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Major Group for Children and Youth
The official UN Major Group for people under the age of 30, this working group strives to represent the voices of children and youth from around the world at the United Nations.
Major Groups
The Major Groups represent nine sectors of society that act as the main channels through which citizens and organizations can participate in UN activities. There are Major Groups for children and Youth, Women, Indigenous Peoples, Non-Governmental Organizations, Local Authorities, Workers and Trade Unions, Business and Industry, the Scientific and Technological Community and Farmers.
Manipulation
In the CHOICE Flower of Participation we speak of manipulation when young people are used to support a cause. At the same time, the initiators pretend that this cause was inspired by these young people and/or that these young people are supporting it. Young people are used as decoration, to make the cause seem more attractive. The young people that participate in such a program or activity are not in control of the activity, they cannot give their opinion on the activity or the cause, and don’t enjoy any responsibility. They may be aware of the goal of their participation, but even this is not always the case.
Meaningful and Inclusive Youth Participation (MIYP)
Meaningful and Inclusive Youth Participation (MYP) is the meaningful and inclusive participation of young people in different programmes, policies, and spaces, especially on matters that concern them directly as is guaranteed in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). For participation to be considered meaningful, young people must at a minimum be well-informed of their role and what their participation will contribute to, and their opinions are respected and taken seriously. Meaningful participation can involve different levels of responsibility, as is reflected in the CHOICE Flower of Participation. For example, all of CHOICE’s programs aim to meaningfully involve young people with a high level of responsibility at all stages and at all levels of our programs and advocacy, this includes their meaningful participation in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the programs and advocacy strategies and campaigns, as well as their meaningful participation in decision-making spaces. Here young people participate on equal terms, which may require capacity strengthening or a change in the usual way of doing things. Note that while young people do not always need equal decision-making power for their participation to be meaningful, this is an important prerequisite for a youth-adult partnership. CHOICE’s Flower of Participation provides more information on the different ways in which participation can be meaningful (or not).
One young person does not represent all young people, so for MIYP to be truly meaningful, it should involve a diverse group of youth (e.g. rural/urban, young LGBTIQA+ persons, youth from different socio-economic backgrounds etc.)
Millenium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were the world’s first global targets for international development. The MDGs aimed to halve extreme poverty, halt the spread of HIV, reduce child and maternal mortality, provide universal primary education, promote gender equality and empowerment, ensure environmental sustainability, and global partnership for development. The MDGs went into effect in the year 2000 and ended in 2015, when they were replaced with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).