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Summary: An overview of child and young
people’s participation at the 2nd
PrepCom. Two young people
articipated as expert panelists during
official proceedings. A “Pre-PrepCom
Session Workshop” for young people
was organised by Save the Children.
Netherlands, Canada, Mali, Jamaica,
Denmark, Sweden, -- included
children and young people on their
delegations.
Reviewing Participation of Young People in the second SSOC Prep
Com - An overview, lessons learnt and next steps
By UNICEF
This is an overview of the children and young people’s
participation at the second substantive session of the
Preparatory Committee of the Special Session on Children
(PrepCom, 29 Jan to 2 Feb 2001).
1. Two young people participated as expert panelists on two
panels which took place as official proceedings of the PrepCom –
one on “Adolescent Development and Participation” and one on
“Girl Child” –. Mr. Issa Moussa Issa, 17 years old, from Jordan
presented the highlights and outcome of recent regional youth
fora in the Middle East on the adolescent panel, and Ms. Briskellia
Alvarez from Venezuela, was a panelist on the girl child panel.
2. A “Pre-PrepCom Session Workshop” for young people
attending the PrepCom as government delegates and NGO
delegates was organised by Save the Children. The workshop
was held for two days, on Friday, 26 Jan and Saturday 27 Jan,
prior to the official session at the US Funds for UNICEF facility.
3. Around 50 children and young people, from age 11 to 22, from
23 countries attended the workshop. The workshop briefed
children and young people of the process of the PrepCom and the
Special Session, and produced “key messages” from children and
young people which were their inputs to the draft outcome
document, “A World Fit for Children.” These “key messages”
were brought to the attention of the donor group (JUSCANZ) and
the EU group through young official delegates from EU countries,
and to some of the Bureau members and the Chair of the
PrepCom.
4. Children and youth participated in the government delegations
of Canada, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Sweden, Uganda and
Venezuela. Several young people delivered statements on behalf
of their governments.
5. Several children and young people delivered statements on
the floor during the official debate as NGO representatives. They
include a young person speaking as a member of Youth Caucus, a
young woman speaking on behalf of the NGO Working Group on
Girls, and a 15 year old young woman from Honduras speaking
on behalf of the children and young people who attended the pre-
session workshop
6. Children and young people actively participated in many side-
events organised by NGOs. They include two panels organised
by NGO Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in which
two young people were panelists, a workshop facilitated by
young people themselves on “Evaluating Young People’s
Participation”, and several NGO Caucus meetings. (The Youth
Caucus ceased to function as a cohesive group after the 3rd day
of the PrepCom due to the extreme difficulties created by
confrontation between young people representing single-issue
NGOs and the rest of young people. Unfortunately, the Caucus
was not able to deliver a statement on its behalf, which was its
original intention.)
7. UNICEF invited three young people as initial members of the
Youth Advisory Group (YAG). They held consultation with UNICEF
staff to discuss their role and the nature of the group (including
the name of the body which will become the youth reference
group), and the process to expand the membership. It was
agreed that their role will be to work with UNICEF New York in
three areas: developing the communication strategies for the
“Say Yes to Children Campaign” and the Global Movement for
Children. (Allison Brown is the focal point within DOC for this
collaboration); planning for the Young People’s Forum; and
working with UNICEF to plan specific events during the
Special Session. They also attended the pre-session workshop
and actively participated in many NGO events discussed above.
8. UNICEF DOC organised a small workshop on “Say Yes to
Children” campaign which several young people, including the
YAG members, participated. The workshop was a first
opportunity to receive inputs from young people in developing a
strategy on mobilising young people for the campaign.