“The United Nations needs youth in order to carry out its mission” stated Renata Bloem, President of the Conference of Nongovernmental Organisations based in Geneva, during the roundtable organised by the Committee of Youth. This conference was the latest move to tackle issues affecting the world's young people, such as poverty, unemployment and education and aimed at addressing global youth priorities identified in the World Programme of Action for Youth and the Millennium Development Goals. The event came at a crucial time, as the results of both of these UN processes will be reviewed next year.

Non-governmental organisations, representing more than 200 million young people from all over the world, met Julie Larsen, from the UN Programme for Youth. She focused on how to make effective partnerships a reality, by aligning the priorities of World Programme of Action for Youth with the Millennium Development Goals. She challenged youth organisations and the UN to advocate for youth participation at global and national level.

Andres Guerrero, UNICEF Office of Public Partnership encouraged “those institutions and individuals who have the power to move agendas and to involve young people in decision-making processes”. He added “young people are citizens of today, they need to be taken more seriously”.

Renata Bloem raised the question: “How the UN can better engage with civil society in order to create a more human globalisation?” Arturo Romboli, World Scouting, recognised the advocacy role played by the global youth NGOs which gives a more political status to their demands and proposals. Roberta Zuchegna, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent demonstrated the leveraging capacity of global youth organisations to make the difference at the grass root level, where they operate: “Here we are talking about development. We can do something good if we do it in a sustainable way”.

The next step is for youth organisations to “ensure young people continue to be heard in the UN review process” said Jenny Aris, World Alliance of YMCAs.

The World Programme of Action for Youth, drawn up in 1995, identifies 15 priority areas of action to improve the lives of young people worldwide, including unemployment, drug abuse, education and hunger. The Millennium Development Goals address many of the same issues. Youth organisations want to discuss with United Nations representatives, from Geneva and New York, how to bring these two processes together.

The Committee of Youth NGOs is a space for information sharing among youth NGOs based or represented in Geneva that have ECOSOC status. It meets 6 times a year in order to review and discuss the various UN and NGO processes relevant for youth. Its members include the large, worldwide and regional youth movements that work closely with the United Nations, faith-based NGOs, political youth organisations, and women’s organisations.