This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Y20 — a forum that provides a platform for young people to have their voices heard on issues relevant to the G20 agenda. Delegates are selected to represent each of the G20 countries as they engage in ongoing programming to develop skills and networks to identify the most pressing economic challenges and opportunities facing young people today. To commemorate the establishment of the Y20 as an official and unique platform for youth advocacy, the Y20 2020 hosts have launched the Y20 community (y20community.org) to enhance and connect the youth engagement that has been inspired over recent years. Saudi Arabia's Y20 team focuses its activities on three key themes that complement the broader G20 goals: Future fit (preparing for the future of work and entrepreneurship), youth empowerment (developing agile and dynamic future leaders), and global citizenship (promoting proactive, culturally sensitive problem-solvers). The Y20 feature event is the Y20 Summit that will take place virtually from Oct. 12-18, 2020. The Y20's chair, Othman Almoamar, discussed the importance of establishing the Y20 Community in 2020. He said: "In a year as decisive as 2020, much of what has been established previously has suddenly shifted to accommodate for unprecedented global changes. The Y20 in 2020 is no different. The Y20 Summit has shifted to be hosted virtually, much of our policy discourse has been centered upon COVID-19, and we have doubled down on the activation of the Y20 community to ensure that the Y20 in 2020 brings the community together despite the challenges we all face." The Y20 community is an ongoing peer-support community of Y20 alumni and current delegates and organizers, established to increase the sustainability of the platform. The Y20 community is coordinated around four key elements: Y20 alumni community, kick-off reunion, global dialogue fellowship, and the youth priorities initiative open call for videos. The Y20 community taskforce lead, Arwa AlHarbi, a lead motivator behind the creation of the Y20 community, shared the inspiration for this initiative. She said: "The Y20 community will invite more young people into the dialogue by re-engaging previous Y20 delegates and organizers through an alumni community and also by inviting young people around the world to share their perspectives on global youth priorities. At a time when many human interactions have paused or shifted formats, it is imperative to find channels for youth to connect, engage, and voice their thoughts." The official launch of the Y20 community occurred with two activities: launching the youth priorities initiative for videos on Aug. 8 and the kick-off reunion for Y20 alumni on Aug. 20. The kick-off reunion was a virtual event that gathered approximately 100 Y20 current and previous delegates and organizers to reconnect on the three key themes. The event began with welcome remarks from Y20 chair and featured distinguished speakers including Tatiana Podliszewski from Argentina, who served as Y20 2018 executive director, and Ahmad AlHindawi, the 10th secretary-general of the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the former United Nations Secretary General's envoy on youth. During her remarks, Tatiana Podliszewski shared the following reflection: "The Y20 provides a platform for young people to have their voices heard, making a meaningful and diverse contribution on issues relevant to the G20 agenda. Now, the Y20 Community amplifies that voice by connecting us as a growing global community of Y20 Alumni, actively bringing together youth across the world." — SG
