Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The members of the Y20, the official youth engagement group of the G20, underlined the need for global citizenship in order to address major problems facing the world during their third virtual working group meeting on Tuesday.

The meeting, which brought together delegates from G20 nations, international organizations and guest countries, was held in preparation for the Y20 summit of young people to be held in Riyadh in October this year.

The summit is being organized by the Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Foundation (MiSK) in cooperation with the King Abdul Aziz Center for World Culture (Ithra).

The objectives of the group are to establish global citizenship policy interventions for possible consideration by the G20, and showcase the Y20 engagement group’s efforts on global citizenship.

Othman Almoamar, the chair of the Y20 Engagement Group, opened the session by highlighting the relevance of the policy interventions and their “unique opportunity to affect change and create impact”

The importance of this work is reflected by the shared focus on global citizenship among various G20 engagement groups and the call by the United Nations for a “Decade of Action” towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The meeting had two themes — multiculturalism and sustainable development — and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was also discussed. Almoamar pointed out that while all G20 countries have signed up to the SDGs, they impact countries in different ways and COVID-19 had exacerbated global inequality and discrimination.

Teaching SDG knowledge in schools to raise awareness of the most pressing issues, and provide a universal language to discuss and tackle issues were presented as possible solutions to issues identified such as structural racism, populism, climate change, lack of inclusivity, fake news and the under-representation of young people and women.

The Y20 Global Citizenship Taskforce led by Hadeel Al-Eisa, showcased young people’s recommendations, including embedding global citizenship education in schools; developing media strategies and owning the narrative; encouraging exposure to a variety of cultures through soft power; and measures to normalize diversity.

Monika Froehler, CEO of the Ban Ki-Moon Centre for Global Citizens (BKMC) engaged the working group in a highly interactive discussion about global citizenship values and challenges. The group collectively noted that teaching SDG knowledge in schools would make young people more aware of the most pressing issues, and redirect their efforts and activism by providing them a universal language to discuss and tackle issues.

Sarah Alkhedheiri, the Y20 Engagement Group Sherpa, concluded the session by first congratulating the delegates on finalizing the final working meeting of the Y20 ahead of the Y20 Summit. She then highlighted the importance of the delegates’ efforts to impact youth around the world by developing and delivering policies to be presented to the G20 leadership.

Following the conclusion of this final working group, a Y20 communique will be prepared, ahead of its presentation to the G20 Leaders' Summit in Riyadh.