UN Major Group for Children & Youth

The Rio Earth Summit in 1992 led to the development of Agenda 21, often referred to as the 'blueprint for sustainable development'. Agenda 21 stated that broad public participation was fundamental to achieving sustainable development, and recognised Children and Youth as one of nine major groups of civil society. The Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) is the official voice for any under 30 in the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. It engages with young people from across the world and through networking and collaborating puts together strong teams that contribute to the policy negotiations. The MGCY also works to inspire and platform youth activism through a series of working groups, aimed at bringing people together to help build the global youth voice. Prior to 2012, the UN MGCY operated within the UN Conference on Sustainable Development. In 2012, the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development was created to replace the UN-CSD. The MGCY operates within the framework, and as part of the Post-2015 development agenda through the Open Working Group process. The MGCY now has a broader mandate on sustainable development within the UN system. The MGCY has position papers relating to: • 2002 - UN-CSD 10 (Rio+10) • 2004 - UN-CSD 12 • 2010 - UN-CSD 18 • 2011 - UN-CSD 19 • 2012 - UN-CSD 20 (Rio+20) • 2014 - Position Paper on the Sustainable Development Goals