Y20 Pre-summit set to begin today with focus on health, climate change
Apr 26, 2023
LEH: More than 100 delegates from 30 countries will participate in the Y20 Pre-Summit starting Wednesday to discuss pressing issues confronting the world's youth and try to evolve a consensus on issues such as health, climate change and sports, among others.
With India presiding over the G20 - an inter-governmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union, which works to address major issues related to the global economy - this year, the onus is on the country to come up with innovative ideas to make the world a better place.
The theme of 2023 Y20 pre-summit - One earth, one family, one future - is intertwined with the tenets of G20 and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the organisers of the event, hope the event here will become the engine that will drive the world into the future.
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur will meet the delegates on April 28 - the last day of the three-day pre-summit - and discuss with them ideas and outcome of the exercise.
The event here is a precursor to the "Main Y20 Summit" to be held in Varanasi from August 17-20.
"The Y20 is an engagement group of G20, which involves youth participants from 30 countries. They will deliberate on issues confronting the youth in the world. The youth of today are concerned about their future, jobs, how growth champions the cause of peace in the world and sports, among others.
"This is part of the G20 experience. They will take home the message from here across the world. Youth of today will be the decision-makers of tomorrow and we want to engage them to know their thoughts on several pressing issues," said Nagaraj Naidu Kakanur, the G20 joint secretary here on Tuesday.
"We have 11 engagement groups in G20 (spanning different spheres) like health, labour, civil, among others, and the inputs of the youth will be fed into the Leaders' Summit to be held in September in New Delhi.
The Leaders' Summit is the culmination of all the G20 processes and meetings held throughout the year among ministers, senior officials and civil societies.
Pankaj Singh, director, MYAS, said the participants here will negotiate on five thematic areas, namely, future of work, climate change and disaster risk reduction, peace building and reconciliation, youth in democracy and health and wellbeing and sports during the three-day programme.
"The most crucial programme will be on April 28 when in-house technical negotiations will take place among the delegates and finally the sports minister will interact with the delegates," he added.
