Global youth consultation of the world humanitarian summit to be held in Doha, Qatar عودة إلى الفرص

 World Humanitarian Summit

Global Youth Consultation

Background

The World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) is an initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General. The first global summit on humanitarian action of this size and scope, it will be held in Istanbul on 23 – 24 May 2016. The goal of this summit is to bring the global community together to commit to new ways of working together to save lives and reduce hardship around the globe.

The number of people affected by humanitarian crises has almost doubled over the past decade, and is expected to keep rising. Today, more people are affected by conflict and disaster, more frequently, and for longer than in previous decades. Humanitarian action must continue evolving in order to keep pace with our rapidly changing world and meet the needs of millions of people now and in years to come.

In the lead-up to the summit in 2016 in Istanbul, the WHS seeks to collaborate with youth to shape the future of humanitarian solutions. This collaboration is done through the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (UN MGCY) World Humanitarian Summit Working Group, who facilitate youth engagement in the WHS process in the lead up and during Istanbul.

A large proportion of all people affected by conflict and the impact of natural hazards and disasters are children and youth.  Youth are also often more vulnerable to recruitment and exploitation in armed conflict situations. The need for greater attention to youth and their engagement has been repeatedly highlighted in the WHS Regional and Online Consultations.

The World Humanitarian Summit, in collaboration with the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth, is hosting the Global Youth Consultation. This Consultation is aimed at engaging youth from different backgrounds and different experiences to discuss where youth stand in the current humanitarian landscape, what they can provide to the field, how the world can better maximize their potential and how youth can have a stronger voice in humanitarian issues.

About the Organizers (United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth)

The UN Major Group for Children and Youth is the official space for children and youth to contribute to certain intergovernmental and policy processes at the United Nations. It is a mandated space by Agenda 21 and UN General Assembly Resolutions (such as 2013’s A/Res/67/290), as well as ad hoc agreements with UN bodies and conferences.

The UN MGCY is not an organization, but a constituency and collaboration of individuals and youth-led organizations. It is a self-organized space with a democratic structure, where all members elect leadership and everyone can contribute. We are young people organizing and mobilizing to facilitate the representation and participation of youth.

This UN MGCY WHS Working Group is the official channel that facilitates the participation of young people in the process. This includes, but is not limited to, regional consultations, official inputs to reports, statements, interventions, global consultations, and the final summit itself.

About the Host (Reach Out to Asia)

Reach Out to Asia (ROTA) is a Qatar-based development agency that empowers local communities by providing access to quality primary and secondary education to children affected by crisis across Asia. ROTA was launched in December 2005 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and chaired by Her Excellency Sheikha Al-Mayassabint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. The organization operates under the auspices of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development and seeks to extend the Qatar Foundation’s mission to people throughout Asia. ROTA currently operates in twelve countries engaging youth; providing equal access to safe, quality primary and secondary education; increasing social and economic opportunities; advocating for the universal right to education; and reaching out to assist in rebuilding communities in post-crisis contexts.

 Sharing the view that youth must be recognized as critical actors in rethinking the global humanitarian architecture, ROTA has the expertise, knowledge and resources to ensure that youth are given this opportunity on the global stage. Youth constitute a significant proportion of groups impacted by crises. In Lebanon, Syrian youth constitute at least 16% of refugees. Young females and children are among the most vulnerable; however, all youth find themselves separated from social and community networks with the attendant loss in education, health and protection services. They often become disenfranchised and suffer from psychosocial disorders. Youth, however, are also important actors in humanitarian response. Willingly or unwillingly youth find themselves caring, protecting, coordinating, communicating and collaborating in times of crisis. International programs that have acknowledged the important role of youth have drawn on their integrity, diversity, teamwork, conflict management, communication and commitment among other skills.

Summary of Event

The World Humanitarian Summit Global Youth Consultation is a youth-led and youth-focused global consultation to gather input from youth on humanitarian challenges and solutions. This event will then allow youth voices to reach the grander process and give them a say in how the humanitarian landscape should be shaped moving forward. During the consultation, youth from all over the world will convene together and partake in a dialogue that will help push youth involvement forward. Participants will range from affected youth, youth working on the field in humanitarian missions, to youth in leading positions and roles in relief organizations. The consultation will also serve as a grand stage to build capacities amongst the future generations of humanitarians and establish a sense or social responsibility in them.

