WFUNA and the United Nations Association of Italy hosted the WFUNA European UNA and Youth Meeting in Rome, Italy from 19-21 of May 2019. This meeting took place at the Italian Society for International Organization Headquarters (SIOI-UNA Italy) jointly with the European UNA Meeting.
Seven European countries were present in the meeting. A group of 25 young leaders represented Armenia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and the Cambridge University UNA. Each youth participant had a chance to present current initiatives and projects that their UNA or UNYA is currently working on. It provided a space for collaboration and feedback from other countries.
Two highlights of the meeting were a visit to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on May 20th, which included a tour of its premises and two presentations on SDG 2, and a presentation from the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights in the morning of May 21st. Beyond that, participants engaged in continuous discussions and exchanges on how to improve cooperation between European United Nations Associations and United Nations Youth Associations, how to engage young people with the United Nations in general, and how WFUNA and WFUNA’s Youth Advisory Council can continue to work together witn UNAs and UNYAs.
Some concrete discussion points included how to facilitate more in-person meetings between youth representatives from the WFUNA Youth Network: Europe, how to utilize best or introduce the UN Youth Delegate program, and how have a strong participation during the “UN Theme Week” organized by the United Nations Youth Association of Norway in 2020.
The event was facilitated by Finn Carlson of WFUNA along with the help of two WFUNA Youth Advisory Council Members for Europe, Angela Scicchitano (UNA Italy) and Inessa Pambukhchyan (UNA Armenia).