Op-Eds
YDC delegates and Alumni are invited to reflect on their experience as well as advocate on topics they learned about on their journey with us. They do so by writing op-eds in which they can express their personal opinion.
Where the Shadow Falls
Marcos Avina represented Young Diplomats of Canada at the inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance and the AI for Good Summit in Geneva in July 2026. As the first UN-backed platform of its kind, the summit’s primary purpose was to flatten the tech hierarchy and establish a truly inclusive international framework.
Indigenous Youth Advocating for their Rights at EMRIP 2026
Young Diplomats of Canada enabled Indigenous Youth Roots to send a delegation of youth with staff support to attend the 19th Session of the United Nations’ Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) in Geneva, Switzerland
Stop Asking Youth to Show Up; Start Building Systems They Can Stay In
At CSW70, the UN Youth Office introduced eleven Core Principles for Meaningful Youth Participation, signalling a growing commitment to youth inclusion in global governance. Yet, as Daniela Valenzuela Neto argues, meaningful participation cannot exist without structural reform. Drawing from her experience as a youth delegate and advocate, she examines how young people are too often invited into parallel conversations rather than embedded within the systems where decisions are actually made.
