Session
Subtheme
Organizer 1: Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 2: Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 3: Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 4: Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 5: Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Organizer 6: Technical Community, African Group
Organizer 7: Civil Society, African Group
Organizer 8: Technical Community, African Group
Organizer 2: Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 3: Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 4: Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 5: Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Organizer 6: Technical Community, African Group
Organizer 7: Civil Society, African Group
Organizer 8: Technical Community, African Group
Speaker 1: Keith Andere, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 2: Nadia Tjahja, Intergovernmental Organization, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Anja Gengo , Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 4: Yug Desai, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 2: Nadia Tjahja, Intergovernmental Organization, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Anja Gengo , Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 4: Yug Desai, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Format
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: The roundtable format is ideal for this session, fostering an open, inclusive environment that encourages dialogue and idea-sharing. Given the challenges Youth IGF (YIGF) initiatives face—such as leadership transitions, sustainable impact, and overcoming institutional barriers—a roundtable allows for diverse perspectives to be discussed in real-time. The 60-minute duration ensures a focused yet dynamic exchange, allowing time to explore key themes while keeping participants engaged. This format promotes collaboration, where participants can share insights, ask questions, and contribute to actionable next steps, building ownership and commitment in youth-led initiatives. The session will begin with speaker insights on YIGF challenges, followed by community-driven discussions on policy questions, particularly those faced by YIGFs in the Global South, such as continuity, funding, and limited reach in national and regional policy-making and capacity building.
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: The roundtable format is ideal for this session, fostering an open, inclusive environment that encourages dialogue and idea-sharing. Given the challenges Youth IGF (YIGF) initiatives face—such as leadership transitions, sustainable impact, and overcoming institutional barriers—a roundtable allows for diverse perspectives to be discussed in real-time. The 60-minute duration ensures a focused yet dynamic exchange, allowing time to explore key themes while keeping participants engaged. This format promotes collaboration, where participants can share insights, ask questions, and contribute to actionable next steps, building ownership and commitment in youth-led initiatives. The session will begin with speaker insights on YIGF challenges, followed by community-driven discussions on policy questions, particularly those faced by YIGFs in the Global South, such as continuity, funding, and limited reach in national and regional policy-making and capacity building.
Policy Question(s)
1. Institutional Resilience: How can Youth IGF initiatives develop governance structures that survive leadership transitions and maintain organizational memory despite high membership turnover?
2. Impact & Value creation: How can YIGF initiatives transition from short-term projects to sustainable, long-term programs that influence policy at national and global levels?
3. How can regional and global IGF communities better support youth-led initiatives, especially in regions where institutional barriers limit participation and growth?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Participants will engage in a valuable exchange between NRIs and YIGFs from diverse regions. This structured discussion will generate insights into sustainability strategies and frameworks tailored to different regional contexts.
Participants will learn from collective experiences, gaining practical solutions to challenges highlighted in the policy questions. The session emphasizes approaches for YIGFs to maintain consistent engagement in both local and global internet governance without significant disruptions in their capacity.
Those struggling with similar challenges will benefit from others' successes and lessons learned, creating opportunities to strengthen their initiatives. This collaborative exchange aims to build more resilient youth programs that can steadily contribute to local internet ecosystems while remaining active in the broader IGF community.
Description:
This session examines the vital role and structural challenges facing Youth Internet Governance Forum (YIGF) initiatives worldwide, with special attention to youth initiatives in the Global South. As we approach the World Summit on the Information Society 20-year review (WSIS+20), which may significantly impact the broader IGF ecosystem, this session will explore practical strategies for strengthening youth networks, enhancing their institutional resilience, and amplifying their influence in Internet governance decision-making processes. YIGFs face numerous obstacles including funding constraints, volunteer burnout, knowledge transfer gaps, and limited recognition within formal governance structures. Through our roundtable discussion facilitating dialogue between youth representatives, established IGF stakeholders, and potential funders, we aim to develop concrete recommendations and action plans for sustainable YIGF models that can withstand leadership transitions, resource limitations, and structural barriers to participation, enabling them to establish credibility in their local and regional ecosystems. Speakers from diverse backgrounds will share their insights on this topic, including YIGF members and coordinators, academics, and IGO representatives. These participants will discuss their engagement and research with youth organizations and collaboratively develop sustainable frameworks and capacity-building approaches for youth initiatives in Internet Governance.
This session examines the vital role and structural challenges facing Youth Internet Governance Forum (YIGF) initiatives worldwide, with special attention to youth initiatives in the Global South. As we approach the World Summit on the Information Society 20-year review (WSIS+20), which may significantly impact the broader IGF ecosystem, this session will explore practical strategies for strengthening youth networks, enhancing their institutional resilience, and amplifying their influence in Internet governance decision-making processes. YIGFs face numerous obstacles including funding constraints, volunteer burnout, knowledge transfer gaps, and limited recognition within formal governance structures. Through our roundtable discussion facilitating dialogue between youth representatives, established IGF stakeholders, and potential funders, we aim to develop concrete recommendations and action plans for sustainable YIGF models that can withstand leadership transitions, resource limitations, and structural barriers to participation, enabling them to establish credibility in their local and regional ecosystems. Speakers from diverse backgrounds will share their insights on this topic, including YIGF members and coordinators, academics, and IGO representatives. These participants will discuss their engagement and research with youth organizations and collaboratively develop sustainable frameworks and capacity-building approaches for youth initiatives in Internet Governance.
Expected Outcomes
The session will deliver actionable outcomes to strengthen Youth IGF (YIGF) initiatives and connect emerging IGF leaders with future generations, fostering leadership pipelines. To ensure ongoing engagement, regular community meetings will be proposed for capacity building, progress sharing, and addressing challenges. The session will also explore sustainable funding pathways, including partnerships, crowd-sourcing, and value proposition strategies.
A key output will be a toolkit outlining strategies for institutional resilience, sustainable impact, and enhanced youth participation in policy dialogues. It will include guidelines on governance, leadership transitions, funding strategies, and advocacy.
Follow-up processes will focus on collaborative projects, cross-regional initiatives, and joint events, ensuring sustained youth influence in digital policy-making. The session’s success will depend on the involvement of the YIGF community, committed to ensuring the sustainability of Youth initiatives in Internet Governance. A pre-session survey will provide cross-regional data to enrich discussions and insights.
Hybrid Format: To ensure an engaging hybrid session, we will leverage Zoom for live participation, as provided by the IGF Secretariat. This will integrate online and onsite attendees through video and chat features, fostering seamless interaction. A dedicated online moderator will actively facilitate virtual engagement, ensuring remote voices are equally represented in discussions.
We will enhance interactivity using Mentimeter for live polling and Q&A, enabling real-time feedback from all participants. Additionally, Google Docs will serve as a collaborative space where attendees can share insights asynchronously, ensuring broader participation beyond verbal contributions.
To create an inclusive and engaging experience, a large screen will display online participants, making them a visible part of the conversation. Organizers will also ensure that all remote speakers have stable internet and proper video/audio setups. These measures will help bridge the gap between online and onsite participation, fostering meaningful dialogue and collaboration.