“Youth should have a seat on the table,” according to Othman Almoamar, Youth 20 (Y20) chair, who kicked off the Y20 in a virtual keynote address.
“Ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, young people have a unique chance to reimagine the world they want to live in,” said Almoamar.
The Y20 Youth Summit is a youth-led event bringing young leaders from G20 countries to discuss and debate the G20 Leaders’ agenda. The Summit concludes with the drafting of the Y20 Communique. The communique will be submitted to the global leaders during their next meeting in Riyadh towards the end of November.
The summit’s first official panel gathered policymakers from India, Italy and Singapore to discuss post-Covid opportunities for youth.
Because of their perceived low risk to coronavirus, youth tend to be more reckless when it comes to social distancing and corona safety practices. In Singapore, however, youth have been empowered to lead the fight against coronavirus, said Alvin Tan, Minister of State for Ministry of Community, Culture and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry in Singapore.
“Youth play an important role in securing lives in Singapore by wearing masks, encouraging others to do so and maintain social distance,” he added. The number of coronavirus cases is down to below 10 cases a day.
“While youth were the least likely to lose their lives because of Covid, they were the most likely to lose their jobs,” said Sarah Alkhedheiri, Y20 Sherpa from Saudi Arabia when introducing the panel speakers.
On that note, panellists highlighted the importance of financial support for youth, defined by Y20 as the period of life between 14 and 35.
Both the head of the Department for Youth Policies and the Universal Civic Service at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in Italy, Flavio Siniscalchi, and Tan said they were imposing paid internships for youth. Alkhedheiri interjected adding that the EU had banned unpaid internships.
Providing youth with the means to be engaged and empowered citizens was also discussed in the panel. “We have created a platform where youth can engage in a dialogue with policymakers on cultural and employment issues among other topics,” said Siniscalchi.
Youth 20 ran last week and featured panels on sustainability recovery, global and corporate citizenship, and entrepreneurship.
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