Background:
The International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage along the Silk Roads (IYF) is an annual gathering of young people from all over the world, organized by the UNESCO Beijing Cluster Office and the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO in collaboration with Chinese local governments. The first meeting was held in 2017 with an objective of giving young people a platform to voice their interests and concerns on creativity and heritage, and to mobilize their talents for sustainable development.
Overcoming the health, social, economic and cultural challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic requires everyone’s contribution. Engagement of young people, in particular, is most important, as they are disproportionally affected by the pandemic and its long-term impacts on communities and societies. On May 20, a IYF Special Dialogue on Youth Action and Commitment in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic (IYFSD) virtually convened alumni of the three past International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage along the Silk Roads (IYF), so that they could share youth concerns, exchange youth responses, and inspire increased engagement of young people in combating COVID-19 and its negative socioeconomic consequences.
Over 120 IYF alumni from 68 countries gathered online to showcase concrete actions taken by young people in response to the pandemic, and discuss how to catalyze further engagement. “For young people already facing inequality, climate change and conflicts, COVID-19 has made a difficult situation even worse. But young people are strong, resilient and creative, and have found ways not only to thrive but also to help their communities.” said Mr. Xing Qu, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO in his opening message. Mr. Tian Xuejun, Vice Minister of Education and Chairperson of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, stressed that in fighting the pandemic, young people are rising to challenges, shouldering responsibilities and contributing in various ways. “As the most dynamic and creative group in our society and the effective strength for social development, young people should stand out and join hands for victory over COVID-19.”
Speakers highlighted the importance of young activism, with young doctors and nurses racing against time to save lives; young artists sending messages of hope; young teachers building platforms and tools for remote education; and young people showcasing cultural venues that suffered from closings. Dr. Lu Haoping, one of many young medical workers who volunteered to go to Wuhan at the very beginning of the outbreak, shared how his team took to the front lines of this new contagious disease, caring more about alleviating community suffering than about potential risks to their own health. They worked day and night until the number of new cases declined to zero, leaving behind empty hospital corridors and a great sense of accomplishment.
John Crowley, Chief of Section of Research, Policy and Foresight of UNESCO Social and Human Sciences Sector, offered insights on how a pandemic can be understood as a process of social transformation, as it brings deep change to how we interact with each other, to what we pay attention to and consider priorities, and to our expectations about the future. He explained how UNESCO is researching and responding to the socioeconomic fragilities the pandemic revealed, while finding ways to build upon and enhance societies’ resilience, through its core competences in education, culture, sciences, as well as communication and information.
During the IYF Special Dialogue on Youth Action and Commitment in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic on May 20, over 120 IYF alumni had in-depth discussions on critical topics in 3 parallel sessions, sharing perceptions on COVID-19’s impacts and exchanging ideas on how best to “build back better” our societies.
At the closing of the Special Dialogue, Dr. Marielza Oliveira, Director of UNESCO Beijing Cluster Office highlighted, said that “racial, generational, economic, gender inequalities and social injustices are no longer hidden. We can’t ignore or dismiss them anymore. In a world as interconnected as the pandemic has demonstrated we live in, they are our biggest source of risk. We need a new world, with less indifference and more kindness. Our societies will be more resilient, more capable of facing stress and adversity, if we build them back to be more equitable and sustainable, more compassionate and collaborative. If we understand and care for each other more. If our communities inspire and unite us”.
Mr. Qin Changwei, Secretary General of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, observed that young people everywhere are shouldering responsibilities in the fight against COVID-19, leveraging creativity to seek new solutions to overcome our difficulties. “Young people are ready to play their part with their talents in every possible way in these hard times”, he said.
Mr. Zheng Jianxin, Mayor of Changsha city and a major partner to UNESCO and to the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO in the IYF series, expressed readiness to continue empowering and supporting youth in the future. Changsha is carrying out the C+C Global Youth Innovation Partnership Plan, aiming to build a platform for young people’s exchanges, mutual learning and contributions in the field of creativity and heritage. The C+C Global Youth Innovation Partnership Plan will invite around 1,000 young artists, entrepreneurs and leaders (especially youth from Silk Roads countries) to Changsha for cultural exchanges and business cooperation. Mr. Vincent Li, Vice President, Youth Development Program Committee of Tencent - a major technology company famous for its communications platforms, including the Voov platform over which the IYFSD was carried out, echoed the interest to support youth, presenting its own plans to offer opportunities for young people to engage in creativity and “tech for good.”
The 2-hour IYFSD ended at 9:00PM Beijing Time. But youth engagement in COVID-19 response and in building a more equitable and sustainable global community had just started! Efforts to support young people in achieving concrete results – better education for all, a global culture of resilience and mutual understanding, advocacy for policy decisions based on scientific evidence, combating discrimination in pandemic response… -- had just started, with commitments from UNESCO, the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, Changsha City, Nanjing City, Tencent, and other stakeholders, to support youth action with funding, capacity development, access to platforms and networks, to scale up their efforts.