Concluding Largest-Ever Economic and Social Council Youth Forum, Senior Officials Laud Young People as Key Partners for Tackling Development Challenges
Fuelled by the voices, concerns and demands of young people, the largest-ever Economic and Social Council Youth Forum concluded its two-day session today, hearing from speakers who delved into critical issues, such as entrepreneurship, the quality of education, access to health services, gender equality and the right to contribute to development.
“What is the point of promising if we don’t deliver?”, asked the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi, in his closing remarks, stressing the key role played by the youth as partners of change in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Describing the Forum as a major platform that brought Member States, international organizations, civil society, academia and young people together to discuss pertinent issues, he noted that it had taken years for the United Nations to hold such an event.
Agreeing, Economic and Social Council President Oh Joon (Republic of Korea) emphasized that the Forum had exceeded expectations and raised awareness on the role of young people in shaping the post-2015 development agenda. With the largest number of participants since its inception, including 21 ministers, he said the Forum had offered a critical arena where Member States, young people and others could explore how to involve young people in the 2030 Agenda.
“A key message that emerged from the 2016 [Economic and Social Council] Youth Forum was the recognition that young people are not only key actors in advancing the 2030 Agenda, but they are also directly affected by the challenges the Sustainable Development Goals seek to tackle,” Mr. Oh declared through a presidential statement summarizing the Forum’s fifth session. “Youth will play a leading role in turning the comprehensive vision of this twenty-first century declaration of interdependence into action.”
Providing an example of youth involvement, Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), noted that the new global agenda had addressed the wide range of opportunities and challenges that the future held for young people. Providing examples of UNDP projects worldwide, she said the Programme’s My World global survey had resulted in more than 7 million young people telling the United Nations what they wanted. All that input had helped to ensure that the new agenda had affirmed the role of young women and men as agents of change in building a better world.
Turning to the implementation of the globally agreed goals, she noted that agendas were mere words on paper unless action followed. “Jobs, livelihoods, entrepreneurship and quality education and skills support the path out of poverty to lives of dignity,” she said, adding that UNDP was proud to work alongside International Labour Organization (ILO) to develop and support the United Nations Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth.
On the Programme’s commitment to youth empowerment, she said UNDP would soon launch a new global project on youth employment for development and peace, supporting youth entrepreneurship, civic engagement and political participation. Among other things, UNDP had provided youth entrepreneurship and vocational trainings in Yemen, co-organized the Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security in Jordan, and supported youth-focused human rights campaigns throughout Asia.
Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said he was impressed by the motivation and commitment of young people. “Those who participated in the Forum will carry forward the energy” and ensure that the perspective of youth was presented, he said, adding that the meeting had highlighted the importance of engaging young people in the management and development of the world.
In the morning, rapporteurs had presented highlights from each of the breakout sessions, focusing on key regional priorities ranging from youth participation to youth exclusion and access to quality education to capacity-building. They discussed the importance of access to quality jobs, youth-led accountability mechanisms, awareness raising and the role of social media in mobilizing youth. Others spoke of regional challenges, such as conflicts in the Middle East, the risk of marginalization and lack of basic services. Despite those setbacks, speakers said young men and women had continued to create safe and supporting environments for their meaningful participation in their communities.
Interactive debates through the day saw related discussions on the involvement of youth as innovative development partners.
Interactive Discussions
The Council this morning held an interactive discussion titled “Promoting youth as partners in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda: Priorities and next steps”. Moderated by Noella Richard, Co-chair of the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development, the discussion included civil society representatives and youth delegates sharing their insights and views on the priorities and next steps for promoting partnership with young people. Presentations were made by Dorina Lluka, Chief Executive Officer of Young Men's Christian Association in Pristina; Saya Abdullah, a youth delegate; Max Trejo, Secretary-General of the Ibero-American Youth Organization; Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Coordinator of Indigenous Women and Peoples Association of Chad; and Rubén Urosa, General Director of the Spanish Youth Institute.
Ms. LLUKA said she came from Kosovo, where more than 65 per cent of the population was under age 25 and a high number of those people were taking risks to run away from violence, poverty and injustice to search for a safe refuge. As a refugee at age 14, she had had to cross mountains with no food and water during winter and had managed to survive. Expressing gratitude to youth organizations for believing in her, she underscored the need to trust every single young person for their potential as they would be leading the world in 15 years.
Mr. ABDULLAH said half of the world was under age 25 and the vast majority came from developing countries. Failure to address youth exclusion from decision-making could create tensions in society, he warned, stressing that young people could contribute to the monitoring of the implementation of the globally agreed goals.
Mr. TREJO said he would be “politically incorrect” and decry the lack of direct reference to youth in the Sustainable Development Goals. As the role of youth was not strong enough to shape the international agenda, he called upon the international community to move from words to action. The key to making progress rested in ensuring the protection of basic rights, creating effective public policies and modernizing institutional youth systems.
Ms. IBRAHIM noted that the most marginalized communities lacked access to development, including water, energy and decent work. It was unfortunate that the Millennium Development Goals had not been achieved in rural areas. Urging the Council to avoid repeating that error, she asked the international community to give an opportunity to indigenous peoples to contribute to the process of implementing the goals.
Mr. UROSA mentioned Sustainable Development Goal 8, which aimed at promoting “sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all”. He then expressed regret about the lack of access to quality jobs and noted that only 10 per cent of resources, in general, were allocated to youth matters. After consulting with many Governments, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Organization of Ibero-American States, civil society and academia, his organization had decided to launch a campaign to ensure decent employment for all. The campaign addressed gender inequality in employment, creating an action plan and initiating public-private partnerships.
