Taking the voices of young people to the international stage

At the heart of my work with YMCA England’s Policy and Research team is the desire to create change. It is designed to complement the work that YMCAs across England and Wales, and the world for that matter, do to support young people to fulfil their full potential.

This can change come in many different forms. However, whether it be local, regional, national or international, the pivotal thing is the positive impact that it has on the lives of young people.

Meeting colleagues from YMCA’s across the world made this point even more pertinent. YMCA’s are diverse, and the services they provide are different, but they are all united in their desire to affect change for young people – to facilitate situations in which young people can develop in body, mind and spirit.

Participating with my colleagues from across the world at this year’s ECOSOC Youth Forum highlighted how critical YMCA, and the work we undertake, is today.

As discussions focused around the latest buzz words that come to dominate the international development field - ‘entrepreneurship’, ‘innovation’ and ‘participation’ - I was proud to stand beside my YMCA colleagues and advocate for the young people that we work with, and the very real issues that dominate their lives.

I always say that the best part of my job is going out and speaking to young people, hearing about their experiences and the issues that they face in the world today.

While the most enjoyable, it is also the most important. It is impossible to advocate for young people without first understanding their concerns and most importantly, what they want seen done to address them.

This point was made ever clearer to me over the last few days. As delegates at the Forum presented social entrepreneurship as the means by which to solve youth unemployment, it came necessary to remind everyone that while important in some cases, it isn’t likely to be the catch-all solution they hope.

For a young person who is stuck in a low-paid and insecure job, social entrepreneurship is unlikely to be either effective or realistic. Instead, a focus should be placed on making sure that young people are provided with meaningful and sustainable jobs, free from discrimination, whether that be monetary or anything else.  

YMCA delegates were able to issue reminders like this because of their extensive work with young people from all walks of life.

The ECOSOC Youth Forum is an arena in which individuals get together and discuss the issues facing young people as they see them. It is an arena that organisations like YMCA must be part of.

As the world moves towards implementing policies and programmes to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, it is critical that YMCA is there to advocate for those young people who are ignored and whose needs are forgotten.

As we move forward, it is discussion like those taking place in ECOSOC that will help shape national agendas. While many of us will not identify with the Sustainable Development Goals in themselves, delving further into them illustrates the link between them and the work that YMCA’s undertake every day.

From supporting young people to find employment, to helping young people with mental health difficulties – YMCA’s across the world are helping their national governments meet their international obligations – albeit sometimes unknowingly.

Participating in forums such as this provides the opportunity to highlight this and cement youth organisations, such as YMCA, as a critical stakeholder going forward. It was a privilege to be able to contribute to this over the two days.

As for me, I am going to take what I’ve learnt from my fellow participants back to our team in London and continue to work to create meaningful change for young people.

More convinced in the power of YMCA than ever before, this work will continue to be grounded in the voices of young people who I meet along the way.

Of course none of this is possible without the network of people in local YMCAs who take the time to support and facilitate this work. I continue to be grateful for those who, like me, recognise that the power of YMCA lies in our dual approach to creating change.