By Reon van der Merwe, Stakeholder Relations Lead, and Irfaan Mangera, Public Relations Officer, Y20
Youth inclusion in global decision-making
In a world that is increasingly shaped by economic inequality, climate breakdown, technological disruption, and democratic backsliding, the most urgent question facing humanity is this: what future are we building, and who gets to shape it? The Y20 (Youth 20), the official youth engagement group of the G20, provides a bold and necessary answer: the future must be shaped by those who will inherit it.
The numbers are compelling: globally, half the world’s population is under the age of 30. In Africa, that figure is closer to 70%. Yet young people remain structurally excluded from most decision-making spaces, both nationally and globally.
The Y20 and the global agenda
The Y20 is one of several official engagement groups within the G20 ecosystem. The Y20 is not just a conference, it is an ongoing platform that allows young people from across the world to influence global policy and co-create solutions that respond to their lived realities. Hosted annually in parallel to the G20 presidency, the Y20 shapes the global youth agenda.
The Y20 process is traditionally coordinated by youth organisations and networks from G20 member states, with a clear mandate from host governments to consult and convene the youth. The forum culminates in the Y20 Summit and the drafting of a Y20 Communiqué, a document that reflects the positions and priorities of young people globally, which is presented to G20 leaders at the annual Heads of State & Government Summit. This year, the South African Y20 is convening under five thematic areas:
1. Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability
2. Inclusive Economic Growth and Employment
3. AI, Digital Innovation, Education, and the Future of Work
4. Meaningful Youth Engagement and Reforming Multilateralism for a Just Future
5. Inclusive Social Development and Fighting Inequality
Substantive Inclusion
Unlike other international forums that often limit youth engagement to symbolic roles, the Y20 prioritises substantive inclusion. Young people do not just attend, they lead. They research, consult, negotiate, draft policy, and present proposals to ministers and heads of state. Through preparatory dialogues, national consultations, and working group sessions, Y20 participants are trained and positioned as experts, ready to shape the agenda of the world’s most powerful economies.
It is, in essence, a global space for democratic imagination. It is also a space that urgently needs the support of visionary partners who understand that youth participation is not a ‘nice to have’, but a ‘must have’ for any future worth investing in.
The Y20 as a Strategic Moment for Philanthropy
Supporting youth participation in global forums like the Y20 is about more than just representation. It is a strategic investment in the social, economic, and political sustainability of our societies. Here are five compelling reasons why this is important:
1. Youth are closest to the problems and the solutions
From the frontlines of climate activism in flood-hit Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal, to the innovation labs connecting rural youth to real opportunities, young people are already building alternatives. They bring fresh thinking, lived experience, and bold ideas that are often overlooked in formal structures. Whether it is insecure work, standing in long lines to hand in a CV, the crushing cost of education, or digital exclusion, young people live at the intersection of today’s most pressing challenges. Their proximity to the problem makes them powerful architects of impactful and sustainable solutions and ideas. They are not just witnesses to inequality; they are best positioned to transform it.
Yet, youth work requires bold, long-term commitment. Supporting youth leadership means more than inviting youth to the table – it means resourcing their vision, amplifying their voice, and removing the barriers that keep the most marginalised from participating. The Y20 in South Africa presents a rare and timely opportunity for philanthropy to shift from transactional support towards investing in systemic change. It is a unique platform to back youth not just as participants, but as co-authors of global policy and co-creators of shared futures.
2. Participation builds capability, dignity, and accountability
When young people are invited into policy spaces, they not only contribute, but also grow and learn. The Y20 serves as a leadership school, developing critical skills – analysis, negotiation, and advocacy among youth – allowing them to make their case for sustainable global solutions. But even more importantly, it fosters a sense of agency and dignity, demonstrating to the world that the next generation has its own vision for the future.
For philanthropy, it presents an opportunity to support not just the what of youth participation, but the how, creating a replicable model of youth-led policy influence. Supporting this process means shaping not only outcomes, but also the very architecture of youth engagement in global governance.
