A. REFERENCE

1. UNEP/GC.22/3/Add.1/Rev.1: Long-term strategy on engagement and involvement of young people in environmental issues.

B. BACKGROUND

2. The Tunza Youth Advisory Council (TYAC) (previously known as the Youth Advisory Council) was launched in February 1999 at the 20th Session of the UNEP Governing Council. The Council comprises 14 Advisors, two per UNEP region and two representing indigenous youth organizations. Each Advisor has an Associate Advisor who stands in for him or her when he/she is not available. The Council advises UNEP on better ways of engaging young people in its work and represents young people in international environmental negotiations. The Council also seeks to increase youth involvement in UNEP’s work by informing youth groups in their regions about UNEP’s programmes for young people. Members of the Advisory Council are elected at the Tunza International Youth Conference to serve for a period of two years.

C. OBJECTIVES

3. To advise UNEP on better ways of engaging young people in environmental issues;
4. To serve as the UNEP Executive Director’s Youth Envoys in their region. (Note that this role is given only to Advisors not Associate Advisors);
5. To advise UNEP of emerging opportunities to further promote its activities for young people;
6. To assist relevant UNEP regional offices in setting up processes for young people in their respective regions;
7. To represent young people in intergovernmental environmental meetings such as UNEP Governing Council, both regular and special sessions;
8. To advise the Children and Youth Unit of UNEP on its activities.

D. RESPONSIBILITIES

The responsibilities of the Tunza Advisors are to:
9. Increase youth participation in UNEP. This will be accomplished by:
(i) advising UNEP on ways to involve youth in UNEP’s work;
(ii) advising UNEP on the development of regional environmental initiatives for youth and on the UNEP Children and Youth Unit (CYU);
(iii) Advising UNEP on issues of sustainable development and by that ensuring that the perspectives of youth, as one of the major groups, are taken into account in sustainable development issues.

10. Strengthen the global environmental youth movement. This will be accomplished by:
(i) promoting open communication and networking among environmental youth groups and with UNEP headquarters and regional offices;
(ii) highlighting, whenever possible, youth work through events, web sites, publications, and other appropriate youth-friendly media.

11. Facilitate youth input in local, national, regional and global environmental discussions and debates on the environment. This will be accomplished by:
(i) promoting the views of young people and giving them increased international visibility for their activities and events by representing them in international environmental negotiations and conferences;
(ii) promoting increased youth participation in UNEP’s activities within their regions;
(iii) participating in the Tunza Youth Retreat and regular sessions of the UNEP Governing Council every two years.

12. Contribute to the development of UNEP’s publications:
(i) making suggestions and inputs for the development of the Tunza Magazine;
(ii) promoting the use of Tunza Acting for a Better World“ in communities around the world;
(iii) Participating in the development of the GEO-for-Youth in their region.

13. The responsibilities ofUNEP with respect to TYAC are to:
(i) provide TYAC with relevant environmental information to enable them to represent youth groups in international and regional environmental meetings including those of UNEP;
(ii) facilitate and promoting the participation of Tunza Youth Advisors in international environmental negotiations, as appropriate;
(iii) provide TYAC with a letterhead and ID cards to enable them to be identified as members of TYAC;
(iv) maintain regular contacts from headquarters and the regional offices with TYAC members and keeping them informed of environmental developments;
(v) build the capacity of TYAC by educating TYAC members on various environmental issues and delivering different skills (fundraising, media work, participating in intergovernmental meetings, etc.).

E. GUIDELINES

14. TheTunza Youth Advisory Councilconsists of 14 Advisors (two per region and two representing the indigenous youth organizations1) who are elected biennially by the participants of the Tunza International Youth Conference. Each Advisor has an Associate Advisor who stands in for him or her when he/she is not available.

15. TYAC advises and works closely with UNEP Children and Youth Unit (CYU), UNEP Regional Offices as well as other UNEP Divisions. Members of TAC will notify the UNEP CYU of all activities related to their work as part of TAC.

F. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

16. Advisors and Associate Advisors must be no less than 15 years old at the time of election and must not have celebrated his/her 23rd birthday;

17. Candidates for Advisors and Associate Advisors must be experienced in hands-on youth environmental projects, hold responsible positions in their organizations (President, Secretary, etc), have good communication skills in English; and have access to worldwide communication technology;

18. All delegates of the Tunza International Youth Conference who are between 15 and 22 at the time of the election can be nominated for the positions of Tunza Youth Advisor or Associate Youth Advisor;

G. ELECTION OF ADVISORS AND ASSOCIATE ADVISORS

19. The Tunza International Youth Conference will elect the Advisors and Associate Advisors under the supervision of UNEP. The 1st and 2nd for each region will be declared Advisors. The 3rd will become the Associate Advisor for the 1st while the 4th will become the Associate Advisor for the 2nd.

20. Each participant in the Tunza International Youth Conference will have one vote in the election, provided the condition in the next paragraph is met.

21. Only two votes will be allowed for each country represented at the Tunza International Youth Conference. For countries with more than two participants at the Conference, consultations will be held among those participants to determine which two representatives shall vote on their behalf.

H. REPORTING / MANDATE OF TYAC

22. EachAdvisor will provide, on a quarterly basis, a list of his/her achievements relating to the performance of his/her role as part of TYAC. These reports will be sent to the Children and Youth Unit.

23. Based on the quarterly reports,UNEP's CYU will compile an annual list of activities undertaken by TYAC and circulate this to TYAC, members and relevant UNEP offices

24. Whenever the Advisory Council has to vote, each Advisor will have one vote. Associate Advisors are not eligible to vote unless in cases where they are representing the Advisors

25. Associate Advisors will work with the Tunza Youth Advisors and the relevant Regional Offices and will be eligible for replacing the relevant Tunza Youth Advisors if the latter are removed from TYAC.

26. An Advisor who is unable to meet her/his commitment without a valid and reasonable explanation, will be replaced by his or her Associate Advisor

27. Advisors and Associate Advisors can run for two terms of two years each (consecutive or not), provided they fall within the required age; After completion of the final term, Advisors and Associate Advisors shall continue to subscribe in the UNEP Youth Network. They will be awarded a certificate for their good performance. The title of Tunza Youth Advisors and Tunza Associate Youth Advisors is limited to the period of their mandate;

I. CHANGES TO THESE GUIDELINES

28. Changes to this Guideline can only be made by UNEP. Suggestions from members of the Tunza Advisory Council can be made to UNEP during the UNEP Tunza International Youth Retreat for internal review by UNEP.

Children and Youth Unit (CYU)
Communications and Public Information Division
United Nations Environment Programme
August 2003