For the RCRC, young people embody the most valuable RCRC resource and asset, as they represent more than a half of RCRC 17 million volunteers globally and are a driving force of our humanitarian assistance locally.
Youth engagement is therefore a strategic vehicle in achieving the RCRC humanitarian excellence and ensuring continuity, progress, and renewal within 190 National Societies.
In the rapidly changing humanitarian landscape, young people help us better identify the missing pieces in our community engagement strategy, foster locally-driven solutions, and thus ensure that our National Societies remain relevant local actors before, during, and after humanitarian crises.
WE VALUE AND INVEST
WE ENGAGE AND RECOGNISE
WE CHAMPION
Building on the experience during the previous Statutory meetings when active engagement of 115 youth delegates from 96 National Societies galvanised the youth voice and enriched the decision-making discussions with fresh perspectives, this year we aspire for at least 120 young leaders to attend the Statutory meetings 2017 as official members of the National Societies’ delegations.
The youth voice in the Statutory meetings will benefit our robust discussions on new and emerging trends and threats that influence the humanitarian landscape. More specifically, youth contributions will help us in strengthening the position of our National Societies as the partners of choice with local impact and global reach in responding to the increasing number of protracted and complex humanitarian crises. Furthermore, adoption of the IFRC Youth Policy 2017 cannot happen without having young people in Turkey with us. Having the IFRC Charter for Volunteers on the agenda of the General Assembly also commits us to ensure that the largest constituency of our volunteer base, young people, contribute to and witness the Charter’s adoption. Lastly, representing their peers from across the 190 National Societies, youth delegates are pivotal for shaping our collective vision of the RCRC humanitarian excellence, the blueprint for the Strategy 2030 development.
Throughout the General Assembly agenda, special spaces will be created to ensure that youth voice is heard and contributes to the collective decision making. This will traditionally include opportunities for youth leaders to assume the roles of the Assembly’s officers, such as the Drafting Committee members and Chairs and Rapporteurs of the Workshops. In addition, the daily inter-generational debriefs will allow for informal exchanges between the youth delegates and senior IFRC leaders on the substance, procedures, progress, and follow-up of the Statutory meetings.