3. Exclusion comes at a cost
When young people are excluded from meaningful participation, the consequences ripple across society. The cost can be measured in growing disillusionment, waves of protest, the flight of talent through brain drain, and the entrenchment of poverty and inequality across generations. Civic alienation is not born overnight, it grows when young people feel unseen, unheard, and unvalued.
This reality is sharply felt in South Africa, where a deepening crisis of youth disengagement threatens the legitimacy of our democratic institutions. More and more young South Africans are losing faith in the very systems meant to represent and empower them. In a world where democratic legitimacy is under strain, initiatives like the Y20 help rebuild public trust by modelling inclusive, transparent, and future-focused dialogue. For philanthropy, it offers an entry point to support long-term democratic resilience by equipping a new generation with the tools, confidence, and networks to participate meaningfully in civic life.
4. Youth forums like the Y20 create scalable, policy-ready outputs
The Y20 Communiqué is not a token document – it is used as a lobbying and advocacy tool with real policy uptake. Past Y20 processes have influenced national youth policies, education reforms, digital equity frameworks, and G20 declarations. The power of this platform lies in its capacity to translate the voices of youth into concrete proposals backed by evidence, strategy, and global cooperation. In a world where politicians tweet one-liners and headlines compete to bait attention, well-reasoned recommendations for change are easily drowned out. The Y20 not only lifts youth to the highest platforms of decision-making but also encourages critical and reflective consensus-building.
For philanthropy, partnering with the Y20 means strengthening a rare ecosystem where youth-led ideas are taken seriously at the highest policy levels. It is an opportunity to back the full policy influence pipeline, from grassroots consultation to well-informed negotiation to credible uptake by decision-makers. The Y20 demonstrates what inclusive, participatory, and values-driven multilateralism can look like, if we choose to resource it.
5. Intergenerational leadership is nurtured through engagement
The Y20 process serves as a beacon that draws stakeholders from all corners of society into conversations about youth, with youth and hosted by youth. Events and summits hosted under the Y20 banner generate a unique energy in a country, allowing for new topics to be placed on the table, driving momentum and helping to establish connections between stakeholders that enable co-creation and collective action. Even when the Y20 moves on from one country to the next, its impact on the youth development spaces and discourse in the host country is tangible, lasting and unrivaled in the multilateral system.
For philanthropy, this makes the Y20 a catalytic opportunity to extend the reach and depth of national dialogues, ensure that underrepresented youth are at the table, and support the institutional memory needed to carry momentum forward beyond the summit. Rather than a one-off event, the Y20 becomes a launchpad for long-term, system-level transformation, anchored in local realities, but connected to global impact.
The South African Case: A Moment of Possibility
In 2025 South Africa will be the last country to host a G20 in the Global South in the current cycle, before handing the presidency over to the United States in 2026. At a time when international political tides are turning against development cooperation, the onus lies on all stakeholders who espouse progressive values and envision a more just society to harness the energy of this historic moment. The world of tomorrow belongs to those who dare to build it today.
Y20 South Africa is leading the way by establishing partnerships across all sectors, nationally and globally, to carry forward this progressive agenda. Even as South African delegates will continue to participate in Y20 processes in other G20 countries in coming years, the foundation we establish now will impact their success. Philanthropy has a distinctly transnational mandate and identity, making it a natural and complementary partner to the work of the Y20 in South Africa and beyond.
The Future Is Calling
For this Y20 moment to have real impact, it needs more than speeches and flags. It needs continued effort and support for its visionary strategy. And it needs commitment to shifting power in a productive and all-encompassing way, enabling vision for a new path to shared prosperity, and building the capacity of young people to lead in the places where decisions are made. It is, ultimately, an investment in justice, solidarity and equality.
The future is calling, and the youth from Cape Town to Cairo, are already answering. Will you?