During the discussion, Suriname’s representative said he recognized the huge potential in youth, and his delegation fully supported the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in a collaborative partnership with young people. They could provide fresh approaches to overcome persistent challenges, he said, noting that his Government had created several platforms that ensured their involvement in decision-making, including the National Youth Parliament, the Millennium Development Goals Youth Ambassadors Program and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Youth Ambassadors Programme. Such programmes had ensured the involvement and meaningful participation of youth in matters affecting them. Suriname’s model of youth involvement and participation had paved the way for preparing the youth to assume leadership positions, he concluded.
In the afternoon, the Forum held a panel discussion on “Promoting innovative partnerships involving youth to implement the 2013 Agenda”. Moderated by Lloyd Russell-Moyle of the children and youth major group, it featured presentations by: Aaron Sherinian, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer at the United Nations Foundation; Valerie Lorena, Executive Director of the Young Americas Business Trust; Ana Saldarriaga, President of AIESEC International; and Ruth Adewonuola, a youth representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), presenting the “Jovem de Expressão Programme” from the Instituto Caixa Seguradora, Brazil. Dan Price, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Gravity Payments, gave an opening address.
Mr. PRICE, recounting the story of how he founded his company, said “we believe in being ambitious. As leaders, we have to be candid, especially if you’re not the big boss.” Commerce was about solving the problems of humanity and being a steward of the Earth’s resources. Money was a means to fuel those greater purposes. Each participant in the room was an entrepreneur and could solve problems by connecting their purpose to a bigger cause. Responding to the moderator’s question about guidance for young entrepreneurs, he said “don’t take advice from anyone”, adding that it was important to help people.
Mr. SHERINIAN said “if we don’t tell the story of today, we won’t arrive at 2030 with real impact”. Effective communication would ensure innovation and enthusiasm about partnerships that had been forged to solve global problems. The world’s most powerful media organization was the young population. The work of building partnerships — such as the Sustainable Development Goals — must include informing about them. “We have a crisis of story and data as it relates to campaigns about the Goals,” he said. Successful partnerships were borne from a view that social entrepreneurship did not live separate from policy. He cited as examples the storytelling ahead of global climate negotiations and the online voices of mothers who drew attention to the importance of immunization and children’s health.
Ms. LORENA said her organization was created as a public-private partnership. The Young Americas Forum gathered youth perspectives to present to Governments, an example that had been so successful it was being replicated around the world. Sustained partnerships were needed to enable young entrepreneurs to prosper. “Put the young people in the centre of the arena,” she said, stressing that they were as important as Governments and other stakeholders. Young peoples’ participation was not just a buzz word. Today’s generation had better access to technologies than any other, which meant that it had a huge impact.
Ms. SALDARRIAGA said AIESEC International was founded in 1948 to foster peace and the fulfilment of humankind’s potential. The founders had asked themselves what issue must be tackled in order to achieve that goal and their answer was youth leadership. Each participant here today should feel the pains of the world and do what they could to make positive change. To fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals, her organization had committed itself, over three decades, to creating awareness, engagement and action. It also was working to ensure that partnerships were aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 8 on decent work and economic growth. “This is just the beginning,” she said.
Ms. ADEWONUOLA, who was born in Nigeria and grew up in Brazil, shared her experience in the “Youth Expression” programme, created by an insurance company and implemented by UNODC and a non-governmental organization. Youth mobility was an issue in parts of Brazil, where young people had few options for education and decent jobs. The project had started with an alliance with local government, which had secured a space, at the time occupied by drug users, which the project had then renovated and transformed into a friendly area for learning and dreaming. She had participated in the programme since 2010, enjoying dance classes and visual arts workshops. Today, entrepreneurship workshops were offered in collaborative spaces where young people helped one another build businesses. “Sometimes you succeed and sometimes you fail,” she said. “The important thing is that you learn together.”
After an update on the Sub-Saharan African Youth Group’s breakout session, the following discussants addressed the Forum: Catherine Boucher, of the Education and Youth Department at the International Organisation of la Francophonie; Vytautas Gapšys, Member of Parliament of Lithuania and a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Forum of Young Parliamentarians; and Sushil Ram, programme manager with the Youth Division of the Commonwealth secretariat.Ms. BOUCHER said her organization trained, supported and created partnerships with young people aged 15 to 35. She cited opportunities for young people to be involved in the “green economy”, receive funds and grants, and strengthen their social networks.
Mr. GAPŠYS said youth inclusion was not an achievement; it was a constant development. “You can always find new forms of partnerships,” including with Parliaments, which could initiate and pass legislation, vote on budgets and oversee policies, he said.
Mr. RAM said young people were key partners in their development. Strengthened youth networks at all levels — national, regional and subregional — were critical for meaningful engagement, as were formal structures for participation and the “institutionalization” of youth-led responses to global problems.
In the ensuing dialogue, Ms. Lorena asked youth participants which Sustainable Development Goals they were tackling. In response, they outlined specific efforts, with a youth delegate noting that her group was asking young people, ages 8 to 25, what solutions they could take into their homes. A youth delegate from Chile outlined efforts to help young people enter the labour market.
Other participants asked about how much support young people should request from their Governments, especially in terms of funding and space for participation in decision-making. A parliamentarian from Nigeria commented that parliaments were effective instruments for holding Governments accountable and urged greater partnerships with them as they could create a compelling environment to create change. Another youth delegate from Germany added that the High-Level Political Forum would monitor implementation of the Goals.
SAAH CHARLES N’TOW, Minister for Youth and Sports of Liberia, said many interventions today had been developed around the way young people were viewed — through culture, politics and other influences. In Liberia, the President’s Young Professionals programme identified young people to advise senior officials, which had faced resistance when it was first launched, he said. “Every time you have the opportunity, shine so bright so that nobody forgets your contribution,” he concluded.