The UNEP Youth Advisory Council is now known as the TUNZA Youth Advisory Council. For more information about the Council visit: www.unep.org/children_youth/tunza/advisory_council.htm

Definition

The UNEP Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is a group of 12 youth leaders (2 per region) elected biennially at UNEP's Global Youth Retreat. The Council works closely with UNEP on environmental issues, UNEP decision making processes, and UNEP programme development. The Council members support UNEP in enhancing environmental awareness and act as ambassadors for the environmental conscience of young people world wide.

Objectives

The goals of the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) are to:

Increase youth participation in UNEP.

This will be accomplished by:

developing environmental policy on youth engagement
advising UNEP on ways to involve youth in UNEP’s areas of concentration (Assessment & Information, Policy Coordination & Conventions, Freshwater, Industry & Technology Transfer, and Sustainable Development in Africa)
advising UNEP on the development of regional initiatives and the UNEP Children and Youth Programme (CYP).

Strengthen the global environmental youth movement.

This will be accomplished by:

promoting open communication and networking among environmental youth groups
highlighting youth work through events, web sites, publications, and other appropriate youth-friendly media
giving young people increased international credibility for their activities and events by representing them in international environmental negotiations and conferences.

Facilitate youth input in local, national, regional and global environmental discussions and debates

This will be accomplished by:

participating in UNEP’s activities
organizing the Global Youth Retreat every two years as part of the UNEP Governing Council meetings
establishing regular Internet discussions and joint regional or global events.
The goals of UNEP with respect to YAC are to:

provide the YAC with information such as contacts, or potential sources of funding
support youth advisors and their organizations in youth environmental activities at all levels: national and international; and in UNEP initiatives.

Structure

The Youth Advisory Council consists of 12 Advisors (two per region) who are elected biennially by the participants of the Global Youth Retreat. All other registered delegates of the Global Youth Retreat become Associate Advisors to the council. Two youth from the previous Youth Advisory Council (one from the north, and one from the south) are also elected at the Global Youth Retreat to serve as Co-facilitators. They are mentors and advisors to new YAC members. YAC advises and works closely with UNEP Regional Offices as well as other UNEP Divisions. YAC notifies the UNEP Children and Youth Programme (CYP) of all YAC activities. The rules of YAC are as follows:

Advisors

Reporting:
Advisors report to UNEP's CYP at least every month according to a specific format; and an annual evaluation based on monthly reports is submitted to CYP by YAC

Performance:
The position requires at least 10 hours a month

Age:
Advisors must be between the ages of 18 and 23 at the time of election

Eligibility criteria:
Advisors are experienced in hands-on youth environmental projects, have good communication skills (preferably in two UN languages); and have access to worldwide communication technology

Role:
Advisors hold a key position in a youth environmental group; if an advisor drops out of his/her current youth group, they shall immediately inform CYP which, based on their performance, will then decide whether she/he shall remain in YAC

Voting right:
Each Advisor has one voting right

Duration:
Advisors cannot be elected for two consecutive terms; after completion of one term, advisors shall continue to subscribe to YOUTHNET network; they shall be awarded for good performance;

An Advisor who is unable to meet her/his commitment without a valid explanation, will be replaced. Environmental Youth Groups from their respective regions are mandated, by the secretariat, to replace them until the forthcoming GYR. Associate Advisors are to collectively and democratically nominate the replacement for the Region.

Election of Advisors:
Regions nominate any number of suitable candidates. Participants of GYR ratify the nominations or vote if there are more than two (2) candidates per region.
Associate Advisors

Eligibility criteria:
A registered delegate of the GYR automatically qualifies to be an Associate Advisor.

Role:
Associate Advisors report to the Regional Advisor and cannot be in direct contact with UNEP on YAC matters, and provide quarterly reports to the Regional Advisor.

Duration:
Two terms (4 years)

Co-Facilitators

Eligibility criteria:
Co-Facilitators must be members of the previous YAC and have met all reporting and other guideline

Role:
Co-Facilitators support the UNEP CYP and YAC to promote communications and understanding among YAC; and assist to facilitate meetings and workshops for the YAC; shall be guiding advisors for the YAC Advisors

Duration:
Co-facilitators are elected for a two-year term

The participants of the GYR shall nominate candidates for this position and the Secretariat shall ratify the nomination. 

West Asia • Advisor- Lara El-Saad (Emirates)
• Advisor- Hanan Rajab (Bahrain)
• Associate Advisor- Amal Al-Alawi (Bahrain)
Latin America & the Caribbean • Advisor-Camila Godinho (Brazil)
• Advisor- Kenneth Ochoa (Colombia)
• Associate Advisor-Analiz Vergara (Ecuador)
• Associate Advisor-Marina Mansilla (Argentina)
 
Africa • Advisor -Yvonne Maingey (Kenya)
• Advisor - Johnathan Patience (South Africa)
• Associate Advisor – Humphrey Polepole (Tanzania)
• Associate Advisor – Ruth Mulenga (Zambia)
 
Asia & the Pacific • Advisor – Alan Wu (Australia)
• Advisor – Sixuan Li (China)
• Associate Advisor – Lucia Wellington (Australia)
• Associate Advisor – Daniel Keum (South Korea)

Europe • Advisor -Tomislav Tomasevic (Croatia)
• Advisor - Nicole Meyer (Switzerland)
• Associate Advisor – Lars Appelquist (Denmark)
• Associate Advisor – Boryana Boneva(Bulgaria) 
Note that the elections for the Tunza Advisory Council members in North America and Indigenous Groups representatives will be done online as there no representatives from the region/groups during the elections.