Global Young Greens

The Global Young Greens (GYG) is an emerging global organisation supporting and consolidating the efforts of young people working towards social justice, ecological sustainability, grassroots democracy and peace. GYG is a joint project of over 70 youth organisations and many hundreds of individuals, including the Federation of Young European Greens, Asia Pacific Young Greens Network, Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe, Young Volunteers for the Environment and others. GYG is now a non-profit organisation under Belgian law.

The first informal meeting of young greens from around the world was held in Sydney, Australia prior to the 2001 Global Greens Conference, and the official founding congress of Global Young Greens was held in January 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya. Held from January 16-19, about 130 young people aged from 11-32 from over 50 developed and developing nations attended the landmark event.

Some of the countries that were represented included New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Canada, France, Spain, Tunisia, Kyrzykstan, Kyrgykstan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Benin, Andorra, Czech Republic, Italy, Cyprus and Kenya.

The congress saw agreement on an organisational structure, a list of principals and also elected an organising committee featuring 16 young people from 4 regions: Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe.

Another informal, two-day GYG meeting was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil in April 2008, preceding the Global Greens Conference. Another official congress is being planned.