This is a guest post from Courtney Wilson, who works on the communications team at New Zealand Red Cross. Courtney is lucky enough to be representing New Zealand youth at this week's World Humanitarian Summit Global Youth Consultation, and we're thrilled to be sharing her experiences with you!
Today I am off to the Global Youth Consultation (GYC) for the World Humanitarian Summit in Doha. It’s quite the mouthful, but something that I am very proud to be saying.
The GYC is a two-day workshop to help determine young people’s role in humanitarian action and effectiveness over the next twenty years. The ideas and recommendations from the consultation will then be presented before the UN World Humanitarian Summit in May next year. This rare and exciting opportunity to attend the GYC came after one out-of-the-blue interaction.
Two months ago I was sitting at work when I received a picture of an old friend (and AYLI alumnus) Benj Brooking, at the World Humanitarian Summit Pacific Regional Consultation in Auckland. Benj was helping out at the consultation as a volunteer with the Red Cross youth. I got in contact with him and he suggested I apply for the GYC.
So here I am: in my flat in Wellington, getting ready to go to the other side of the world to talk about how and why young people should be involved in solving the big issues currently facing the world. I will be having this conversation with more than 300 wonderful, inspiring youth from 82 countries around the world.
For the World Humanitarian Summit, 'humanitarian action' has been broken down into four themes: Humanitarian effectiveness, Reducing vulnerability and managing risk, Transformation through innovation and Serving the needs of people in conflict.
As a New Zealand youth representative, I want to hear your views on what humanitarian issues affect you and how you would like to resolve these issues - the more out of the box the better. That’s what these consultations are all about. You can get in touch with me directly, or share your thoughts via this survey I've worked with AYLI to put together.
In the meantime, you can stay tuned to what is happening at the consultation here! I can't wait to update you on how the GYC goes.