The five-day virtual Empower Youth Conference 2020, hosted by Education Above All (EAA) Foundation’s programme, Reach Out to Asia (Rota), featured a combination of webinars, townhalls, keynote speeches, workshops and a digital exhibition.
More than 700 youth from around the world participated in this year’s conference, organised under the theme of ‘Youth Mobilisation for Inclusion, Peace and Security’. The aim of the conference was to engage and strengthen youth inclusion in complex peace processes through awareness, knowledge and capacity-building.
Empower has established a reputation for going beyond the theoretical by providing the youth with a platform to announce a global call to action. At the conclusion of the conference, participants issued the ‘v-Empower Youth Declaration 2020’. The declaration acknowledges current and entrenched issues that lead to conflict, global inequality and climate change. 
The declaration goes on to call for greater inclusion, collaboration and support of youth as part of the solutions to these issues, as well as the protection of vulnerable populations. 
Ahmed al-Langawi, Empower 2020 participant, said: “This Empower went beyond empowering us as youth and getting our voice heard to an extra mile of getting us mobilised and engaged in the peace and security process.”
The v-Empower 2020 Conference “has successfully served as an important forum to promote the importance of collaborating and engaging with youth and provide a platform for youth voice in global issues”, a press statement noted. The participation of high-level stakeholders, such as community actors, international organisations and United Nations bodies, further provided participants with a chance to engage leaders in discussions around the world’s most pressing issues.
Abdulla al-Abdulla, Rota acting executive director, said he is “extremely impressed” by Empower’s quality of discussions on current challenges and  priorities for the youth, despite the effect of the pandemic, and their “clear vision in meaningful engagement for building back more peaceful nations”.
Saji Prelis, representative of Search For Common Ground, said: “As young people demand spaces to make their voices heard, feel connected and learn from their peers and adults alike from all over the world, Empower has provided a real safe platform to achieve this goal.
Khemra from Cambodia added, “ I enjoyed every single theme of this year’s conference... and one thing that fascinated me most was that its theme is always connected to the power of youth and education, which motivated us significantly to be active and responsible citizens for our communities.”