9th UNESCO Youth Forum

Following up to the 9th UNESCO Youth Forum, we are contacting youth to find out who would like to get involved in presenting the recommended actions compiled at the Forum relative to climate change, in the run-up to, and during, COP21!

As announced, the discussion on climate change during the Youth Forum will feed directly into the UN and civil-society space at the forthcoming COP 21 which will be held in Paris from 30 November to 11 December 2015. UNESCO has ensured several slots where the Forum’s global recommended actions and commitments in the area of climate change can be presented, followed by discussions and exchanges with the audiences.  These are:

• Participation at the “Intergenerational inquiry” session during the “Young and Future Generations Day of the COP 21, organized by UNFCCC (3 December)
• Presentation and exchanges at the UNESCO Pavillion (3 December)
• Participation in the side event round table “Climate Innovators: Empowering a Global Generation of Young People", organized by UNFPA and ILO (8 December)

This event will feature the work of young innovators and the investments needed to ensure the entire generation is empowered to contribute to a sustainable, healthy and resilient future. The objective is to demonstrate that youth have the full potential to bring innovations, solutions and possess entrepreneurial skills for adaptation and resilience to climate change. By sharing their ideas and accomplishments (often against all odds), the presenters will project the wisdom of building on enthusiasm, ingenuity and resourcefulness of youth in order to address the climate change and improve the quality of life for all generations. The presenters should be from the realms of both engineering/technological applications and behavioral change/social policy.

• Presentation and exchanges at the UN Youth booth, coordinated by UNFCCC (date to be determined)

In addition, UNESCO has secured a booth space on 28 November, during COY 11<http://coy11.org/en/>, the conference of youth that will precede COP 21.

For all these opportunities, we are looking for two young Forum participants who:

-          Participated in the Forum’s working sessions on climate change,
-          Are available to come to Paris in the period from 27 November to 9 December.
-          Can tangibly demonstrate that they have taken innovative local action and provided solutions to address climate change.

In addition to COP21 in Paris, two young participants will be invited to present all the Forum’s recommended actions and commitments on climate change during the Commonwealth Youth Forum<https://chogm2015.mt/fora/youthforum> (21-25 November 2015, Malta), as well as to build synergies for their implementation. For this occasion, we are looking for two young Forum participants who:

-          Come from a Commonwealth Member State
-          Are available to travel to Malta on the indicated dates.

All costs related to travel and accommodation in Paris and in Malta respectively for these occasions will be covered by UNESCO.

If you are interested in one of these opportunities, please send us your CV and motivation letter (including  a short description of your
involvement in climate change issues) by Thursday 5 November 2015 at the latest. Please send us a message with the following event you are applying for in the subject line:

-          COP 21 and COY 11
-          Commonwealth Youth Forum

Tothis email address:  9thunescoYouthForum@unesco.org

Best regards,

The Youth Forum Team