The Body Shop and the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth
launch a global collaboration calling for more young voices in the halls of power in their joint Be Seen Be Heard campaign.
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| The Body Shop and United
Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth launch ‘Be Seen Be Heard’ to amplify
young voices in the halls of power. From left to right; Samson Itodo, Gina
Martin, Jayathma Wickramanayake, Chris Davis.
Photo credit: Joel Sheakoski, Joel S Photo |
That’s because millions of young people are missing from public
life. With the climate crisis, global conflict, and generational inequalities running
rampant, the inputs, perspectives, and representation of youth are needed more
than ever.
Almost half the world's population is under 30. Yet, they make up
only 2.6% of parliamentarians around the world. The average age of a world leader
is currently 62. Of all the parliaments in the world, 37% do not have a single
Member of Parliament (MP) under the age of 30, and less than 1% of these young MPs are
women.
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| Young people have a vital
part to play in the decisions that affect us all. Join The Body Shop and UN Envoy on Youth
campaign and Be seen, Be heard. |
Young people have the right to be included in political decisions
that affect them. However, numerous barriers prevent their participation. The
Body Shop and the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on
Youth are collaborating to change this through the global Be Seen Be Heard
campaign to amplify youth voices in public life.
The campaign seeks to create
long-term structural changes to decision-making to be more inclusive of young
people. It was launched last May 11 with the release of a joint report, ‘Be Seen Be Heard: Understanding young people’s political
participation.' The report which includes
findings from the largest-ever survey carried out by The Body Shop in December
2021, covering 26 countries with 27,043 respondents in total, over half of
which were under the age of 30.
The research found that 82% of people surveyed agree that political
systems need drastic reform to be fit for the future. Across the board, 84% of people described politicians as
‘self-interested,’ and 75% of people surveyed think politicians are corrupt.
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| Be Seen Be Heard campaign by The Body
Shop and UN Envoy on Youth seeks to raise the voice of millions of young people
in over 75 countries across six continents. |
The majority, two in three people, also agree that the age balance
in politics is wrong, with 8 in 10 people of all ages believing the ideal
voting age (the age when someone can first vote) is 16 to 18, despite that in
most countries around the world the voting age is 18 or over. A third of those
under age 30 surveyed would consider running for office versus only a fifth of
those over age 30. People across all age groups agree that more opportunities
for younger people to have a say in policy development and/or change would make
political systems better.
David Boynton, CEO of
The Body Shop says, “Our position is clear. The world’s problems cannot be
solved by the same people making the same choices. Our research indicates the
majority of young people are positive about the future, and we need to hear
their views and ideas inside the halls of power. Be Seen Be Heard is
rooted in creating a fairer world with and for young people, and together with
the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth – we are on
a mission to do exactly that.”
Jayathma Wickramanayake, the United Nations Secretary-General’s
Envoy on Youth says, “The intergenerational gap in power, influence and trust
constitutes one of the biggest challenges of our time. As young people have
made abundantly clear through their activism on the streets, in civil society
and on social media, they care deeply about the transformational change needed
to create more equal, just and sustainable societies. Participation is a right,
and this campaign is an opportunity to change that.”
The Body Shop and the
United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth push for transformational
change. Among other actions, young people’s participation in public
decision-making could be improved long-term by lowering voting ages, increasing
formal youth representation through youth councils, parliaments, or committees,
removing barriers for young people to participate in public decision-making, simplifying
registration for first-time voters, and improving young people’s leadership skills.
Campaigning in 2,600 stores, in over 75
countries, across six continents. The collaboration between The Body Shop and the Office of the
United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth will mean that young people
and other stakeholders will be able to engage with the campaign through many
routes. Local campaign activations will include partnerships with specific
youth-led or youth-focused non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and/or
opportunities to support through petitions and other activations.
The campaign launched globally in May 2022 and will run until
mid-2025. Check out the campaign website for further information www.beseenbeheardcampaign.com
About The Body Shop
As a B Corp business,
The Body Shop is committed to ambitious social and environmental targets.
Earlier this year, it established a Youth Collective to help amplify youth
voices within its own business. The Body Shop Youth Collective is formed of
10-12 people from inside and outside the business, all aged under 30. They will
advise The Body Shop Executive Leadership Team with the views and voices of
young people.
The Body Shop invests heavily in activism and has a dedicated
activism team, focused on research and tactics, operating around the world.
Long before activism was an industry buzzword, The Body Shop has pushed for
change where other brands saw risks. It has mobilised its global collective and
campaigned for over 20 years on issues such as the rights of indigenous
peoples, animal rights, sex trafficking and the burning of the Amazon
rainforest.
About the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on
Youth
In 2017, the UN Secretary-General
appointed Jayathma Wickramanayake of Sri Lanka as his Special Envoy on Youth
and as the youngest senior official in the history of the organization.
The Envoy on Youth’s mandate is to harmonize the
UN system efforts on youth development, enhance the UN response to youth needs,
advocate for the development needs and rights of young people, as well as to
bring the work of the United Nations on youth closer to them. For more
information, follow @UNYouthEnvoy on social media and visit our website at www.un.org/youthenvoy. (SM PR)
