This week on The Lancet Student
Hello everyone!
I just wanted to introduce myself as the new Lancet Student intern. I arrived on Monday and have been busy working on changes to The Lancet Student website, in particular the categorisation of articles. Today was the weekly editorial and manuscript meeting at The Lancet and it certainly was an eye opener. Writing is as much an art as a science and it was captivating to watch the process of reviewing first hand, from the sheer number of articles to how the decisions were made and the discussion that complemented it. I can certainly see why my other intern colleagues Christine and Sophie describe it as the highlight of the week! Indeed, there are so many opportunities to learn here and I would encourage everyone to come and spend some time with Rhona at The Lancet offices as an intern!
Something that I feel very passionate about is empowering youth to become actively involved in decision-making processes. With half the world’s population under the age of 25, it is vital that young people become involved!
As such, I want to draw your attention to the Junior 8 Summit, which this year was hosted by the Government of Japan and supported by UNICEF in Hokkaido, Japan, from 2-9 July. It is an annual forum for young people and runs in parallel to the G8 Summit of world leaders.
The delegates to the J8 include young people not only from the industrialised G8 nations, but also from the developing world. After days of discussion and debate, the 39 delegates to the J8 Summit drafted their Chitose Declaration and Young People Action Plan calling on the voices of young people to be heard and focusing on important issues that will have a significant impact on young people such as global health. They then had the opportunity to present their ideas and proposals to the G8 leaders. Although the G8 Summit has now ended with many good G8 intentions, there remains much to be desired. And while the J8 Summit is also over, there will certainly be much more to be heard from the young delegates as they seek to act on their own commitments.
Kai Yuen Wong
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