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Youth Delegates Participation at the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly
The Youth Delegates Programme is an important and crucial mechanism for the participation of young people in the work of the United Nations. Every year, many Member States support their youth delegates as part of their official delegation to the United Nations General Assembly and various functional Commissions of the Economic and Social Council. The intergovernmental processes give youth an opportunity to actively participate and understand the intricacies of negotiations, achieving consensus and diplomacy executed at the various levels of decision making processes. Most importantly, youth delegates bring creativity, energy and new perspectives to highlight issues and interests that globally concern them. Upon their return to their home countries, youth delegates continue to impart their knowledge and lessons learned from the Youth Delegates experience to members of their communities. For the years 2017-2018, several Youth Delegates attended various intergovernmental processes including the General Assembly opening and debate, and the upcoming Third Committee that deals with a range of social, humanitarian and human rights issues including those of youth. The underlying principle of youth participation in the work of the United Nations lies in its inherent potential to create better policy and programmatic dialogue between young people and their Governments on youth issues. The Youth Flash monthly newsletter interviewed Paige Burton, the current Australian Youth Delegate to share her perspectives on how participation at intergovernmental bodies through the Youth Delegates Programme, helps empower her and other youth.
Question: How did you become a UN Youth Delegate for Australia?
Paige Burton: The Australian Youth Representative role is appointed annually by an organisation called UN Youth Australia and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The process is an open application process that asks applicants to share their vision for the role, and prepare a focus for the year. The application process takes place over many rounds and includes interviews, written applications, and a face-to-face workshop delivery. The application process is a good way to get your vision for the role right, and work out where you can improve it going forward.
Question: Why is it important to include youth in decision making mechanisms including UN intergovernmental processes?
Paige Burton: I know that young people have clever, nuanced, and intelligent contributions to make to public debate but often are not given formal platforms to share them. This generation is the largest ever generation of young people and we are going to be crucial in implementing the SDGs.
We cannot achieve all we want to by 2030 without the cooperation, and hard work of young people.
It is important as a global community, that we carve space for young peoples’ input at all levels of decision-making. We all need to recognise the value of young people in contributing to formal intergovernmental processes. Civic empowerment of young people is critical for combatting so many of the issues we are facing around the world, and that means engagement at all levels.
We should be creating spaces that make young people feel celebrated, supported, and powerful. We also need to allow young people to have important conversations with their peers, to give them support, and autonomy to carry out their ideas without being tokenistic.
Question: What do you see as major challenges for your country in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda?
Paige Burton: A major challenge for us, as I think it is with all countries, is making sure that young people are meaningfully engaged in decision-making processes. Australia is a very large country, and so many young people live outside of major cities, in rural and remote communities, and it is very important that the opinions of those young people are heard and valued alongside everyone’s.
The biggest challenge I see is educating young people about the 2030 Agenda in a way that lets them think about the agenda in a framework. Young people care about so many of the SDGs but the goals cannot be left in silos. All the SDGs are connected, and most issues are related to each other. We need to find a way to teach that to young people early so that they are able to educate their peers, and act on the SDGs in that intersectional way.
Question: How do you intend to implement lessons learned from UNGA 72 to youth in your home country?
Paige Burton: I am writing an extensive report after my time at UNGA. Each Federal Electorate in Australia will have a report written that reflects the views of young Australians that I have captured in my consultations throughout the year as well as some lessons from UNGA 72. For a couple of months, I will also be on social media sharing the experiences, and engaging in conversations face-to-face with young people about my time in New York and the United Nations.
Question: What advice do you have for other youth who will like to start-up a Youth Delegates programme in their country?
Paige Burton: Do it! Youth Delegates are so important; they give a voice and face to so many issues that are crucial for young people in your country. Chat to some former youth delegates to establish how they run their programme. There are variations across the world in the way the programmes are managed, but you can have a look and see which one will work for you. I would be very happy to talk about how to setup the programme, using my experience.
About Paige Burton:
Paige Burton is the 2017 Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations.
Paige previously served as the National Education Director and Chair of the Board for United Nations Youth Australia. Paige helped develop the UN Youth Australia’s national curriculum, founded the first national advocacy-oriented public speaking competition (Voice), and facilitated educational tours of Timor Leste, and the Middle East for high school students.
Until 2016, Paige was the Events & Operations Manager at the Centre for Australian Progress, a non-profit organisation committed to building the advocacy capacity of Australian civil society. In 2015, and 2016, Paige was recognised for her work by Pro Bono Australia as the youngest ever recipient of the ‘Impact 25: The 25 Most Influential People in the Social Sector’ award. In 2017, Paige was named as a finalist for New South Wales Young Woman of the Year.
Paige represented Australian young people on the United Nations LGBT Core Group's panel for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
You can read more about Paige Burton and her work as a Youth Delegate here and follow her on social media: Facebook or Twitter: @Paige_Burton.
The Youth Delegates Programme is coordinated by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Social Policy and Development (DESA/DSPD) at the global level. However, Member States determine the role and mandate of their youth delegate/s. Read more about the Youth Delegates Progamme here.
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