Representing Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific youth, AYO as one of the OECD Youth Organisations’ Steering Organization, is honored to be invited to give opening remarks and speak on a panel discussion at the High-Level launch of the OECD Youth Policy Toolkit organized by OECD and hosted by the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth in Maia, Portugal represented by Ahmad Afryan, Managing Director of ASEAN Youth Organization.

AYO highlights the importance of meaningful youth engagement, challenges, and opportunities for youth organizations to amplify the voices of young people in equal partnership with the government and other stakeholders. Ryan said in his speech “…we feel seen, heard, and recognized when we know there will be a toolkit provided by the OECD to make sure that youth are meaningfully engaged in programs and/or policy.”. He also emphasized that “…youth are not only the leaders of tomorrow, but youth are also the leaders, knowledge holders, equal partners, and problem solvers of today.”

The OECD Youth Policy Toolkit aims to support policymakers in implementing the OECD Recommendation on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People by providing practical, concrete guidance for designing and executing youth policies, featuring good practice examples from all 38 OECD countries.

ASEAN Youth Organization together with other 4 big youth organizations from all  around the world such as AIESEC, Spanish Youth Council, Pan African Youth Union, World Organization of Scout Movements, Latin American Network of Youth for Democracy (Juventud LAC) have been selected as the steering organization for OECD YOUNG Programs in 2024 and will effectively involve in the program until 2027.