The MAB Youth Networks have been increasingly active and prominent in the official decision making processes of the MAB Programme. Most notable is the annual meeting of the states of the MAB Programme known as the MAB International Co-ordinating Council (or MAB ICC), where the Secretariat and States report their activities, welcome new Biosphere Reserves, and make vital binding decisions about the future of the Programme.
MAB Youth have a growing role in decision-making processes such as the MAB ICC, where MAB Youth became increasingly spoken about during the 29th Session of the MAB ICC in 2017, then eventually having young people actually speak at the MAB ICC as happened at the 31st Session of the MAB ICC in 2019. Since the formation of MAB Youth Networks and the 2nd MAB Youth Forum in 2019, the MAB Youth Networks have been regular contributors to the MAB ICC meetings, presenting activities, perspectives, and recommendations for the programme, all the while developing our understanding of how the MAB Programme works.
Here, on this page, we provide some of the interventions that the international MAB Youth Networks have undertaken.
MAB ICC 34, 2022
At the 34th MAB ICC, the MAB Youth Networks developed an intervention containing our perspectives on a number of major decisions being undertaken affecting the functioning and structure of the MAB Youth Networks.
Notably, we presented the following perspectives:
- Supporting a Systematic Evaluation of MAB Youth engagement at the International and National Levels
- Calling for better recognition of the MAB Youth Network’s existing structure during discussions about changing how Thematic and Regional Networks are organized.
- Acknowledging the limited expertise that the MAB Secretariat has in engaging youth, and recommending an approach of better consulting and engaging the Youth Network.
We intervened on various agenda items that strongly affected the future of the MAB Youth Networks, providing our perspectives on proposed changes that would’ve impacted the functioning of the MAB Youth Networks, and recommendations which help the MAB Youth Networks to grow and effectively reach more young people.
To read our full Position Paper, you can find it embedded and downloadable below.