The United
Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), an international
legally binding treaty which has three main goals (1) conservation of biological
diversity (or biodiversity); (2) sustainable use of its components; and (3)
fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources,
encourages the participation of civil society, including official Major Groups
such as the Children and Youth, in its processes. In the years leading up to
tenth Conference of the Parties of the CBD (COP10) young people from around the
world who were passionate about biodiversity issues felt the need to create an
organized network in order to ensure active participation and involvement in
the CBD. At COP10 youth officially presented Global Youth Biodiversity
Network (GYBN) concept and gained the support of the Secretariat. GYBN
mission is to raise global awareness among young people of the values of biodiversity
and connect individuals and youth organizations in order to build a global
coalition to halt the loss of biodiversity. After its start, an Interim
Steering Committee was formed with the aim of establishing a
relationship with the Secretariat and mobilizing their peers. This
committee initially focused on establishing a relationship with the
Secretariat and mobilizing their peers.
The Committee also focused on using online means to connect
youth, and organized the GYBN Kick-Off Conference held in Berlin, Germany, in
2012.
GYBN’s interim Steering
Committee is now at the end of its mandate, and is calling for
self-nominations of young people from all over the world who are able
to commit to two years’ voluntary service for the following elected positions a)
two (2) Focal Points
and b) eight to fifteen
(8-15) Steering Committee members and in keeping with the
mandates described below:
A. Two (2) Focal Points
Mandate of the Focal
Points:
- Promote the UN Guide of Participation to
members who are attending CBD meetings;
- Facilitate the engagement of members of
the network in events, meetings, activities and negotiations under the CBD and
other intergovernmental processes;
- Maintain effective communication
channels between the CBD Secretariat or other institutions; and the members,
disseminating relevant information when appropriate
- Attend the COP taking place during the
given term and actively seek adequate support with the assistance of the
Steering Committee as necessary;
- Attend, to the best of their ability,
CBD intercessional meetings;
- Identify interim Focal Point(s) to
attend CBD intercessional meetings if they are not able to, and ensure these
interim focal points are properly prepared for these meetings;
- Liaise with the CBD Secretariat at CBD
negotiation sessions on a daily basis if necessary;
- Make emails from the CBD Secretariat or
other institutions accessible to youth by translating the information into
youth friendly language;
- Direct specific matters to the
appropriate Working Groups if applicable;
- Encourage that the network meets
deadlines in responding to requests for input and participation, from the CBD
Secretariat or other institutions;
- Avoid rapid decisions and tasks that do
not take into account the input necessary for transparency and effective
participation from the network;
- Maintain a democratic, inclusive and
participatory spirit in working with the network;
- Collaborate closely with the Steering
Committee and working groups;
- Maintain transparency by regularly
updating and informing the network on their work;
- Establish a trusting relationship
between themselves and all members of the network, as well as with other bodies
working or interested in working with GYBN.
Focal Point Criteria:
A candidate for a GYBN Focal Point position should:
-
Possess good understanding of CBD processes;
-
Possess good understanding of GYBN Statute and decision-making processes;
-
Be supported by their organization of origin;
-
Be able to commit to a two-year term;
-
Have demonstrated
leadership skills;
-
Be able to attend the COP (Conference Of Parties) held during their term;
availability during intersessional meetings is a plus;
-
Ensure that the Focal Point role is prioritized during the COP;
-
Have excellent English conversational, writing, and reading skills; skill
in other United Nations official languages is a plus;
-
Have excellent
communication skills;
-
Be self-motivated;
-
Be of an age between 18 and 28 years (at the time of the election);
-
Have reliable internet
access to be able to work and maintain effective communication;
-
Be able to promote the values of GYBN and its Code of conduct;
-
Be committed to promoting youth empowerment and participation within the
CBD process;
-
Be committed to maintaining an inclusive, transparent, and representative
mandate within GYBN processes;
-
Be committed to
maintaining a strong and positive relationship with the Secretariat;
-
Have previous experience in facilitating youth activism and be able to
work with a diverse group of people sharing different cultural, educational and
professional backgrounds.
