16/06/2024 – 13:05
Five young Brazilians chosen in a selection process will represent Brazil in the exchange of experience, discussions and construction of proposals that will be presented in November at the Group of 20 (G20) summit, which brings together the largest global economies and which this year is chaired by the Brazil. The group makes up the Y20 delegation (Youth20, in English), which guarantees the social participation and protagonism of youth from all over the world in the international decision-making process.
“We work to strengthen the protagonism of young people in the decision-making spaces of the G20 and the world.”, explains Marcus Barão, chair of Y20 and president of the National Youth Council.
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Philippe Diogo da Silva, Mahryan Rodrigues, Leandro Corrêa, Daniela Costa and Guilherme Manços will meet with young representatives from other member countries and guests in Belém do Pará, at the Y20 Pré Summit, starting this Monday (17). For three days, they will participate in the first face-to-face meeting to build the so-called Communiqué, a document with youth demands and proposals for global economic and social development.
“It will be very positive for us to be able to organize a proposal like the Global South. And so that this Global South has a voice, together with other countries in the Global North, and that we can find a fine line to be able to face the data that always puts us on the margins of society in a vulnerable situation” , says Philippe Silva.
Each representative, aged between 18 and 30, will deal with one of the priority themes chosen by the Y20 presidency to conduct the work. The debates will be about combating hunger, poverty and inequality; climate change, energy transition and sustainable development; reform of the global governance system; inclusion and diversity; and innovation and the future of the world of work.
A second meeting, the Y20 Summit, will take place between the 10th and 17th of August, in Rio de Janeiro. It will finalize the document to be presented to the G20 summit.
“It is the possibility for young people, especially Brazilians, to bring their demands forward. Bearing in mind that young Brazilians, who have shown themselves to be in a vulnerable situation, who are unable to access the job market and who are also unable to become professionals, are the main victims of hunger, underemployment and other sub-opportunities that arise” , highlights Philippe Silva, who will address debates on combating hunger, poverty and inequality
Silva and the other four delegates, in addition to participating in the Y20 agenda in virtual and in-person youth engagement meetings, also undergo a series of training so that they can act effectively in this representation. “We recently had training with UN Brazil and several united agencies that trained us and provided us with input, not just data, but technical input so that we can debate and present proposals for this political impact and to construct the final text in the best way possible. possible. Despite an optimistic vision, I believe that one of our biggest challenges will be building consensus”, highlights Mahryan Rodrigues, who works on climate change, energy transition and sustainable development.
Created in 2010, Y20 is one of the most internationally influential forums and one of the most important on youth in the world. Although the delegates participate in the debates divided into axes, the construction of consensus ends up converging on the economic issue. “I would say that one of the biggest challenges is thinking about what the obstacles and financing alternatives and means of implementation are for developing countries to also make the green transition in their economies. We know that developed countries have more financial resources and less inequality to deal with”, highlights Mahryan Rodrigues.
For Mahryan, other constructions could come from the transversality of themes, such as the social reach necessary for the green transition to be for everyone, for climate justice to happen in developing countries and for solutions to climate change to be effectively sustainable. “I usually say that the climate crisis will arrive for everyone, for some people it has already arrived and some people will be most affected first and most intensely. So, within this G20 group, despite the economy being a common issue, we have countries with more inequality to resolve”.
According to Barão, the choice of Belém to start the face-to-face debates reflects the Y20’s commitment to the international agenda, as the city will host the 30th UN Conference on Climate Change (COP30) in 2025 and reinforces the importance of the Amazon region for environmental balance.
For young people, it will also encourage social participation in reflection on new strategies for the region and may assist in debates on the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), updated annually at party conferences.
Philippe Silva also reinforces that the exercise of representation is training so that youth can be prepared in the future to lead discussions in these large global forums. “Soon we will be in these same spaces that they occupy and we will be able to guarantee a minimum structure that we need, participation, voice, sociability and, of course, quality of life. In many countries we see that, today, young people are only capable of surviving, and we have reached a time when it is no longer possible to have a youth, or a working class, that still only thinks about surviving. We need to achieve a quality life, with access to all rights in a universal and equal way”, he concludes.
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