What is the Junior 8 Summit event?

"Our goal at the Junior 8 Summit is to be a voice for the voiceless, bringing new hope to end their suffering.” Quote from Junior 8 2006 participant

© UNICEF, 2006/Alena Svirid

Every year, the “Group of Eight Nations” – including the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia – meets to discuss key global issues and decide on common goals. They are called the G8.

UNICEF decided in 2005 to hold the first ever G8 Youth Event, the C8 Children’s Forum, alongside the G8 meeting to give young people a chance to debate the issues being discussed by the G8 and come up with recommendations for the G8 leaders.

Young people are involved in each G8 Youth Event from the beginning, helping to decide the agenda for the meeting, participating in preparatory discussions with other young people around the world to get their opinions, and acting as spokespeople at the actual event.

This year, the G8 youth event, the Junior 8 Summit, took place from 7 to 18 July in St. Petersburg, Russia. 64 children in total, eight children from each G8 country, attended this meeting.

Find out more about the Junior 8 2006 in St. Petersburg...