In another issue of NetMission Digest, we delve into several prominent statements that collated youth voices from across the globe toward a desired digital future. This is a timely review to understand what our fellow digital natives are calling for as we prepare for regional and global Internet and digital fora in the second half of 2024 – Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) in August, Summit of the Future in September, the United Nations Internet Governance Forum in December.
ITU Generation Connect Youth Call to Action “My Digital Future”
As part of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Youth Strategy to “cast a wide net” to capture the digital future that the youth envisions. Visions, priorities, and aspirations of young people were spotlighted as a deliverable of the Generation Connect Global Youth Summit on the sidelines of the 2022 World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-22). The two-year consultation process called on world leaders of today to renew and upgrade existing policies, governance models and implementation. Specifically, the ITU set up regional youth groups and crowdsourced ideas to identify challenges and priorities and develop concrete recommended actions under (1) capacity development, (2) cybersecurity, (3) digital inclusion, and (4) digital services and applications.
The Generation Connect Asia and the Pacific (GC-ASP) Youth Group called out the lack of various awareness, opportunities, and skills amongst young people as challenges in the region and urged for more capacity-building initiatives and pathways for youth. Interestingly on engagement, while the inclusion of youth in developing digital services and applications, as well as policymaking processes were identified in the GC-ASP Draft Action Plan 2022-2025*, only the former was identified as a priority to adopt a “youth-centered, Universal Design” approach. There was no mention of prioritizing meaningful youth participation in the formulation and implementation of digital policies. (*Note: The Draft Action Plan is seen as the finalized GC-ASP regional youth declaration submitted for broader consideration.)
In the final Call to Action document, young people across the globe underscored the need for meaningful youth participation in digital space creation and policymaking, as well as for measuring the impact and outcome focusing on youth. In particular, youth identified specific group(s) of stakeholders (e.g., academia, civil society, private sector and government (agencies)) to take “decisive actions” in order to meet the respective “asks” to be met by 2025. A strategic multi-stakeholder alliance was also called upon for sustainable digital development. However, disappointingly, while this document was considered at WTDC-22, it was opposed by some ITU member states to be directly referenced in Resolution 76 on Promoting ICT among young people.
Notwithstanding, this Generation Connect Youth Call to Action should not be depreciated for the sheer fact of not being reflected in WTDC-22’s resolutions. These asks by youth remain important statements for the development of a shared and sustainable digital future, and could still be a set of measurements at WTDC-25 to evaluate whether youth’s asks are met.
The development of the Global Digital Compact (GDC) commenced with the launch of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ “Our Common Agenda” report in September 2021. Followed by a series of policy briefs, consultations, and engagements with all stakeholders including youth, GDC is expected to be deliberated at the Summit of the Future on 22-23 September 2024.
With objectives to close the digital divides and foster an inclusive, open, safe, and secure digital space and economy, as well as issue-specific objectives on international data governance and emerging technologies including AI, the latest zero draft published in April 2024 highlighted a set of 10 “cross-cutting and interdependent principles” for digital cooperation: Inclusive, Development-focused, Human rights-based, Gender equal, Environmentally sustainable, Accessible and interoperable, Responsible and accountable, Innovation-friendly, Multi-stakeholder, and Forward-looking.
This zero-draft follows two rounds of informal consultations with UN member states and other stakeholders, including youth representatives. The Contribution by the UN Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth highlighted the hindering barriers in shaping the digital future and emphasized the need to partner with Digital Natives in the development of policies and technological solutions. NetMission.Asia’s GDC submission, on the other hand, underlined universal Internet access and human rights online, as well as calling for the recognition of digital commons as a global public good, ensuring accountability of online content, protection of data and AI governance via a multi-stakeholder approach.
- Read also NetMission.Asia’s Comments on the Possible Structural Elements of the Global Digital Compact following GDC co-facilitators’ letter dated February 2024.
