This Manifesto elaborates on the work that we have done during the past three years collectively with the Generation Equality (GEF) youth movement. In 2021, the youth constituencies of the GEF put together the Young Feminist Manifesto (YFM) as a response to the exclusionary and oppressive practices faced by youth in the space. Unfortunately, we know youth with disabilities and their agendas are seldom represented in these spaces - so, we created this document to bring together a response to the exclusion of youth with disabilities, in collaboration with the Global Network of Youth with Disabilities and UNFPA.
Through efforts like this document, we want to push for substantive participation of young people in all our diversity. This entails us making meaningful contributions that reflect our collective vision as youth. As a unified movement, we raise apprehensions about the allocation of funding towards establishing new networks of youth, rather than strengthening and reinforcing the existing ones that are already well organized. An organization being youth-led does not automatically guarantee its affiliation with or alignment to the global-south youth movement's agenda, and we appeal to funders to critically assess the youth-focused initiatives they support.
