CSD: Day 9

[Article published in the Outreach newsletter of CSD, Thursday May 13.]

Overcoming Obstacles: Feet First

“You take your foot, and you put it in the shoe.” This was one twelve-year-old’s response when asked how government delegates could better understand what it’s like to be poor. The interview took place here at the UN CSD-18 on Monday May 10th, when a group of youth caucus members decided to engage with twelve-year olds from an inner-city neighbourhood in Toronto, using Skype (a program for video-calling and chat).

One youth caucus member reflected, “It was exciting and inspiring to have a conversation with kids that were hundreds of miles away, who were deeply concerned about these issues.”

Kids such as those on the Skype call, are so often excluded from international forums. This is an obstacle the Youth Caucus faces - how can we include everyone, especially those who are consistently excluded in society today? And, how can we, a small group, represent so many diverse young people? Underprivileged youth are amongst those who will be most affected by the issues; and more importantly, they are the agents of change who can translate policies into action. Because they are key protoganists in implementation, the Youth Caucus feels they have the right to be part of policy development.

As representatives of both youth and children, many at the CSD felt strongly about the need to gather inputs from younger peers.Three calls have taken place thus far, putting 7 youth in direct contact with around 15 young, intelligent teens. Two more calls are scheduled for later this week, which are estimated to connect the Youth Caucus with a total of 25 young people. Another possibility is skyping with an entire classroom of kids at Orcas Island Middle School.

Another challenge has been the lack of regional diversity within the Youth Caucus itself. "We've been working hard to address the serious issue of under-representation from Latin American and African countries. Their valuable experiences and perspectives on the thematic clusters need to be brought to the table."

The Youth Caucus has recognized that youth participation from these regions is critical, and so it has been their priority to actively engage delegates from these regions to include youth in their official delegations.

"We've been lobbying for more youth representation from the South for a long time. And while we're met with positive reactions, we still have a long way to go."

Other ways that children and youth can participate include ning, skype, e-mail, facebook and meetings in our communities prior to the CSD itself. These media outlets help us bring people together from around the world, to take part in this dynamic dialogue.

"Teleconferencing keeps coming up as a great way to reduce air travel and carbon emissions. So we're trying to put this into action, get more children involved and have fair regional representation---And we're asking delegates to do the same. Who's with us?"

Connect with the youth caucus on Ning: https://csdyouthcaucus.ning.com/

Authors: Mikala Forster, Emilie Gincig, Alicia Cundall, Natalie Lum-Tai, Krissy Moore, Serena Sanders

Thanks to: Sana Zareey as well as the young people and their families in Toronto for making this possible.