Official Side Event at the UN ESCOSOC Youth Forum by the Youth Wing of the GCAP Social Justice Task Force on Discrimination Based on Work and Descent with the Global Forum on Communities Discriminated by Work and Descent (GFoD).

When: 6th April 2021
Time : 9:00 AM EDT, 1:00 PM GMT, 6:30 PM IST, 6:45 PM Kathmandu and 7:00 PM Dhaka

Please register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwudu2tqzsqH9Z1s3h3yVRz2OByoCt7joqS

Title of the event:  “Youth resilience: Perspectives from Africa, Asia, South America and Europe by youth activists from Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD)”

Background:

*Interpretation in Spanish, Portuguese, French and Hindi will be available*

Dalits, Scheduled Castes, Quilombo, Sinti and Roma, Haratines are just some of the names of communities the United Nations refers to as Discrimination on Work and Descent (DWD). Discussions on DWD communities have often been limited to the context of caste, thus limiting the issue to the Asian and African continent where the term ‘caste’ is used. However, DWD is a global phenomenon gaining international recognition.

Youth activists from 4 continents have gathered under a new Global Forum on DWD (GFoD) and will share their perspectives as activists as members of DWD communities on how the pandemic has impacted them and how resilience can be build and strengthened.

Objectives of the side event:

For the first time, global youth DWD activists from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean unite in a global event to exchange on their experience during the pandemic and share their vision how we can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 13 (Climate Action), 10 (Reduced Inequalities) 16 (Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies) and 17 (Partnership) to Leave No One Behind.

The event will also act as global launch of the official Youth Wing of the Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (GFoD) which has obtained stakeholder status in the ECOSOC Mayor Group and Other Stakeholders (MGoS) in January 2021.

Guiding Questions for presentations and discussion:

What are the main challenges that youth activists from Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD) face in your country and region?

How have you adapted your strategies to during the pandemic and what is your outlook?

What aspirations does the youth from Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent have after  COVID-19 ?

What similarities do you see between your region and other countries/regions and how can mutual learning amongst youth activists advance the implementation of the Agenda 2030 and the SDGs?

Format and Agenda:

45-minute panel discussion followed by 45 minutes of open discussion and questions. Gender parity of panelists will be ensured. The side event will start at 1 pm GMT, panelists and participants are encouraged to join 15 minutes prior to the event to test their visual, audio and interpretation settings. The moderator will be Mr. Pradip Pariyar from the Samata Foundation , Nepal.

*Interpretation in Spanish, Portuguese, French and Hindi will be available*