We, the thirty-nine J8 delegates from Barbados, Canada, Cote d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States of America believe that it is imperative for G8 leaders to listen to the voices of young people. We urge you to act upon previous J8 declarations as well as our own, so that young people are not ignored. We also need follow up with the G8 governments so that young people can get involved and make sure that our ideas transfer into action NOW and in the future.

Junior 8 Summit: 7th July 2008; Chitose, Japan

Tackling Climate Change

Global Treaty: As a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, we urge that the G8 put forth a treaty that includes all nations and has strict but reasonable guidelines for meeting greenhouse gas emission targets. This treaty should possess attractive incentives for all countries involved. The treaty should have progressive short and long term goals and a revised framework which ensures that promises are kept.

Technology Development: An international organisation must be established to evaluate products based on “Green Indexes” such as energy efficiency, waste management, packaging, and product composition. Approved “green” products are labelled to promote consumer awareness and receive government subsidies to become more competitive price-wise. This will harness the free-market nature of G8 nations to facilitate positive progress.

Alternative Energy: G8 countries should be required to obtain a percentage of their energy from alternative energy sources. There should be an emphasis on international cooperation and promoting joint research to improve the efficiency of current alternative energies and develop new options.

Children and Young People for Environmental Issues: Governments should support peer education programmes in schools and communities for children and young people on combating climate change and promoting low-carbon lifestyles. In addition, they must provide information on programmes for young people in child-friendly language.

Poverty and Development with Focus on Africa

Basic Rights of Children: G8 countries must reiterate promises on promoting the rights of children, especially girls. All G8 countries must ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and ensure that these rights are enforced in both G8 and Non-G8 countries. G8 countries must also honour their pledge of giving 0.7% of their Gross National Income to official development aid in order to ensure that countries in the developing world are able to provide basic human rights, especially ones included in the millennium development goals.

Accountability of Aid and Funds: G8 leaders should promote non-political donations by signing a declaration prohibiting tied-aid. Tied-aid keeps countries from developing independently and hampers economic development by diverting funds away from the actual purpose. Though donor countries would be able to intervene in order to make sure aid is being used most effectively, this declaration would make sure G8 countries donate funds not for their own political gain but rather for the common good. This provides accountability not only toward local governments but to the people in need. We also stress the need to write-off the debts of developing nations.

Economic Infrastructure: Infrastructure is a necessary base for economic growth and development; therefore G8 governments should promote incentives, such as subsidies, to companies demonstrating corporate social responsibility by building infrastructure in Africa and other developing areas. Companies would be compelled to provide for the construction of infrastructure and training programmes for the local work force, a fundamental step towards sustainability in the further expansion of infrastructure and local management development.

Conflict Resolution: Given that stability is the foundation of development, G8 governments should promote the adoption of non-discriminatory laws and the growth of conflict resolution in developing countries, especially in Africa, through the use of education and media. To stabilise conflict afflicted areas, the G8 countries should provide rehabilitation and protection, particularly for women and children.

Children and Young People Aiding the Fight against Poverty: G8 countries should continue to promote the global participation of young people. These countries should provide a forum in which young people from developed and developing countries regularly discuss and provide solutions for issues that affect young people. Through this forum, global leaders would gain a young person’s perspective on issues that affect them both directly and indirectly. Young people would also create international links allowing for understanding and compassion around the world.

Global Health, Infectious Diseases Including HIV and AIDS

Health Education: G8 governments must support educational schemes including programmes on disease prevention, nutrition, sanitation and worldwide sexual education. Special programmes for women and girls must be included, as well as promoting education for men and boys on gender equality. Governments must not be allowed to restrict people from access to contraceptives and health education. Education must be supported with free access to contraceptives and other necessary materials.

Drug Patents: G8 governments must purchase patents from pharmaceutical companies in order to resell them to corporations willing to produce low-cost drugs. This will speed up the price drop of life-saving medicines and offset the cost of making cheaper generic drugs and vaccines for the cure and prevention of infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS, especially in developing nations. To provide another incentive for cooperation, G8 governments should endorse these companies.

Healthcare Grants: G8 governments must provide grants to match the healthcare funds offered by the governments of developing nations. This money would be used to build the capacity of health workers and to distribute basic health care packages, including information materials in local languages, water sanitation tablets and malaria nets to rural areas. These grants would be time-bound, in order to prevent the exploitation of aid.