While the Global Digital Compact does not have a dedicated section on youth, it should encapsulate recommendations by youth representatives posited during the consultative process. As “the highest-level capturing of political will in terms of a comprehensive view of the digital world”, youth voices must be an integral part, especially following the Generation Connect Youth Call to Action being disregarded as part of the WTDC-22 Resolution. UNICEF’s Office of Innovation (OOI) is currently co-leading the global youth GDC consultation and is launching campaigns to ensure young people are adequately represented throughout GDC’s formulation and at the Summit of the Future.
Messages from the Youth at Internet Governance Forum
As part of the IGF Youth Strategy 2020-2025, the IGF Secretariat, the IGF host country and local youth IGF coordinators co-created the Youth Track to be part of the Forum. The IGF 2023 Global Youth Summit was held in Kyoto where the 2023 messages emerged from. With the focus on cybersecurity and trust, Messages centered on youth empowerment and participation in policy development, as well as capacity and awareness building among young people.
Prior to the Global Youth Summit, regional youth Internet Governance Forums were also held as part of the capacity development program. On the sidelines of APrIGF, the Asia Pacific Youth Internet Governance Forum (yIGF.asia) held and produced a 4-point Youth Statement 2023 on “Digital Transformation and Rebuilding Trust”, an “Inclusive and Trustworthy Digital Space”, “Equal Access to Digital Ecosystem”, and “Collaborative Effort in Creating a Safe and Unbiased Internet”.
This year’s capacity development activity is underway, with the next workshop on “AI and Education: ChatGPT uses in schools and AI capacity development”. To be held on the sidelines of APrIGF, a 2024 Youth Statement is also expected to be a key deliverable outcome for yIGF.asia 2024.
- Registration for the 2024 Asia Pacific Youth Internet Governance Forum is now open. Learn more: https://www.yigf.asia/page26.html
Honorable Mentions: Youth Statements Beyond Digital Future
Other than specific statements addressing Internet governance and the digital future, there are at times other avenues to amplify and reiterate calls. Taking a closer look at the upcoming Summit of the Future, the Declaration on Future Generations is another expected deliverable besides the Global Digital Compact. Upon intergovernmental agreement, the Declaration would be annexed to the Pact for the Future and an outcome of the Summit. The latest revision echoes and doubles down on the overarching calls seen in youth statements specific to the Internet and digital realm.
Another apparent example is the call for an environmentally sustainable digital future, which was consistently manifested in (youth) statements and outcomes across both ITU and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), such as the 28th Conference of Youth (CoY28) Global Youth Statement and the aforementioned Generation Connect Youth Call to Action.
Effective advocacies require finding creative opportunities to (re)iterate and solidify specific messages on occasions that could strategically align with the broader and adjacent discussions. Therefore, it is of great importance to also understand neighboring issues and interests of other stakeholder groups to find common grounds and build strategic alliances to fast-track our progress towards an equitable and shared future.
Epilogue: Youth Empowerment as a Collective Effort
Youth statements above demonstrated the growing recognition of youth involvement in governing the Internet and digital spaces. However, there are still ways to go for meaningful youth engagement. A plausible yardstick to measure “meaningfulness” could be adopting the third Policy Brief published by the United Nations as part of SG Guterres’ “Our Common Agenda”.
| Accessible | Designated | Diversity & Inclusion | Informative |
| Institutionally mandated | Reciprocal accountability | Resourced | Rights-based |
| Safe | Transparent | Voluntary | Youth as Partners |
Yet, all youth statements – regardless of the nature being synthesis documents for capacity building, consultation submissions advocating for specific change in policies and governance models, or call-to-actions being referenced in overarching resolutions and development frameworks – should be recognized as part of the process to amplify young people’s interests and stake in digital and other issues.
As new rounds of regional and global youth statements on digital policies and Internet governance are being formulated and deliberated in the coming months, every step should be recognized as youth voices being amplified and considered in the decision-making table, en route to an equitable and inclusive digital future.
Written by Kenneth Leung (Reviewed by Jenna Manhau Fung)