Social, environmental and economic inclusion key talking points at WB Group Youth Summit 2022

As registration for the 2022 World Bank Group Youth Summit to be held on May 26 and 27 online and in Washington DC, gathers momentum calls have been made for an all inclusive approach.

The theme for the 2022 World Bank Group Youth Summit is “Unlocking the Power of Inclusion for Equitable Growth.”

The 2022 Youth Summit will examine the multifold challenges faced by global community and the role of the youth in solving these problems.

The Summit will engage young people globally on innovative ideas and solutions to ensure that recovery and growth in the post-COVID world is not only equitable and sustainable but also inclusive along social, environmental, and economic dimensions.

Background: Established in 2013, the Youth Summit is an annual event hosted by the World Bank Group to engage with youth globally on the most pressing issues facing their generation.

The Youth Summit is an affiliate of the Youth-to-Youth (Y2Y) network, a multifaceted network of young professionals dedicated to engaging, inspiring, and empowering young people in global development., which aims to inspire and empower youth within and outside the institution.

As the largest youth worldwide annual gathering at the World Bank Group, the primary goals of the Youth Summit are to:

Empower youth to explore innovative ideas to tackle development challenges.

Provide youth with the tools to build and engage in impactful projects.

Promote dialogue between youth, the WBG, and other key stakeholders globally.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 has reversed years of progress in global development and further exacerbated inequalities in education, health, income, and access to opportunities.

The pandemic’s impact has been even more severe for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities.

The idea of inclusive growth has emerged as a central theme animating discussions on recovery and growth in the post-COVID world. The outcome of COP26 has only highlighted the need for ambitious plan and action.

The 2022 Youth Summit will examine the multifold challenges faced by global community and the role of the youth in solving these problems.

The Summit will engage young people globally on innovative ideas and solutions to ensure that recovery and growth in the post-COVID world is not only equitable and sustainable but also inclusive along social, environmental, and economic dimensions.

Discussions and activities during the Summit will focus on solutions that foster:

Social Inclusion by increasing opportunities for people especially the marginalized to participate fully in markets, services, technologies, and society is critical for equitable growth.

Environmental Inclusion by building green, resilient communities, fostering inclusive green growth, and ensuring no communities are left behind to tackle environmental degradation and climate change.

Economic Inclusion by providing inclusive, equitable access to economic opportunity is imperative to sustainable global development.

WHY IS IT RELEVANT?

The World Bank Group’s crisis response has helped countries save lives and livelihoods threatened by COVID-19 and starts to build the foundation for a sustainable and robust recovery in a world transformed by the pandemic.

By exploring the inclusion aspect of social, environmental, and economic solutions for development, this year’s Youth Summit aligns itself with the innovative approach of development set by the Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) framework while highlighting the driving force of youth to lead development and equitable growth.

The GRID framework was introduced during the IMF-WBG 2021 Annual Spring Meetings to promote the connection between People, Economy, and Planet and ‘to enhance economic growth that goes hand in hand with environmental goals and inclusion’.

World Bank