Statement at the Closing of #ForMigration
Dec 11, 2018
By the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth
Thank you, co-chairs, for giving me the floor, and thank you for the opportunity to report back on the Migration Week Youth Forum.
I am here speaking on behalf of Children and Youth International,, which is the legal entity of the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth. UNMGCY consists of over 7,000 youth-led or youth-serving entities, operating in over 175 countries.
During our Youth Forum, in partnership with IOM and UNICEF, we brought together 200 youth from over 50 countries to consult, mobilize, and commit to the implementation, follow-up, and review of the Global Compact for Migration.
We commit to addressing and acting upon our priorities for the GCM, which include:
The creation of jobs for youth, and the ensurement of decent work;
The promotion of quality education and transnational recognition of skills;
The investment in the mitigation of drivers of forced migration,, such as climate change and disaster risk reduction;
And finally,, combating the exploitation of youth, such as human trafficking and child detention, that can occur throughout each phase of migration.
Our calls for action are three-fold.
One: Engage us.
Give us a guaranteed seat at the decision-making table. This is before, during and after the Global Forum on Migration and Development. This is within the UN Migration Network. And this is throughout all governmental platforms at regional, national, and local levels of implementation.
Two: Invest in us.
This is funding to enable youth engagement in all of these platforms, and in all levels of implementation.
Three: Count us in.
This is data collection disaggregated by age in order to know the number of youth impacted and to formulate evidence-based policies.
We support the Global Compact for Migration and its vision to build a productive, safe, and prosperous future for all.
We are all in this together. The youth of the world. From the smallest communities to the largest cities. We hold the future in our hands.
So engage us. Invest in us. And count us in. Thank you.
