European Commissioner for International Partnerships
As European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Ms Jutta Urpilainen oversees the European Commission’s work on international cooperation and sustainable development. Before joining the Commission, Ms Urpilainen served as a Member of the Finnish Parliament from 2003 to 2019. In 2008, she became the first woman leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. From 2011 to 2014, she served as Finland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister. During that time, she became closely involved in development issues, joining the Development Committee of the World Bank Group and IMF and chairing the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development. She served as the Foreign Minister’s Special Representative on Mediation (2017-19)and chaired the Finnish National Commission for UNESCO (2015-18).
The European Commission and the European Partnership for Democracy have launched the Youth Political and Civic Engagement Cohort as part of the Summit for Democracy’s Year of Action to take action toward implementing Summit for Democracy commitments on youth political and civic engagement. This session will launch the Youth Cohort and discuss avenues for meaningful dialogue and collaboration between many types of actors working to advance democratic participation of youth across the globe. Bringing together youth activists in the EU and globally as well as key decision-makers involved in youth engagement worldwide, this session will be an opportunity for debate and collaboration on the issue of youth political engagement. It will be livestreamed here