Location: Hamad Bin Khalifa University – Doha, Qatar

Date: 1st and 2nd of September, 2015

Attendees: 300 youth from around the world (aged 18~30) along with 50 experts and representatives of youth focused agencies and governments

Program: Annex 1

Objectives:

1. Discuss the key priorities of youth in the humanitarian landscape and how youth can contribute to humanitarian action.
2. Provide a platform for the announcement of youth-oriented transformative projects
3. Build youth capacities in humanitarian action
4. Outcome Document: Draft and Adopt the Global Youth Declaration on the Humanitarian Agenda
5. Outcome Document (2): Recommendations Report from Youth on the emerging issues in the Humanitarian Landscape

Overall Format

The event will consist of formal plenary sessions, technical panels, breakout sessions in the unconference format and exhibitions for youth-led initiatives.

• Plenary Sessions:

Objective: Provide messages that unify, inform, and inspire the youth community.

There will be an opening plenary to put the Consultation in motion. A Closing Plenary on the second day will include the adoption of the Global Youth Declaration, recommendations, commitments, and announcement of follow-up mechanisms for youth in the World Humanitarian Summit process.
The Plenary Sessions will be webcasted when they occur.

• Technical Panels:

Objective: Provide technical learning opportunities, and opportunities for networking, and information sharing.

Experts will share relevant experience and data on different issues related to youth in humanitarian action.  The panels will be based on the World Humanitarian Summit themes and will discuss emerging priorities and recommendations from the youth consultations and regional consultations.

• Breakout Sessions:

Objective: Allow youth to discuss the issues relevant to youth in the humanitarian landscape and provide their priorities, recommendations and commitments to the humanitarian landscape. These sessions will also allow youth to network in between them and create coalitions and connections between the different youth organizations.

• Exhibitions Fair:

Objective: Showcase organizations, projects, and provide venue for networking and informal information sharing.
The exhibitions fair will consist of booths that allow the showcasing of youth-led and youth-oriented initiatives and projects that plan to enhance humanitarian action and solve humanitarian crises.

How the Youth Event will be Integrated into the WHS Process

In the lead up to the World Humanitarian Summit, a series of Regional Consultations have been held between May, 2014 and August, 2015 including the 8 different regions.

Throughout the consultation phase, teams of thematic experts will work to bring the results of the regional consultations together with findings from global research and policy work, identify areas of consensus and points of divergence, and develop an overarching picture of what is needed for the future of humanitarian action. These experts come from a diverse range of regions, areas of expertise and organizations,and will work together to ensure that the results of all the various WHS consultation processes translate into clear recommendations.

The reports of emerging priorities and recommendations will serve as a basis on which the youth discussions in the Global Youth Consultation will be made. Youth participants will be able to provide input into youth key priorities and recommendations to be included in the Global Youth Declaration for consideration and presentation at the World Humanitarian Summit Global Consultation in Geneva in October, 2015.

WHO :

• Mr. Essa Al Mannai, Executive Director, Reach Out To Asia (ROTA)
• HE Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad Al Thani, Chairperson, Reach Out to Asia (ROTA)
• Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Chief of the World Humanitarian Summit secretariat, UNOCHA
• Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, United Nations Secretary – General’s Special Envoy on Youth

WHAT:

The United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth and Reach Out to Asia (ROTA), member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), will be hosting the Global Youth Consultations (GYC) of the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS). 300 young people between 18 and 30 years of age will be participating from 82 countries in Doha, Qatar on September 1-2, 2015. A number of international partner organisations will be participating, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) Societies, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), The Humanitarian Forum (THF), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and Plan International.

WHY: Humanitarian needs are on the rise. Today, more people are affected by conflict and disaster, more frequently, and for longer than in previous decades. 50 per cent of all people affected by conflict and the impact of natural hazards and conflicts are children and youth.

Youth are also often more vulnerable to recruitment and exploitation in armed conflict situations. The Global Youth Consultation aims to gather input from youth on humanitarian challenges and solutions, as well as foster increased collaboration between youth organizations ahead of the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit, which will be convened by the United Nations Secretary-General in Istanbul on May 23-24 2016. The Summit aims to find new ways to tackle humanitarian challenges in our rapidly changing world.

WHEN: Tuesday, 1st September – Wednesday 2nd September 2015

WHERE: Hamad Bin Khalifa University Students Center, Education City, Doha, Qatar