My Journey to the G7 Youth Summit 2020

My Journey to the G7 Youth Summit 2020

It’s been an eventful and busy two months since I first wrote about my role leading the UK delegation to the G7 Youth Summit in June. Lots has changed due to the pandemic and it initially looked like the virus might cancel or put most of normal life on hold. Having passed that initial phase, people are finding remote ways to continue working towards milestones and goals, so lots has continued too! In some ways, the lockdown has given me back more time to work on personal projects outside of work, such as the preparation for this summit. In other ways, things have become busier than ever, as we all try to plough on with our plans despite the pandemic.

G7 and G20 Youth Summit Applications 2020

G7 and G20 Youth Summit Applications 2020

The purpose of the youth engagement group is to highlight the most pressing issues affecting young people and to connect with young leaders in order to solicit their solutions to tackle these challenges. The Youth Summits typically take the form of a week-long summit in the host country, bringing together young leaders from across the globe, to discuss and debate the big issues. The output of the summit is a communiqué containing policy proposals which is presented world leaders as part of the official G7/G20 summit. This is a unique opportunity to influence at the highest level.

Visiting the European Parliament with Seb dance MEP - Hayat Askar

Visiting the European Parliament with Seb dance MEP - Hayat Askar

I travelled up to Brussels on the Eurostar at 06.47 on the day of the European Council meeting, along with what felt like half the British media. The UK Prime Minister was due to agree a new Withdrawal Agreement with the EU27 after weeks of no-deal speculation, meaning familiar faces were also Brussels-bound. BBC's Laura Kuenssberg and Nigel Farage MEP were some of the other early risers we caught sight of on our train; eager to see what they day would unfold. 

Opportunity to join British Delegation to the European Parliament

The Future Leaders Network has been awarded 8 sponsored places for a visit to the European Parliament, 17th October 2019. The European Parliament (EP) is the legislative branch of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union, it adopts European legislation, normally on a proposal from the European Commission. The Parliament is composed of 751 members (MEPs), intended to become 705 starting from the 2019–2024 legislature due to specific provisions adopted about Brexit.

G20 Youth Summit Japan 2019 - Emily Campbell

G20 Youth Summit Japan 2019 - Emily Campbell

Forty plus authors from across the world crafting a three page document that proposes collective solutions to the biggest challenges of our time is as taxing a task as it sounds. Nothing at the Y20 is black and white. Not even the commas on the final Communiqué which have been moved, debated, omitted, inserted and reinserted many times over– often in adrenaline-fuelled disagreements in the hotel lobby at 2am in the morning. Everything is open to negotiation.

My Experience at the Austrian Embassy - Sadbh O'Reilly

Having recently moved to London, I was eager to find opportunities where I could connect with like-minded young professionals, interested in the same things I was. What attracted me to the Future Leaders Network was the recognition that young people don’t just have the potential for leadership but already have the qualities that make them leaders, but rather young people are just lacking the opportunities to exercise their leadership skills. 

Want to know what we look for when recruiting for the Y7 Summit?

Want to know what we look for when recruiting for the Y7 Summit?

The Y7 is the youth engagement group of the G7, an international summit of the seven largest advanced economies in the world. The purpose of the youth engagement group is to highlight the most pressing issues affecting young people and to connect with young leaders in order to solicit their solutions to tackle these challenges. The Y7 summit itself typically takes the form of a week-long summit in the host country, bringing together young leaders from across the globe, to discuss and debate the big issues.