Official statement on the Fifth meeting of the Advisory Board of the Santiago Network on Loss & Damage

As a global coalition of over 1,400 young people stretching across 100+ countries, we have been committed since 2020 to holding world leaders accountable on meaningfully addressing loss and damage, which includes amplifying the voices of youth and frontline communities in decision-making processes.

This week, from September 2 to 4, the Advisory Board of the Santiago Network convenes for its fifth meeting in Geneva. We welcome the fruitful discussions concluded at the 4th meeting in April, which advanced on key issues such as regional presence, knowledge products, and resource mobilisation, among others. We remain hopeful that this meeting will take critical steps toward further developing the Santiago network.  We acknowledge the efforts of the SN to make all documents available before the meeting and its consistent availability to receive inputs from observer organisations via different channels. We recognize the multiple consultations that were held over the year, including in the recent Subsidiary Bodies (SB62), to further advance the development and work of the network at speed. 

The SN remains at the heart of our global response to loss and damage induced by climate change, catalysing the much-needed technical assistance to support vulnerable countries and communities to avert, minimise, and address loss and damage, and is complementary to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. This fifth advisory board is important to progress on the SN’s operationalisation. Building on our continued engagement with the Santiago Network, we urge the board to consider the following:

1. On the agenda of the meeting, we request to add the topic of “observer participation”.
2. On the Santiago Network Strategy 2026 – 2028, we welcome the five strategic priorities and approaches. We remain vocal about the need to create and maintain strong ties with local communities and organizations. Beyond the matching process, the network should work to follow up and develop learnings from the technical assistance provided. In addition, the SN should continue to strengthen its institutional arrangements to remain accessible and close to the vulnerable communities it serves. 
3. We appreciate the intention to grow a strong and diverse membership of the network. We urge the SN to take proactive measures to reach community-based and youth-led organisations at the grassroots level to avoid them being sidelined by larger institutions. We ask the Advisory Board and the secretariat in their outreach strategy to multiply the targeted workshops and support for youth-led organisations to onboard as OBNEs. 
4. On the Santiago network work programme 2026 – 2027, in line with the SN strategies, we welcome the numerous activities and the timeline which translates the strategic priorities into actionable steps in the next years. The SN resources must be prepared in all the UN languages as well, and priority must also be on translating them into local languages, where necessary. Lessons learned, challenges faced, and strategies to deliver effective work must be noted.
5. On resource mobilization, the SNAB must work with developed countries to secure new, additional, accessible, predictable, and adequate funding, without which the ambition of the network would fade away. Unpredictable resources remain a major risk to delivering the much-needed technical assistance. Developed countries must be urged to step up and provide urgent, accessible funding to the network.