Youths gather for world assembly

naturaller

Youths gather for world assembly

The conference is taking place at the SECC
Young people from 66 countries have gathered in Glasgow for the first ever Global Youth Assembly.
It has been organised by the Scottish Youth Parliament, Oxfam and the world voluntary organisation Civicus.

The activists, aged 18 to 25, are debating issues such as poverty, climate change and human rights.

Five huge globes were paraded into the SECC in Glasgow, borne aloft by more than 100 young people from the five continents.

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The theme of the assembly is "accountability to future generations".

Rajiv Joshi, chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, said young people wanted to see action from the politicians to live up to their promises at the G8 summit of world leaders two years ago at Gleneagles, as well as action to combat world poverty and climate change.

He said young people are worried about the kind of world they will grow up into.

Mr Joshi said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to come together and share their ideas and interests.

This is an opportunity for young people, who live all over the world to meet together, and forge relationships

Judith Robertson
Oxfam

"It is also a great chance for young people to promote their opinions and arguments and learn how to participate in debate, concerning worldwide issues."

The two-day Youth Assembly will have workshops on how to get involved in the political process and it will appoint delegates to the full World Civicus Assembly to be held in the SECC immediately afterwards.

Leila Mucarsel, a Civicus youth delegate from Argentina, said: "Civicus World assemblies have been successfully held in different cities of the world with wonderful results.

"But there was something missing. We, the youth activists from all around the world have been asking for an event like this for a long time, and after a period of hard work and planning it has finally become a reality."

Judith Robertson, head of Oxfam in Scotland, said: "This is an opportunity for young people, who live all over the world to meet together, and forge relationships."

igsean

It's a pity we can not join in