The 3^rd Asia and the Pacific Youth Symposium (APYS3) is a social dialogue exchange that convenes governments, young leaders, and other key stakeholders in development to discuss major and emerging issues in the region. APYS3 aims to bridge the discourse gap in the region by facilitating intergenerational dialogue between youth and adult stakeholders. These meaningful discussions ultimately revolve around the region’s collective efforts to “build back better" and move towards a future that youth and adults alike want to live in.

Building on the knowledge and learnings from previous youth events and programming, APYS3 will feature a hybrid program composed of workshops and integration of youth voices in the 56^th ADB Annual Meeting (AM56) in Incheon, Republic of Korea. It also provides opportunities for networking among ADB staff, government representatives, the private sector, the academe and think-tanks, civil society, and youth-led or youth-centered organizations.

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Objectives

The objectives of Asia and the Pacific Youth Symposium (APYS) are to:

• Illustrate youth’s vision of “building back” a better Asia and the Pacific in the COVID-19 recovery period;
• Build the capacity of youth networks to amplify youth voices in the upcoming AM56;
• Develop a youth agenda that puts forward the ambitions of youth for a better and more sustainable future, especially on key development issues covered by the sustainable development goals (SDGs); and
• Gather insights from youth and adults to inform organizers’ future youth engagement directions

Activities

• Call for youth ambassadors: To showcase youth talents and skills in development practice, APYS will be recruiting youth ambassadors who will be facilitating knowledge workshops and representing youth for select sessions AM56.
• APYS Knowledge Workshops: To showcase the development of youth-led initiatives in thematic areas, APYS will be conducting knowledge sessions to provide a better understanding of how youth are demonstrating resilience as economies, societies, and the environment recover from the pandemic. Through insights gathered from these workshops, a youth agenda will be developed to be shared with key actors in development (i.e., government, regional bodies, and CSOs) during AM56.
• Youth Giving Back to Youth during the ADB Annual Meeting: To provide a space for intergenerational dialogue, youth ambassadors are invited as resource speakers and correspondents in the digital space for other youth. Through their unique approach and command of the digital space, youth will utilize social media to streamline and share access to discussions on key development issues to foster a wider discussion across the region.

Participants