You all can be extremely proud of your fellow colleagues who were present at this gathering of the General Assembly of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. During the General Assembly, Council of Delegates and International Conference which were held here in Geneva throughout the past two weeks, over 70 youth representatives attended the meetings. This is the highest level of youth participation in these meetings ever, and there was a genuinely youthful feeling to this year’s conferences. Prior to the opening of the General Assembly, the Youth Commission organized a global youth meeting, which was facilitated by the International Federation secretariat, to help prepare and inform these youth representatives. Over 40 young people attended, representing 30 National Societies.
During the meeting, youth representatives were given an overview of youth within the Federation, through a presentation on the Global Youth Consultation 2005-2007. The Youth Commission also provided an overview of their work, in areas such as the constitutional review, their work in preparation for the General Assembly and International Conference and their expected outcomes of the meetings. There was also some discussion about what the Youth Meeting 2009 may be like.
During the Statutory Meetings, youth were involved in many agenda items including commission reports, workshops, side-events and of course the awards. The second youth award, an initiative by the International Federation Youth Commission, recognised the important contribution that youth make through their action toward achieving our Global Agenda Goals. Five societies received awards: Costa Rica Red Cross, Norwegian Red Cross, The Uganda Red Cross Society, as well as the American Red Cross and Italian Red Cross sharing the final award. These awards clearly show how the action by youth in all of the areas of work of the Red Cross Red Crescent in National Societies makes a difference to the lives of the vulnerable. To find out more, you can visit the youth award web pages, or read the news article.
The revised constitution of our Federation was approved at the General Assembly, and is now in force. This new constitution provides a great opportunity to youth, as the chairperson of the Youth Commission will now be a full member of Governing Board. Moreover, the Youth Commission will now meet twice each year, as opposed to just once as was previously the case. The commission is also now a statutory body, whereas previously it was advisory only.
During the plenary sessions there were not only strong support for youth from most delegations but also strong interventions on behalf of youth and youth related issues by youth delegates as well. During the reports of the commissions, the Youth Commission report was presented by our Chairman, Mr. Ian Courtaney. Following the reports, National Society delegations had the opportunity to make comments and ask questions related to the reports. The vast majority of these interventions were related to the work of and support to youth within our Federation. The report of the Youth Commission and its achievement of becoming a constitutional body were overwhelmingly supported by all.
Finally these meetings gave us the opportunity to have informal discussions of what will be our next steps for us all when we return to our National Societies. It was felt that we need to improve communication between youth in our respective regions, continue to advocate for both participation and representation, and continue to work toward achieving the Global Agenda Goals - now it’s up to us!
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Ashanta Osborne-Moses and Maiju Jolma at the Global Youth meeting, prior to the opening of the General Assembly / Stephen Ryan, International Federation
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Segirinya Hannington and Shaban Mawanda, both of the Uganda Red Cross during the General Assembly / International Federation
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Amy Mapara, Canadian Red Cross at the "Village of humanity", and exhibition space for National Societies / Jorge Perez, International Federation
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Gerard McHale, Irish Red Cross making an intervention following the reports of the commissions / Stephen Ryan, International Federation
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The main meeting room of the CICG, where the conferences were held. With space to hold thousands of people! / International Federation
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News
