WCC-2025-Res-122 - Activity Report submission form

8.122 Accelerating equitable youth empowerment and engagement across the Union

Action points of the resolution

The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025, at its session in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates:

1. REQUESTS the Director General to organise a Global Youth Summit in the lead-up to or in conjunction with each future World Conservation Congress, in close collaboration with young professionals and relevant stakeholders, such as Commissions and Members, with equitable representation of Global South youth;

2. CALLS ON the Director General and the IUCN Council to support the full and equitable implementation of the IUCN Youth Strategy 2022–2030, ensuring a clear timeframe and adequate budget by June 2026, with a clearly defined operational plan and allocated budget to be developed through a participatory process involving diverse youth stakeholders; and CALLS FOR the recruitment of a youth officer by 2026, to secure consistent designated capacity within the Secretariat;

3. RECOMMENDS to the IUCN Council to establish a mechanism for the inclusion of a youth representative, in order to foster intergenerational perspectives and leadership within its governance;

4. CALLS ON IUCN Commissions to embed intergenerational equity in their leadership, with at least 20% of steering committee members and leadership to be under 35 years old, and to establish transparent monitoring mechanisms to track implementation and impact of this target across Commissions;

5. URGES the IUCN Secretariat, IUCN Members and all IUCN constituents to mainstream and continue their efforts to engage and empower diverse youth groups, both internally with their young professionals and externally with their youth constituents, including Indigenous Peoples and local communities; and

6. INVITES IUCN Commissions, IUCN Members and relevant stakeholders to champion and support youth engagement activities across IUCN, highlighted in the IUCN Youth Strategy 2022–2030, including through financial contributions and capacity-building activities such as two-way mentorship programmes.

Progress reported to date:

1. YOUTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE
· The selection of the second cohort of the UCN Youth Advisory Committee is at its finalization stage with ~150 applications screened and interviews conducted with 30+ applicants. Formal appointments are expected to be held in the course of October 2026.

2. WORK OF THE GCC TASK FORCE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF RESOLUTION 8.122.

• At its meeting held on 10 April 2026, the Governance and Constituency Committee (GCC) of the Council decided to establish a Task Force to consider the implementation of Resolution 8.122.
• At its 117th meeting held on 21-23 April 2026 in Gland, Switzerland, the IUCN Council took note of the GCC report and of the establishment of the Task Force.
• Since its establishment, the Task Force has convened twice, on 8 June and 27 July 2026, and has completed the activities detailed below.

• At its first meeting held on 8 June 2026, the task force

Noted its membership as set out below, observing that the task force may alter its composition provided that this has no impact on the approved budget and ensuring that due consideration is being given to geographic and expertise balance:
Diana Garlytska Councillor, East Europe, North and Central Asia
Liette Vasseur Councillor, Chair of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management
Roshani Adhikari Pathak Councillor, South and East Asia

• Proposed that Ms. Diana Garlytska be confirmed by the Governance and Constituency Committee as the lead of the task force.
• Noted the task force's role to identify and propose appropriate approaches for the implementation of the resolution and encouraged its members to have a consultative approach with relevant stakeholders in doing so.
• Proposed that its draft TORs be transmitted to the Governance and Constituency Committee for approval.
• The Governance and Constituency Committee subsequently approved the TORs of the Task Force, including its membership, on 24 July 2026.

• At its second meeting held on 27 July 2026, the task force:
o Agreed on a preliminary timeline to prioritise and operationalize the task force’s activities listed in its TORs.
o Agreed that a report from the Youth Advisory Committee should be presented to the task force at its next meeting.
b. Agreed that a report from the Secretariat should be presented to the task force at its next meeting.
o Once the task force has reviewed the referenced stocktaking reports and gained a clearer understanding of current activities and implementation gaps in the IUCN Youth Strategy, including resource needs, it will agree on a proposed timeline and provide concrete guidance actionable measures for supporting youth engagement across IUCN.

3. A YOUNG SECRETARIAT STAFF MEMBER WITHIN PCHAT HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AS THE FOCAL POINT FOR RESOLUTION 8.122.

• Aissa Traore, Programme Officer, Protected Conserved and Heritage Areas Team / IUCN Headquarters

· The IUCN Secretariat, through the dedicated youth focal point within PCHAT, is responsible for coordinating the implementation of resolution 8.122 and two other key World Conservation Congress (WCC) resolutions on youth engagement and nature conservation:
Resolution 8.122: Accelerating equitable youth empowerment and engagement across the Union;
Resolution 8.100: Organisation of a Global Youth Summit prior to each IUCN World Conservation Congress;
Resolution 8.096: Mainstreaming mentorship for young ecological stewards to enhance conservation efforts;
• In addition, the same team within the Secretariat co-leads Output 3 of the IUCN Nature 2030 Programme, which focuses on culture and youth engagement. The Secretariat's youth focal point convenes a network of youth focal points from across the Secretariat to review implementation progress, strengthen internal coordination, share lessons learned, and identify opportunities to advance youth-related commitments across the Union. This coordination mechanism helps ensure that policy commitments adopted through Congress resolutions are effectively integrated into programme delivery and institutional practice.

4. IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) - established an Early Career Specialist Group (ECSG) [Chair Alvin Gachie; Deputy Chair Ria Das]