B. Eight to fifteen (8-15) Steering
Committee members
Mandate of the Steering
Committee:
- Maintain a democratic, inclusive and
participatory spirit in working with the network;
- Ensure network compliance with the GYBN
mandate and code of conduct;
- Support and oversee the work of the
Focal Points, and if needed, to specifically support Focal Points in their
interactions with the CBD Secretariat;
- Seek approval and/or consensus from
members before making any major decisions;
- Facilitate the collaboration between the
Group of External Advisors and the network;
- Be able to join a one-month online
training session at the beginning of their term;
- Facilitate the organization of all
nomination and election processes within the network;
- Train newly elected committee members at
the end of their term;
- Operate strategically and efficiently;
- Meet online at least once every month to
coordinate network’s activities and action plans;
- Ensure that open and effective methods
of communication are maintained;
- Ensure the virtual participation of
members in network activities and meetings when possible;
- Coordinate and moderate the GYBN general
mailing list and the working groups mailing lists;
- Identify opportunities and partnerships
for training and capacity-building for the network;
- Facilitate fundraising efforts, and make
funding decisions in a transparent, accountable, and effective way;
- Support the network in organizing a
biannual Global Youth Biodiversity Summit (GYBS)
- Ensure that the network develops an
Annual Plan of Action and implements it as successfully as possible;
- Ensure that an annual evaluation of the
network takes place, and is submitted to members for review and feedback;
- Facilitate the election of the Focal
Points through a transparent review and short listing of nominees;
- Facilitate the review process of the
Focal Point mandate by the members;
- Encourage celebration of network achievements
and accomplishments;
-
Have previous experience in facilitating youth activism and be able to
work with a diverse group of people sharing different cultural, educational and
professional backgrounds.
Steering Committee Members
Criteria:
A candidate for GYBN Steering Committee should:
-
Possess good understanding of CBD processes;
-
Have previous experience of participating in GYBN activities, virtual or
otherwise;
-
Possess good understanding of GYBN Statute and decision-making processes;
-
Be able to commit to a two-year term;
-
Be supported by their organization of origin;
-
Have excellent English conversational, writing, and reading skills; skill
in other United Nations official languages is a plus;
-
Have demonstrated
leadership skills;
-
Have excellent
communication skills;
-
Have demonstrated
ability to work well in a team;
-
Be self-motivated;
-
Be committed to
maintaining a strong and positive relationship with the Secretariat;
-
Be of an age between 18 and 28 years (at the time of the election);
-
Have reliable internet
access to be able to work and maintain effective communication;
-
Be able to promote the values of GYBN and its Code of conduct;
-
Availability for in-term participation in the COP and intersessional
meetings is a plus;
-
Be committed to promoting youth empowerment and participation within the
CBD process;
-
Be committed to maintaining an inclusive, transparent, and representative
mandate within GYBN processes.
Note that North-South
representation is ensured during the election, while gender balance is highly
recommended. In order to ensure the aforementioned equal representation, there
will specifically be one Focal Point coming from the Global North and one
coming from the Global South. The Steering Committee members will also include
such representations as mentioned.
In order to
apply, please briefly answer (100 to 150 words per answer) to all required questions and submit them to
the Election Committee by Saturday 10th November 2012 at midnight
GMT via the online form at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dFFvVHd3VGNjN3duU3ZZQThoV0xpRVE6MQ
along with the required documents which include a) a Small Digital Photograph, b) a Short
Biography of 200 words about you, your work and also your motivation
to apply for the position, as well as c) a Letter of Endorsement or
Reference from your current organization or institution. Make sure to
save the documents in this format: Position (FP
or ISC)_Full name_Name of the document_Country Note that your biography will be used
on the online voting form next to your photo so that people voting could get to
know you a little bit more.
Nominations must be
received by Saturday 10th November 2012 at midnight GMT.
Please note that incomplete or late nominations will not be considered. Due to
the expected high number of nominations, we cannot inform each applicant about
the receipt of their nominations. Online
voting for both positions will be open from 19th to 25th
November. We will send an email to all applicants about how to vote when
voting opens.
If you have any question,
concern or inquiry about the elections only, please feel free to contact the
Election Committee us at gybnsteeringcommittee@gmail.com
Also make sure to read the attached GYBN Statute to know more about the network
and the role of the elected positions.
We
wish you all the best with your applications,
GYBN Interim Steering Committee and the
Election Committee
Join our international mailing list: https://listi.jpberlin.de/mailman/listinfo/gybn
Read about our activities on our official website: http://gybn.org/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GYBN_CBD
(@GYBN_CBD)
Like our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thegybn
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