Ma Si Si San and Dr. Htet Aung Kyaw represented Myanmar youth at the United Nations ECOSOC Forum in early 2015 and were excited to share their experiences during the 2nd UNFPA Myanmar Youth Forum on 4 and 5 April in Yangon. The Youth Forum brought together participants from all States and Regions of Myanmar including youths living with disabilities, young people living with HIV and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) youth. Dr. Htet Aung Kyaw said: “At the ECOSOC Youth Forum it was highlighted that it is not only policy makers and politicians who can bring about change, but youth can also have an impact through their participation.” The ECOSOC Youth Forum formulated recommendations that will help shape the agenda and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the new global framework for development. Participation of Myanmar youth in such a global forum is essential to ensure that the SDGs address the needs, hopes and rights of Myanmar’s youth and that Myanmar youth have ownership of the implementation of the SDGs.
Nearly 500 youth leaders from across the globe participated in the two day 2015 ECOSOC Youth Forum, which provided a venue for youth to engage in open dialogue and advance solutions for the challenges that young people and their societies face will face in the transition from the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year’s forum was based on 5 pressing issues in the post 2015 development agenda: the role of youth in the transition from the MDGs to the SDGs, where youth stand in the implementation of the World Program of Action for Youth (WPAY) + 20, youth participation in Africa, gender equality and youth twenty years after the Beijing Platform for Action, and finally Global and Regional development processes. Ma Si Si San said she found the ECOSOC forum inspiring as she met many young people from around the world, opening her eyes to important global issues. Dr. Htet Aung Kyaw said the ECOSOC Forum provided a platform for youth to give recommendations and to voice their concerns around issues that are affecting them.
The youth representatives shared how they used the inputs they had received for the ECOSOC meeting during the first Myanmar Youth Forum. These included current issues for Myanmar youth such as drug addiction, armed conflict, education, leisure activities, unemployment and how ICT (write in full) can be used for development. The youth representatives also shared their personal learning experiences so that other youth participants could get a sense of what attending a UN meeting in New York entailed. Advice included not to be shy to speak out, to develop confidence and skills by actively participating during the event, as well as what type of clothes to bring given that the weather is very different to that of Myanmar! They also advised that to effectively participate in the ECOSOC Forum young people have to make sure they are aware of the procedures that need to be followed to make a statement. The participants raised many questions about the implications of the SDGs for Myanmar youth, such as how the SDGs will contribute to increasing opportunities for young people living with disabilities and how the SDGs will contribute to education and employment opportunities for young people in Myanmar.
Fourteen of the forty-five youth who attended the 2th Myanmar Youth Forum expressed their interest in being a youth representative in the future. Each of them delivered a two-minute speech and answered questions raised by their fellow participants. These speeches, as well as the points that each individual scored from their peers, will be integrated into the competitive selection process that will determine who the future youth representatives at UN conferences will be.
