Diary Note 30 March-3 April - British Council youth meet Gordon Brown to discuss London summit agenda
27 / 03 / 2009
30th March - 3rd April
20 of the British Council's Global Changemakers, one from each G20 country, will be visiting the UK for the London Summit.
On Monday 30th March, they will be meeting the hosts of the London Summit to discuss the agenda and present the concerns of young people from the G20 countries.
They will speak to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chancellor of the Exchequer Alastair Darling on Monday and Foreign Minister David Miliband on Tuesday in separate meetings ahead of their discussions with other world leaders.
During the week the group of 20 will also be visiting and talking to other key figures in the current global economic crisis, including staff at the Bank of England, the leaders of the opposition in the UK, members of the House of Lords and senior bosses of Goldman Sachs amongst others. In addition, they will be seeking to meet representatives of their own government delegations attending the London Summit and speaking to the media.
These are the only group of young people meeting the UK government and others to present the voice of the next generation in the run-up to the London Summit. The 20 are currently working with wider networks back home and online to discuss the issues young people are facing in the current global recession. They are blogging on their own sites and others, submitting content to the official London Summit site and meeting younger school-children from across the G20 countries, including the UK, who are having their say through the BBC/British Council Cruncharama debate. 20 of these school-children will also be coming to London to join in the activities of the Global Changemakers and will be meeting Chancellor of the Exchequer Alastair Darling.
The British Council's Global Changemakers are a large network of young campaigners and social entrepreneurs aged between 16 and 25 who make practical and visible differences in their communities, countries and regions back home. We provide a platform for them at high-profile events, such as the London Summit, Davos and UN meetings, to discuss global issues and share their experiences with each other and the world's leaders. Through community action programmes at home, the participants cascade their experience to other potential changemakers.
The British Council, the UK's international cultural relations organisation, is uniquely placed to bring these young people together, support their network and enable them to be heard more widely. We work with young people across the world in activities ranging from school-links, higher education, sport, climate change, arts and science projects.
For more information and interviews with British Council spokespeople and some of the Global Changemakers or school-children, please contact Victoria Harrison Neves on Vicki.harrison@britishcouncil.org or Tony Watson on antony.watson@britishcouncil.org