Children and Young People for Global Health: G8 countries must support programmes and organisations that appoint young people as ambassadors on global health issues. Furthermore, governments should promote young people’s initiatives and events.

We seek your support and encouragement in the implementation of our solutions, and hope that you will recognise the interconnectedness of all of these topic areas as well as the importance of immediate action. Recognising that we all have a role to play in the positive development of this world, we have decided to supplement our recommendations with an action plan and steps for follow-up.

TOGETHER, LET’S TURN YOUNG PEOPLE’S IDEAS INTO ACTIONS, AND NOT JUST WORDS.

Download the PDF of the Declaration

Download the Action Plan PDF

Young People Action Plan to Complement the Chitose Declaration

As the J8 delegation, we believe that it is of the essence to follow up on the Chitose Declaration. We propose that, in order to address the Declaration, the most important action we can take is raising awareness and increasing the standard of education in our communities on these global issues. Young people must be innovative and creative in their methods to inspire others into action. As young people are interested in global issues, then governments must be interested in their opinions, this is our right.

Our ideas are as follows:

Young People Action Plan on Tackling Climate Change

Global Treaty: It is imperative that the young people of today unite using the various forms of media we have available. Social networking sites can be used to maintain the links we create and ideas can be shared over the internet. A quarterly newsletter will be published by the J8 delegation, detailing the actions of individuals, this newsletter will grow as the J8 becomes more popular and we expect it to reach popular media outlets.

Technology Development: Young people need to take an active interest and role in the actions of the government by joining young people’s organisations and making sure that they stay up to date with current topics of concern. This would ensure that we are able to influence the future to the best of our abilities. These young people’s organisations need to work together in order to make their actions effective and ideas heard.

Alternative Energy: It is crucial that young people take the initiative to educate each other, both inside and outside school. Young people need to take up the challenges of tackling climate change when the governments and older generations do not. The school programs should use older, more educated students to inform younger generations of the importance of halting climate change and global warming.

Children and Young People for Environmental Issues: Young people should aid in the search for more effective technologies by encouraging competition between schools and organisations to ensure progress. These competitions could vary from being able to create a green technology, to finding a more effective way of teaching.

Young People Action Plan on Poverty and Development with Focus on Africa

Basic Rights of Children: We will use an Internet venue, where the entire J8 community, as well as committed members of the Voices of Youth forum, will discuss what has happened and what needs to be done to fully implement our recommendations. Letters against inaction and petitions will be drafted every three months, to address any inaction, until the next J8 summit where this action plan will be renewed.

Economic Infrastructure: The J8 community will support and promote companies practicing corporate social responsibility by purchasing their products and/or using their services, promoting them within peer communities and participating in their campaigns – whether they be volunteering or advertising - that offer a positive contribution to this social responsibility.

Conflict Resolution: Through the education and media outlets provided with our “Conflict Resolution” recommendations, young people from a variety of communities will be able to share “real stories” with young people around the world using blogging or social networking media. Facilitators will curb the communication barriers. Young people reading these stories will be inspired to take further action.

Accountability of Aid and Funds: Young people from all developing and developed countries should demand that the government allow them to experience the aid process in developing nations, to ensure that it is transparent and effective. These ‘young ambassadors’ should, physically, witness the construction and development of infrastructure within these developing communities.

Children and Young People Aiding the Fight against Poverty: Young people will monitor the progress of our recommendations by reading reports drafted by companies and countries yearly, keeping an eye on the media and news, and keeping in contact with the large young people’s community. We will share this information with one another, using resources much like the J8 Workspace.

Young People Action Plan on Global Health, Infectious Diseases Including HIV and AIDS

Health Education: Young people can deliver, receive and utilise age appropriate life-skills on all platforms through a range of methods including social networking sites and workshops. It is important that young people are encouraged to prioritise their health in spite of their religious ideologies.

Drug Patents: Young people can encourage local pharmaceutical companies to participate in the patent sharing programme. Young people in developing countries can also work in partnership with organisations to help monitor patent distribution by examining the supply of cheaper generic drugs in their communities.

Healthcare Grants: Young people could fundraise to contribute to the government grants through schools or community programmes, thus participating in the efforts to fund care packages and sharing the responsibility with our governments.

Children and Young People for Global Health: Young people can volunteer as ambassadors for local organisations to help raise awareness of health issues through creative methods. Additionally they can help organise events such as National Testing Days or health fairs.