Record of Meeting, Seventh session, 27 June 2014, Bangkok

24 July 2014
RCM-UNDG Asia-Pacific Thematic Working Group on Youth
(TWG-Youth)
7th meeting
27 June 2014, 1000-1130 hours
Bangkok
I. Attendance
The meeting was attended by representatives of the following eleven TWG-Youth members:
ADB; ESCAP; FAO; ILO; IOM; UNAIDS; UNESCO; UNFPA; UN-HABITAT; UNICEF and UN
Women. Regrets for not being able to attend were received from UNEP, UNDP and WHO. The
list of participants is attached in Annex I.
II. Record of Recommendations and Outcomes
1. ESCAP and ILO to follow up with the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth regarding a
concept note for the Global Forum on Youth Policies.
2. ESCAP and ILO to follow up with the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth regarding his
mission report from the 2014 World Youth Conference.
3. ESCAP and ILO to share the suggested structure of Part 1 of the report with the rest of the
Group.
4. Members of the TWG-Youth contributing to the report to assist in compiling a list of names
indicating their commitment to the report.
III. Agenda
The agenda of the Meeting was as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1
Welcome by co-Chairs and review of action points of last meeting
Remarks by Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth
Feedback from the 2014 World Youth Conference
Discussion on progress on the Asia-Pacific youth situational report
Other matters
Record of 7th Meeting of TWG-Youth
24 July 2014
IV. Account of Proceedings
Agenda Item 1: Welcome by Chair and review of action points of last meeting
1. The 7th session of RCM-UNDG Asia-Pacific Thematic Working Group on Youth was cochaired by ESCAP and ILO. Mr. Yoshiteru Uramoto, ILO Assistant Director-General and
Regional Director, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and Ms. Nanda Krairiksh,
Director, Social Development Division, ESCAP opened the meeting and welcomed all
participants, including the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth and colleagues from
ADB who were joining the Group (by Skype) for the first time, to the session. The action
points of the previous meeting were reviewed, having all been attended to.
Agenda Item 2: Remarks by Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth
2. Ms. Krairiksh invited the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi,
to brief the Group on work he had been doing. Mr. Alhendawi spoke of the need to align
the United Nations System-wide Action Plan on Youth (SWAP), an instrument for
coordination in the United Nations system, to regional needs and also to the country
level by working with United Nations Country Teams. He stated that groups similar to
the TWG-Youth would be useful at the national level to promote a collective voice,
rather than individual agencies working alone, and joint programmes adopting a holistic
approach. He praised the modality of having youth advisory boards, such as at the 2014
World Youth Conference held in Sri Lanka, and said that other countries were interested
in following a similar model.
3. Mr. Alhendawi stated that at the ECOSOC Youth Forum, held in New York on 2 and 3
June 2014, young people from across the globe called for greater attention to youth
issues in the Post-2015 Development Agenda, with targets related to youth in the context
of education, employment, participation, health, and peace and security. He further
stated that the World Programme of Action for Youth was still very relevant, while
greater attention needed to be directed to national youth policies, and, with regard to
both of these issues, the TWG-Youth could act as an effective advocate.
4. Mr. Alhendawi mentioned that the first Global Forum on Youth Policies would take
place in Azerbaijan from 28 to 30 October 2014 and would bring together 700 youth
policy experts—from governments and parliaments, youth networks and movements,
and research and development communities. He noted that there would be a session on
regional issues and asked the TWG-Youth to be a part of this. Mr. Alhendawi was
requested to provide a concept note for the Forum. Ms. Krairiksh thanked Mr.
Alhendawi on behalf of the Group for sharing useful information and insights, and
showing interest in being more involved with the work of the Group.
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24 July 2014
Follow-up decision
1. ESCAP and ILO to follow up with the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth regarding a
concept note for the Global Forum on Youth Policies.
Agenda Item 3: Feedback from the 2014 World Youth Conference
5. Mr. Yoshiteru Uramoto invited members of the Group that had been at the Conference
to share their experiences with the rest of the Group. Mr. Patrik Andersson (ESCAP)
reported that the 2014 World Youth Conference, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 6 to 10
May 2014 provided a fine opportunity to listen to the voices of youth and learn about
the task force the Government of Sri Lanka had put together. Mr. Matthieu Cognac (ILO)
and Ms. Sahba Clara Delshad (UNESCO) reinforced these comments, indicating that the
Conference had shown that youth could offer a significant contribution to the Post-2015
Development Agenda. Mr. Alhendawi stated that it had not been an intergovernmental
meeting, but an intergenerational meeting which could lead to an intergovernmental
one. He added that he could share his mission report with the TWG-Youth.
Follow-up decision
2. ESCAP and ILO to follow up with the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth regarding his
mission report from the 2014 World Youth Conference.
Agenda item 4: Discussion on progress on the Asia-Pacific youth situational report
6. Mr. Uramoto introduced the agenda item, stressing the need for an innovative report on
the situation of youth in Asia and the Pacific, with sharp quantitative analysis. Ms.
