MENA Youth Adaptation Forum
The MENA Youth Adaptation Forum aimed at ensuring youth voices from the region are present, heard and considered in the adaptation agenda, including in the review of the Global Goal on Adaptation.
Event description:
The MENA region is taking center stage in the international climate arena, with COP27 being held in Egypt and COP28 in the United Arab Emirates. To reach ambitious, innovative, and fair solutions it is crucial to hear directly from young people on the international adaptation agenda.
The Middle East North Africa (MENA) region has a rapidly growing youth population, expected to double in size by mid-century with approximately 271 million youth living in the region. Several countries are expected to experience population growth of nearly 50% by 2030, with Egypt experiencing the largest increase in absolute numbers. Despite the potential of a large youth population, civic engagement is the lowest in the world, owing to violence, social norms, and other factors (UNICEF, 2019) As a region set to experience devastating climatic impacts that can exacerbate existing tensions, it is crucial to engage young people for a climate-resilient world and create green jobs in the process.
The MENA Youth Adaptation Forum contributed to the review of the Global Goal on Adaptation and brought together young people, youth organizations, students networks, policymakers, global experts, international organizations, the private sector, and United Nations agencies, with the overall objective of elevating youth voices and increasing the power of influence of young people worldwide in the adaptation agenda.
The MENA Youth Adaptation Forum aimed to:
- Identify youth priorities and recommendations regarding the achievement and implementation of the Global Goal on Adaptation
- Elevate youth voices across the globe through GCA’s platform allowing young people, especially those from marginalized and vulnerable communities, to shape the international adaptation agenda
- Showcase youth-led climate-resilient solutions to accelerate adaptation action