Session
Youth Coalition in Internet Governance (YCIG)
Round Table - U-shape - 60 Min
The session of Youth Coalition on Internet Governance is the main space at the annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum where young people can exchange experiences and points of view of Internet issues around the world.In this session we will address key policy questions under the topic “Fostering a new key role of youth in Internet Governance”, in the IGF since our first meeting till the present, recapping the reflections of last years’ Youth IGF Summit while considering which are the next steps and tools for youth to increase the representation of young people in key policy roles, BPF, DC and more spaces.
Firstly, we will listen to our 5 speakers’ introduction on the growth of youth participation in their regions and their involvement in the IG ecosystem. Then panelists will discuss the reasons why youth should be considered as a stakeholder on its own and the challenges we are facing now related to the youth's effective participation. In addition, the panelists will reflect upon the question of ensuring effective and sustainable youth participation in IG
In the meanwhile, we will share a Risepad link to work collaboratively on ideas and thoughts on the shared experiences and viewpoints. In addition to it, we will use special hashtags to engage online participation #YCIGSession #YouthIGFParticipation #YCIGforYouthInclusion.
Afterwards, we will open the floor to attendees to discuss on the starting policy questions, mentioning on their youth initiatives, challenges they faced this year and also propose solutions on how we can achieve that youth can become a stakeholder; in order for creating a more inclusive Internet.The open floor discussion will last 30 minutes. During the last 10 minutes, we will recap our annual DC session and take the annual group photo. As an outcome of the session, some weeks after the meeting we will share on our means of communication the highlights on our conversation and publish a letter (or online campaign through short videos) to address IGF and other relevant IG spaces on including youth as an stakeholder along with intergovernmental organizations, civil society, private sector, academia and technical community.
Since 2010, YCIG has been a dedicated dynamic coalition to gather young voices in the IGF, by providing a space for youth around the world to obtain information to become involved in the Internet Governance. Our active community is in constant growth, and the number of initiatives which have joined has been increasing since its creation. As this year we are celebrating 10 years as an active dynamic coalition, and now more than ever the role of youth in Internet Governance to boost an open, secure, and more inclusive Internet is essential: youth voices can provide a fresh perspective on old and new issues arising.
Inclusion is one of the values YCIG strongly promotes in its activities, events, meetings and community. The session will be dedicated to understanding the current state of affairs in terms of youth participation and engagement in IG ecosystem, discussing ways for further inclusion and the possibility of converting youth into another stakeholder along with the current ones, by taking into account the different experiences and backgrounds of our speakers and attendees.
Eileen Berenice Cejas, Argentina,YCIG/Youth Observatory
Meri Baghdasaryan, Armenia/USA, YCIG/University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Mili Semlani, India/Singapore, YCIG/ Youth4IG
Noha Abdel Baky, Egypt, YCIG/DELL Technologies
1- Eileen Berenice Cejas, Argentina, YCIG/Youth Observatory (Civil Society)
2- Emilia Zalewska, Poland, , LegalTech Polska (Civil Society)
3 - Mohammad Atif, India, Youth SIG (Civil Society)
4- Joao Pedro Martins, Portugal, Lusophone Youth IGF, (Civil Society)
5- Lily Edinam Botsyoe, Ghana , Ghyrate Ghana (Private Sector)
6-Augusto Marturin, Argentina, Youth IGF Argentina Technical Community (Technical)
Meri Baghdasaryan, Armenia/USA, YCIG/ University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Meri Baghdasaryan, Armenia/USA, YCIG/ University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Noha Abdel Baky, Egypt, YCIG/DELL Technologies
GOAL 4: Quality Education
GOAL 5: Gender Equality
GOAL 10: Reduced Inequalities
Reference Document: https://ycigweb.wordpress.com
Report
* Areas of broad support/ agreement: - Discussed the different entry points for youth to join the IG spaces by sharing the journeys of the panelists and agreed that there are no specific steps to follow.
- The difficulty of being noticed as youth and new comers in virtual conferences and the limited possibility on networking.
- The difficulty of keeping youth involved in the IG spaces after participating in a youth program or receiving a fellowship and maintain a sustainable and meaningful participation.
- Young activists could sometimes prioritize issue from their personal views without checking the youth priorities.
- Youth inputs are not taken seriously during discussions and they are not invited to panels.
- The youth participation is not well-shaped as the voices of youth are not organized
* Areas of no agreement: - A Debate on whether or not Youth should have their own Stakeholder Group.
- Youth Programs and fellowships don't have an effective approach
1. More leadership positions for youth in different stakeholder groups and capacity building opportunities not simply being in the room.
2. Ensuring sustainable and meaningful youth participation as newcomers may find the space not so intuitive and hard to stick around.
3. Solidarity and working together to understand the youth priorities and coordinating efforts to tackle these issues and have unified messages.
4- Initiate a dialogue with the different Stakeholder groups and be open for collaboration to have our voices heard.
1- Eileen Berenice Cejas, Argentina, YCIG/Youth Observatory (Civil Society)
2- Emilia Zalewska, Poland, , LegalTech Polska (Civil Society)
3 - Mohammad Atif, India, Youth SIG (Civil Society)
4- Joao Pedro Martins, Portugal, Lusophone Youth IGF, (Civil Society)
5- Lily Edinam Botsyoe, Ghana , Ghyrate Ghana (Private Sector)
6-Augusto Marturin, Argentina, Youth IGF Argentina Technical Community (Technical)
The session reflected on youth issues without specifying a gender and panelists gave examples on advocacy in the LGBTQ Community
The participants drafted their answers collaboratively to the policy questions in a Risepad and their answers were considered in this report as part of the recommendations.
The discussions points including recommendations and debate points will be added to the YCIG final report and shared with the new 2021 Steering Committee members as action items to build on next year. It will be also recommended to the new Steering Committee to continue and increase the engagement of the YCIG with other DCs and other Youth initiatives and organizations especially for the preparation of 2021 IGF and the Youth IGF Summit in Poland.
A blogpost with the summary of the session will be shared on the YCIG webiste (https://ycigweb.wordpress.com/)
-Inspire people to do more, involve people so they know what's happening and know how to contribute and impact so that we have this going forward
-Strengthening and enhancing the engagement of Stakeholders especially youth and disadvantged stakeholders for future IG mechanisims and deliverables particularly those from developing countries
-The promise of sticking around and keeping involved in the regional level but also trying to seek a more unified approach with getting involved with different institutions to conenct the dots
-Creating opportunities for all youth to be part of the conversation
-Encouraging diversity to have as many as possible points of views hear and creating Networking opportunities next year as it is the best part of the IGF