While their 14 peers were on the way to meet the world leaders at the G8 Summit in L’Aquila, the remaining 40 Junior 8 participants went to present their declaration at the Italian Chamber of Deputies. The meeting took place in a grand hall adorned with medieval tapestries

The Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies Maurizio Lupi spoke to the young people about the most pressing problems facing the world today. ‘Treaties are not enough to ensure peace, he said, ‘ people need to be mobilized all over the world.’ He also quoted Antoine de Saint-Exupéry by saying "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly” and encouraged the young people to be compassionate.

Fabio Giorgetti from J8 Italy team presented the Declaration. He started by reading out the preamble: “As young people, we are the leaders of the future, and therefore will be the most affected by your decisions made today”.

The floor was then open to the young people for questions. Hannes Reinwald from Germany powerfully advocated for more help for developing countries. He was particularly concerned that his country spends the same amount of money on keeping the economy going every day as it does on development aid every year. “Stop repeating the same mistakes again and again and act now!”, he challenged.

Liang Xiaotian from China talked about ordinary people fighting the climate change: “I bike, although there is a car in my family, I use clothe bags instead of plastic ones when I go to the market, use air conditioner only when it is really necessary. Individual power is limited but if we unite we can make a difference.

In the afternoon Tender to Nave Italia Foundation visited the J8 and presented Young People G8 project that brought together 21 young people from 14 countries (including 7 disabled) on a sailing trip in the Mediterranean. During the trip they discussed the topics presented at the G8 summit. Young people exchanged their statements and talked about follow-up activities.

Later in the afternoon J8 Rome Declaration and Action Plan were presented to an expert from Global Coalition Against Poverty (GCAP). She was surprised how similar young people’s conclusions were to GCAP’s own agenda and said that “these are the right issues to fight for”.