Coalition members join EU Youth Sounding Board

Last March 2021, the European Commission launched a call for application for young people to participate in the Youth Sounding Board for International Partnerships. The sounding board will advise the EU Commissioner for international Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, on the relevance and effectiveness of EU external actions when it comes to young people and youth involvement. 

Youth empowerment is a top priority for the EU Commissioner and is crucial in establishing and maintaining international partnerships. The EU believes that young people must be involved in shaping and implementing its external actions.

The Youth Sounding Board for International Partnerships will be a space where young people can meaningfully be involved in EU external actions and international cooperation. The board will be composed of 25 members of youth aged 18 to 30 from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the European Union. 

Together, the board will create real, fundamental and long-lasting change in how the EU engages with youth in its development cooperation. The members will contribute to making EU actions more participatory, relevant and effective for young people.

Photo: European Charlemagne Youth Prize

The Youth Sounding Board will meet virtually through regular meetings every year. The current members will stay on the board for two years. 

 From the Coalition, Omnia El Omrani (Egypt) and Deepanshu Gupta (India) will join the EU Youth Sounding Board. Omnia and Deepanshu will represent YOURS – Youth for Road Safety and the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety. 

Omnia is a part of the Coalition’s Youth Advisory Board. She is a medical doctor and surgery resident at the Ain Shams University Hospital. She is also the Liaison Officer for Public Health Issues for the International Federation of Medical Student’s Association (IFMSA). Omnia represented young people during the 3rdMinisterial Conference on Road Safety where she talked about the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety and the importance of meaningful youth involvement. 

Deepanshu is a member of the Global Youth Coalition and currently serves as the vice president for Solve Foundation and is working with the Indian Road Safety Campaign (IRSC).

He is in charge of major corporate collaborations, government relations and internal relations and is one of the key people who helped set up IRSC operations in 46 cities across India. Deepanshu has also been mentoring social startups to scale the reach and magnify their impacts.

Omnia and Deepanshu will support and help raise awareness on road safety and meaningful youth participation within the Youth Sounding Board. They also further the reach and push the Global Youth Statement forward.