From 30 November to 3 December, 2016 over 60 youth delegates from 15 different countries met in Malaysia for the WFUNA Youth Seminar 2016: Kuala Lumpur hosted by UNA-Malaysia. The aim of the event was to enable discussions and build the capacities of the members of the WFUNA Youth Network to support the implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.
As participants started to arrive to register, the expectation was palpable. The event opened with a short performance followed by opening remarks from Ms. Marianne Clark-Hatting, UNICEF Representative in Malaysia and Tan Sri Razali Ismail, UNAM Deputy President. Eui Yun Kim, WFUNA Program Officer delivered a speech on behalf of WFUNA Secretary-General Mr. Bonian Golmohammadi, saying: “The problems of today are far too complex to leave only to governments. The success of the SDGs depends on you. I invite you to take ownership of SDG 16”. The morning session ended with the reading of a written message by UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi to all youth delegates.
The stage was set in the afternoon session. Ms. Erly Muñoz, WFUNA Main Facilitator, conducted a session titled “Breaking down Goal 16” that would provide the thematic framework for the discussions in the upcoming days. The day ended with a conversation with Siti Kasim, activist and lawyer for the rights and indigenous communities in Malaysia.
The day started with a morning long session by Mr. Michael Wong from the Project Management Institute Malaysia Chapter on project management fundamentals and how to best leverage PM tools to implement UN SDG16 based projects at the national level. The afternoon session focused on providing further skills to support the implementation of projects. WFUNA Youth Advisory Council Representative for North America, RJ Johnson, facilitated a workshop on Fundraising. Afterwards, the youth delegates where able to work on project ideas based on four thematic groups: Youth Participation, Peaceful Societies, Access to Justice and Transparency & Accountability.
The day started with Mr. Dzameer Dzulkifli, Founder of Teach from Malaysia where he shared his experiences with the participants. Afterwards, youth delegates had the opportunity to prepare for their project presentations after lunch. Just after lunch, youth delegates delivered presentations on projects based on elements of Goal 16: Youth Participation, Peaceful Societies, Access to Justice and Transparency & Accountability and made their commitments to supporting the implementation of UN SDG16.
The official sessions of the WFUNA Youth Seminar ended with a conversation with Zunar, political cartoonist and a briefing by WFUNA Youth Advisory Council Representative for Asia Ms. Fahmida Faiza on WFUNA’s youth activities and engagement opportunities.
After three days of hard work, youth delegates had the opportunity to share best practices while taking a tour of UNESCO Heritage Site, city of Melaka.
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