youth Focal Points of some UN agencies before agreeing on priorities, actions and commitments for ICMYO in the coming year.

ICMYO will continue to be busy next year, working on the role of youth organisations in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It will follow up on youth participation within the UN system through the ECOSOC Youth Forum. It will also work on advocating towards permanent mechanisms for youth participation. And finally next year, ICMYO also plans to work on strengthening its outreach, cooperation and coordination efforts.