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Y20 Talks
The Y20 is an official engagement group of the G20, comprised of young leaders from the G20 countries. It serves as a bridge between youth and the G20, providing a space for young people to share their ideas and perspectives on issues impacting their communities and the world at large. Y20 India will act as a platform for dialogue and negotiation among young leaders in India and around the world, who will come together to address the challenges facing our generation. The youth leadership would enable the delegates to raise awareness of global issues, exchange ideas, negotiate, and reach a consensus on policy recommendations that they wish the G20 members to take forward.
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Y20 Talk is one of the segments under the Y20 Engagement group which provides a democratic environment for people to discuss relevant topics. Y20 Talk enables the engagement of youth in formal political mechanisms to increase the fairness of political processes by reducing democratic deficits, contributes to better and more sustainable policies, and also has symbolic importance that can further contribute to restoring trust in public institutions, especially among youth. Moreover, the vast majority of challenges humanity currently faces, such as the COVID-19 outbreak and climate change require concerted global action and the meaningful engagement and participation of young people to be addressed effectively. The aim of this Y20 Talk is to shed light on the need to enable the engagement of youth by making local, national, and global institutions more inclusive for the purpose of strengthening their capacity (and relevance) to achieve global action. Through this Y20 Talk, we wish to acknowledge the crucial role that young people can play in shaping the future of our societies and provide practical recommendations for empowering them to participate effectively in governance
The term “Shared Future” reflects the fact that policies and decisions made today will have a lasting impact on future generations and therefore, it is imperative that they are involved in the decision-making process. With the evolution of mankind and state functions, ‘Democracy’ has emerged as the most successful form of governance. Over the years, democracies across the world have been undergoing rapid transformations. This transpiring phase is greatly influenced by digitization and technology, rising public voices against persistent inequalities, demographic shifts, changing geopolitical equations, and the aftermaths of the COVID-19 pandemic, amongst many other factors. The participation of youth in institutional and formal political processes is comparatively low when compared to aged citizens across the globe. Young men and women feel alienated and marginalized in their communities and societies as a result of having few opportunities and exposure to actively participate in inclusive decision-making processes.
The new paradigm of good governance and effective democracy is participative governance wherein citizens are becoming a part of the democratic decision-making processes. Social media is disrupting the long-settled norms and practices in the functioning of democracies. The infusion of technology in governance and its widening access to the common man has democratized the systems unprecedentedly. It is high time to build a global consensus on this extremely timely issue to shape our own inheritance. By prioritizing youth engagement in governance, we can ensure that the perspectives of future generations are heard and integrated into decision-making processes.
It's important to empower and involve the youth in democracy to create a strong foundation for the future. We must address the challenges faced by the youth and provide opportunities for them to contribute to the strengthening of democracy and improvement of governance.
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As of 2021, a staggering 1.2 billion people, or 16% of the global population, belong to the age group of 15 years to 24 years. In just 7 years, by 2030, the number of youth is projected to increase by 7%, reaching 1.3 billion and making up nearly a quarter of the world's population. In India, the data shows that the age group between 15 years to 29 years consists of 34% of the population. Even as this number declines over time, around 24% of the Indian population will still be considered youth in 2030. The participation of all citizens in formal political and governance processes is the backbone of a healthy and meaningful democracy. People aged 14 years to 29 years represent the largest generation in history and it is crucial to take this significant proportion of the population into consideration and include them in the power structure for decision-making and the overall functioning of democracy.