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Around 100 members of the Group of 20 youth delegation gathered last week in Jakarta and Bandung for the Y20 Summit 2022. This is the first time they have been able to come together in person after the past two years of the annual summit being hosted virtually, by Saudi Arabia and then Italy.
After months of virtual discussions and a week of in-person talks, the youth delegates from the G20 member countries have adopted the Y20 Communiqué at the Asia-Africa Conference Museum in Bandung, West Java.
The Y20 Communiqué provides policy recommendations to G20 leaders in formulating the G20 Leaders’ Declaration during the G20 Bali Summit in November.
Notable political figures attending the Y20 Summit have pledged to help advocate the Y20 Communiqué to President Joko Widodo for Indonesia’s G20 presidency.
“With all my power, along with Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, I will make sure that your communiqué is presented to President Jokowi. Why would you fly [such] a long way if your thoughts and conclusions are not heard and presented at the G20 Summit?” West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil told the delegates.
House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani also assured the delegates that President Jokowi would receive the Y20 Communiqué.
On a similar note, Coordinating Minister for Human Development Muhadjir Effendy promised, “We will take this [communiqué] to the G20 leaders in Denpasar,” referring to the location of the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
Y20 Indonesia 2022 has four priority areas, Sustainable and Livable Planet, Youth Employment, Digital Transformation, and Diversity and Inclusion, while the Indonesian G20 has the three priority areas of Global Health Architecture, Digital Transformation and Sustainable Energy Transition.
Aside from agreeing on the policy recommendations in their four priority areas, the Y20 delegates also agreed on recommendations for the separate cross-cutting issue of global health, making all Y20 Indonesia policy recommendations relevant to this year’s G20 priorities.
In addition, in recognition of current global events, the Y20 delegates are also urging the G20 leaders to address the ongoing food and energy crises affecting the world today.
This article certainly cannot do justice to the detailed, well-written, meticulous and comprehensive policy recommendations contained in the Y20 Communiqué, which was formulated by this year’s Y20 delegates through their hard work, but the following are some points that policymakers could start paying attention to.
Sustainable and livable planet
Recognizing the importance of a sustainable and livable planet, the Y20 delegates agreed to place this agenda first in the Y20 Communiqué.
The policy recommendations encompass the ways G20 governments can take concrete and bold actions in ensuring sustainable consumption and production, more resilient and sustainable food systems and a just energy transition.
The recommendations also detail the ways G20 governments can take concrete steps in mobilizing finance for climate action.
In mobilizing finance for climate action, carbon trade was discussed. The Y20 delegates ask G20 governments to “enhance links between emissions trading systems across G20” in accordance with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
They also ask developed countries who are G20 members to fulfill their “fair share of a minimum climate finance goal of US$500 billion to developing countries”.
Even bolder, the Y20 delegates ask G20 governments to end fossil fuel subsidies by 2022.
Youth employment
The Y20 delegates have also detailed their recommendations on strengthening social safety net coverage.
G20 leaders are asked to “ensure protection and promote transition of young workers in informal and non-standard forms of employment through robust social insurance mechanisms” and also to “prevent youth from precarious work and socioeconomic exclusion”.
Furthermore, the recommendations also cover issues like skills development, school-to-work transition and fair and sustainable employment, including by tackling “workplace discrimination on the basis of age, sex, religious beliefs, race and ethnic origins, indigenous status, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability and parental leave status”.
Digital transformation
Y20 delegates also believe that digital infrastructure, as well as digital and financial literacy, is key to unleashing the full potential of digital transformation.
The Y20 delegates ask G20 leaders to develop the G20 Strategy on Digital-by-Design Government as well as the G20 Digital Well-Being Charter.
On digital governance, G20 youth delegates reiterate the importance of the Data Free Flow with Trust (DFFT) principle that G20 leaders endorsed in 2019.
Observing emerging financial technologies, the Y20 delegates ask for the meaningful participation and active involvement of youth by G20 governments in discussing the governance of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and crypto assets.
Diversity and inclusion
To ensure inclusive and quality education, the Y20 delegates ask G20 leaders to “decolonize the curricula”.
They also ask G20 Leaders to support transition towards a 4-day work week across the G20 while ensuring no impact on workers’ pay.
The Y20 delegates also ask G20 leaders to create compensated national Youth Advisory Bodies to encourage youth participation in public leadership.
Supporting global coordination in handling the pandemic, the Y20 delegates ask G20 leaders to “enact a mechanism waiving patents on vaccines, processes and diagnostic technologies in line with the proposed World Health Organization Pandemic Treaty”.
Of course, the recommendations listed above are not exhaustive. The Y20 delegates have included other, detailed recommendations too in the Y20 Communiqué.
Conclusion
Most notable of all in the Y20 Communiqué is the youth delegates’ call for G20 leaders to “include Y20 representatives at the G20 Leaders’ Summit and allow them to influence decision-making processes”.
As Y20 Indonesia cochair Rahayu Saraswati told the audience during the closing ceremony of the Y20 Indonesia Summit 2022: “Give us a seat at the table, and we promise you we will not disappoint. Yes, even at the G20 Leaders’ Summit.”
We have heard senior leaders pledging that they will advocate the Y20 Communiqué to G20 leaders.
Now, no more promises.
It is time to give young people a seat at the table. It is time to include and involve young people at the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
Angelo Wijaya is the Head of Project Management Office & Co-Head of the Research and Chairing Team of Y20 Indonesia 2022, and a former member of the Indonesian delegation to Y20 Italy 2021.
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