In 1999, the UN General Assembly endorsed the recommendation of the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998) that 12 August be declared International Youth Day. International Youth Day gives an opportunity to celebrate and mainstream young peoples’ voices, actions and initiatives, as well as their meaningful, universal and equitable engagement.
For 2020, the theme was “Youth Engagement for Global Action”. The aim was to highlight the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes, as well as draw lessons on how their representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be significantly enhanced.
YANAA (Young Activist Network for Abortion Advocacy), the Campaign’s youth network, posted videos made by two of its members, to kick-start YANAA’s short video series to do with youth access to abortion:
- Alice Ackermann (pictured left) is with the Planning Familial in France and a member of @YSafe, a youth network working with sexuality education and SRHR across Europe and Central Asia. Watch her in Part 1 and Part 2 on Twitter.
- Sonali Silva (pictured right) is a SheDecides Champion from Sri Lanka. Watch her on Twitter too!
The videos can also be viewed on Instagram.