OECD Civil Society Portal

OECD Youthwise: Applications for 2023 are now closed!

The OECD's Youth Advisory Board is made up of brilliant young people aged 18‒30 from OECD countries. Youthwise was launched in 2021 to bring youth perspectives and ideas to the OECD, and improve youth understanding of the Organisation’s work and international policy making. 

So far, 2022 has seen Youthwise members speak at the Ministerial Council Meeting, marking the first time young people have been formally invited to the OECD’s highest-level meeting.

Read on to learn more about the programme’s activities and members.

“Young people are a bridge between generations;

they need to be part of the decision-making process

and not just review it after it is done“


– Idalia, 2021 Youthwise member

Jury and terms of appointment

  • An inter-generational OECD jury will review applications to create a diverse, representative group of young people.

  • Due to the volume of applications, only successful applicants will be contacted (by the end of March at the latest). We are unfortunately unable to provide feedback on individual applications. 

  • The standard term of appointment will be from April 2023 until March 2024.

  • Youthwise activities will principally take place online, though member(s) may be invited to in-person events, for which travel costs will be covered. A high level of attendance and participation is expected from all members; in the instance of unavailability, members are expected to notify the team in advance. 

  • Youthwise members will not be remunerated for their participation. 

Selection criteria

Applicants had to be:

  • between 18 and 30 years of age as of 15 March 2023
  • a national of an OECD member country (more detail in the brochure)
  • fluent in English (more detail in the brochure)
  • highly interested in national and international debates on building an inclusive future through the green and digital transitions
  • able to be diplomatic, understanding and open to different ideas and perspectives when discussing potentially divisive topics
  • able to dedicate up to 8 hours per month to Youthwise-related activities (including preparatory reading, group work, meetings, speaking at events, etc.)
  • committed to participate fully in the programme from March 2023 until March 2024
  • able to access an internet connection (to join online meetings) and email account to stay in contact
  • neither currently affiliated with the OECD, nor have a relative who is currently OECD-affiliated (more detail in the brochure)

Applicants had also to submit:

  • a 90-second video response to the question: What policy area are you most interested in and what unique perspectives can you bring to discussions on this topic? 
  • a brief introduction (600 characters), and write about the impact they hope to have as a member of Youthwise (900 characters)

Youthwise activities

As part of Youthwise, members:

  • bring their generation's perspectives, insights, and ideas to the OECD 
  • gain a greater understanding of key policy issues that affect their generation
  • take part in closed-door meetings and consultations, engaging on a range of topics and themes, with OECD experts and external stakeholders
  • have the opportunity to speak at events and participate in webinars on behalf of Youthwise
  • be able to speak on panels and participate in webinars, providing interventions on behalf of Youthwise 
  • create and (co-)author documents, articles, and videos to share Youthwise views 
  • join interactive workshops with other youth organisations such as the Y20, meeting youth leaders from around the world 
  • network and gain a better understanding of how international policy-making functions

Follow the activities of Youthwise members below:

Expand all

The Future Youth Want: Elements of a Youth Manifesto

At the initiative of the Italian Presidency of the 2022 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM), a workshop was organised on 8 June in Paris, bringing together members of Youthwise as well as representatives from youth organisations and OECD experts. A number of proposals emerged from it and were relayed to Ministers on 10 June (Browse Youthwise speeches) – the first time youth voices have been included in the MCM.

Youthwise 2021

The first ever Youthwise class was made up of 24 people aged 19-30 from 24 OECD member countries.

Under the umbrella of the I am the Future of Work campaign, the Youthwise programme’s initial focus was on learning and employment with input provided notably to the Youth Action Plan.

Print