Criteria and role of Youth Delegate

Criteria

The ideal youth delegate will…

·  Be a young member between 18 and 30 years old

·  Be able to work in written and spoken English as the conference will be conducted in English. This may include needing to understand some complex political language

·  Be a member of a Girl Guiding or Girl Scouting organisation in one of the countries whose government is a member of the Commission on the Status of Women for 2017, as explained in the application form. If you are not from one of the CSW61 member countries, you will have to make a strong case as to why you should still be a part of the WAGGGS delegation, e.g strong connections with the countries which are members of CSW61; you are on the official government delegation, etc.

·  Be, or have been, personally involved in Guiding or Scouting projects/programmes related to the Sustainable Development Goals, economic empowerment or the empowerment of indigenous women.

·  Have commitment and passion for the empowerment of girls and young women, understanding the key role that Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting can play in the implementation of the new Global Goals for Sustainable Development

·  Have a strong interest in international development and have experience of working with and/or lobbying governments, inter-governmental bodies and/or civil society actors (including non-governmental organisations) to renew commitments to national and international legislation, resolutions and conventions

·  Have knowledge of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and/or the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

·  Have an active interest in global advocacy, and have previously engaged in advocacy activities

·  Have a mature, responsible, and considerate attitude needed to live and work closely with the other delegates

·  Be tolerant and culturally sensitive

Role

Youth delegates will be expected to…

·  Be available to travel to New York between 9 - 24 March 2017 (exact dates TBC)

·  Commit at least an hour every two weeks between December 2016 and March 2017 for a delegation call/training webinar and commit other time around that for ‘homework’ and communicating with other delegates to complete tasks

·  Be active participants in preparation, training, and other activities, including independent research

·  Be passionate advocates for gender equality, human rights and the role that Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting can play in influencing and lobbying for positive change in girls and young women’s lives

·  Be confident public speakers as it is very likely all delegates will be required to make speeches and/or talk about their work and WAGGGS work publicly

·  Have regular access to the internet (including email) to participate in off-site training prior to the conference

·  Be dedicated and ready for some hard work. Participating in a UN conference is challenging and requires a significant commitment of time and energy. It is often necessary to work long hours and can occasionally be an emotional experience.

·  Contribute to working groups within the WAGGGS delegation

·  Liaise with national government representatives and other civil society groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to deliver WAGGGS key messages and build partnerships

·  Apply their learning from the experience and share this with their Member Organization after the event by running a follow-up action project on a relevant topic at a local or national level