R23 | Proposer: Global Young Greens

RESOLUTION TEXT

Global Youth Movements made it very clear: Young people want to be heard, represented and a spot at the negotiation table. They demand clearly to shape their own future – also on a political level.

As Global Greens, it is of utmost importance to us, to create participatory,  inclusive democracies. Therefore we are more than happy to see young activists engaging in civil society movements, UN constituencies and Green parties. We stand in solidarity with the youth movements which share the values of the Global Green Charter and commit ourselves to be their allies and support them in reaching their goals and help them be recognised in the decision making.

We reject the practise of tokenizing young people in putting them in the spotlight without also opening the decision-making to them. To us youth have  always been more than a cheap campaigning force, evident by the important role young people play in Green parties around the world and the number of young people who cast their votes for our movement.

The Global Greens will actively work towards more inclusivity in our own structures and do this in strong cooperation with the Global Young Greens to ensure that our bodies are a place for young people to be heard, to bring their ideas to the table while being sure that they are treated as equals.

Starting in our own structures, but also going beyond: We will also advocate for stronger youth participation in political systems and organisations as well as in the bodies of the United Nations. Especially looking at the UNFCCC COPs we recognised that young people were tokenized but not heard. Young people were allowed to protest in the COP venue but not to access the negotiations. Young  people were promoted in the communications but not supported in participating at the conferences.

We demand real youth participation including seats at the negotiating tables!

The Global Greens therefore commit to:

• Monitor their internal structures constantly to ensure that they are open to the participation of young people.
• Supporting the Global Young Greens in their important work of bringing the global Green Youth Movement together and strengthening it.
• Advocate for real youth participation in decision making structures inside and outside of the movement.
• Support our member organisations to build up strong youth wings in their organisations and to do this in cooperation with the Global Young Greens.

The Global Greens call on the United Nations to:

• Make the structures of their conferences and bodies more accessible for young people by offering sponsorships and implement trainings on the functioning of the conferences and structures.
• Give young people seats at the negotiating table through the promotion of youth in national delegations and opening the room for youth civil society movements. This can be done through strengthening the role of their constituencies and their say in the negotiation process.