DEADLINE EXTENDED: 28TH FEBRUARY
At the 39th World Conference, WAGGGS will pilot the participation of 16-17-year-olds in the Conference. The pilot will invite a small focus group of up to 5 Member Organisations to register a 16-17-year-old participant as part of their delegation to World Conference.
What does the pilot aim to do?
- Engage directly with 16-17-year-olds to learn how they can meaningfully participate in global decision-making spaces, like the World Conference.
- Define the safeguarding and risk framework for WAGGGS, Member Organisations and 16-17-year-old participants that enables their participation in WAGGGS initiatives.
- Put in practice the Growing and Learning policy by exploring what a space to grow and learn means in WAGGGS’ international and decision-making spaces.
- Support the Movement in our work towards our Compass 2032 Vision to be a girl-led Movement, by exploring how we can make global decision-making spaces more accessible to under 18s.
Most importantly, this pilot is a learning process for everyone involved, especially WAGGGS. It does not mean that in the future we will definitely open participation in global events to 16-17-year-olds. The success of the pilot is in the conversations we will have with all involved to learn more about how WAGGGS can involve girls and young women in a meaningful way in all its areas of work.
What are Member Organisations expected to do?
- Carry out a transparent, inclusive recruitment process to nominate a 16-17-year-old member of their delegation.
- Nominate a Chaperone as part of their delegation, whose responsibility is to support the well-being of the participant and is their main point of contact during the event (Please note: this role cannot be held by the Head Delegate and will be a priority role in case of conflicting tasks or availability).
- Ensure meaningful participation of the young member, we do not want 16-17-year-olds to be a tokenistic part of the World Conference, we want them to be there and actively engage in the Conference on a voluntary basis.
- Attend online briefing sessions with WAGGGS in the lead up to World Conference.
- Fully participate in monitoring and evaluation processes throughout the pilot.
What will WAGGGS do?
- Provide all necessary documents and advice throughout the process.
- Safeguarding support at organisational and individual levels.
- Monitoring and evaluation before, during and after the Conference.
How can Member Organisations join the pilot?
- If your Member Organisation is interested in joining the pilot, please complete the expression of interest form by the 15th of February: Expression of interest - Pilot for 16-17-year-old attendees – Fill in form
- From this expression we will select the MOs who will be part of this pilot, you can see the planned selection criteria below.
- Selected MOs will then be invited to nominate one 16-17-year-old and their Chaperone as a part of their delegation to World Conference by the registration deadline.
- Support and accompaniment will be provided by WAGGS until, at and after WoCo.
- Any questions please reach out to [email protected] and [email protected]
Selection criteria
To make the decision, the selection committee will assess the Member Organisation’s:
- Interest and motivation in taking part in this programme.
- Understanding of the programme and its role and responsibilities to make it a successful experience for everyone involved.
- Safeguarding mechanisms in place, showing that the organisation has a clear process and/or commitment in keeping children and young people safe.
- Meaningful youth participation understanding and mechanisms in place to support the young person’s experience.
The selection will also consider diversity among the selected MOs, aiming to ensure representation from each WAGGGS region.
Note that the Chaperone will be required to speak English, and the participant will be required to be able to communicate in one of the four WAGGGS languages (Arabic, English, French or Spanish).