Justine Saas (UNESCO) presented on progress made regarding the report, including a
revised structure consisting of four parts, namely 1). Youth and sustainable
development: The case for investing in youth 2). Youth in Asia-Pacific: Critical
opportunities, persistent challenges, required actions (covering five sections, with four
made up of the five elements of the SWAP and an additional one covering urbanization,
migration and the environment) 3). Conclusions and recommendations 4). Statistical
annexes. The co-Chairs, along with the rest of the Group agreed to this revision.
7. Mr. Georges Heinen (ADB) stated that that climate change and urbanization should be
in the report and he added that ADB would offer support in this regard. The co-Chairs
acknowledged this offer and ADB’s membership in the TWG-Youth. Ms. Natalie Fol
(UNICEF) agreed that climate change and urbanization, along with migration were
important issues, and suggested that media and access to information could be added to
the section on education, while gender should be cross-cutting.
8. Ms. Mariko Tomiyama (IOM) stressed the need to agree on the content of Part 1 and
move on. She added that the task team working on the report was one of the best teams
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Record of 7th Meeting of TWG-Youth
24 July 2014
she had been in. Ms. Mariko Sato (UN-HABITAT) agreed that it was a good team and
complimented the excellent role Justine had played in coordinating the work. She added
that there was a need to balance the three pillars of sustainable development and to do
this would require a strengthening of environmental and economic aspects.
9. Ms. Krairiksh stated that the Group had worked hard and had reached a point in which
it was close to consensus on many issues related to the report, including content. She
noted that, while Part 1 of the report would be an overview and analytical in content,
Part 2 would allow for a more in-depth analysis of thematic issues. She indicated that
ESCAP and ILO would lead Part 1 and invited ADB to also contribute. It was agreed
that the structure of Part 1 would be shared with the rest of the Group. It was also stated
that the role of consultants would be reviewed. Mr. Uramoto added that, for greater
accountability and commitment, there was a need to identify people, rather than
agencies, as responsible for parts of the report. In this regard, members of the task team
were asked to assist in compiling a list of names for the co-Chairs.
Follow-up decisions
3. ESCAP and ILO to share the suggested structure of Part 1 of the report with the rest of the
Group.
4. Members of the TWG-Youth contributing to the report to assist in compiling a list of names
indicating their commitment to the report.
Agenda item 5: Other matters
10. Mr. Uramoto and Ms. Krairiksh thanked those present, including ADB and UNICEF
colleagues who had joined the meeting via Skype.
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Record of 7th Meeting of TWG-Youth
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ANNEX I
List of Participants
TWG-YOUTH MEMBERS
Organization (in alphabetical order)
Name of representative(s)
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Mr. Georges Heinen
Senior Advisor
[email protected]
Mr. Ponce Ernest Samaniego
[email protected]
Skype: ponce.ernest
Ms. Anna Oposa
[email protected]
Skype: ahnnabanana
Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Ms. Nanda Krairiksh
Director, Social Development Division
[email protected]
Mr. Patrik Andersson
Chief, Social Integration Section
Social Development Division
[email protected]
Mr. Marco Roncarati
Social Affairs Officer, Social Development Division
[email protected]
Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO)
Mr. Kevin Gallagher
Agricultural Research, Extension and
Education Officer
[email protected]
Mr. Gerard Sylveste
Knowledge & Information Management Officer
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Tel: +(66-2) 697-4000
[email protected]
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24 July 2014
International Labour Organization
(ILO)
Mr. Yoshiteru Uramoto,
ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional
Director
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
[email protected]
Mr. Matthieu Cognac
Youth Employment Specialist
[email protected]
Na Eun Mun
Consultant
[email protected]
International Organization for
Migration (IOM)
Ms. Mariko Tomiyama
Senior Regional Policy and Liaison Officer
[email protected]
Joint United Nations Programme on
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
Ms. Doriane Gillet
Gender and TSF/GF support officer
[email protected]
United Nations
Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi
Secretary-General Envoy on Youth
[email protected]
Skype: youth.envoy
United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Ms. Justine Sass
Regional HIV and AIDS Advisor for Asia and the
Pacific
[email protected]
Ms. Sahba Clara Delshad
HIV/Young Key Populations Support Officer
[email protected]
Ms. Nancy Ashton
Representative of Ms. Susan Vize
[email protected]
Ms. Nicola Paviglianiti
Intern
HPZ unit
nc.paviglianiti.unesco.org
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Record of 7th Meeting of TWG-Youth
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United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA)
Dr. Josephine Sauvarin
Technical Advisor on HIV/ASRH
[email protected]
Ms. Gabrielle Szabo
Programme Officer
[email protected]
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United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF)
Dr. Devashish Dutta
Youth and Adolescent Development Specialist
[email protected]
UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia
(UNICEF ROSA)
Ms. Natalie Fol
Regional Adviser Adolescents Development and
Participation
UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia
[email protected]
Skype: natalifol.unicef
United Nations Human Settlements
Programme (UN-HABITAT)
Ms. Mariko Sato
Chief – Bangkok office
[email protected]
UN Women
Ms. Inthira Tirangkura
Programme Officer
[email protected]
Record of 7th Meeting of TWG-Youth