Ahead of World Youth Skills Day on 15 July 2020, the 2020 TEM-A will open with a workshop on the topic of Youth engagement to enhance adaptation action.

Workshop description:

Youth consultations which were conducted in over 10 countries in 2019 and engagement with practitioners who work with young people and in the interest of youth, unveiled that current political systems do not have the right policies in place to facilitate youth contribution to the creation, implementation, and review of climate change adaptation strategies. This includes, but is not limited to, their rightful contribution to anticipatory planning and future policies. Institutional structures remain hierarchical which inhibits the effective engagement of diverse youth groups such as indigenous youth and young people in the informal sector whose experiences are needed for inclusive policy development that works for the most vulnerable.

Due to this, current policies already miss out on the ideas and aspirations of young people – the same people who will live in the future for which these policies are created. There is a lack of technical and knowledge capacity for young people to contribute equally in decision-making when invited to the table. Hence, the workshop seeks to highlight the opportunities that exist in engaging youth in adaptation planning and how this is essential to deliver large scale adaptation solutions. The workshop will also build the capacity of youth in local-led adaptation action and/ adaptation finance.