Youth Have More Bold Solutions to Offer, Secretary-General Says at Progress Report Launch, Stressing Their Participation Be ‘the Norm, Rather Than the Exception’

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the high-level political forum side even to launch the Progress Report on Youth, in New York today:

From conflicts and climate chaos, to poverty, inequality and discrimination, the world faces multiple and far-reaching crises threatening people and planet alike.

Nobody has a greater stake — and more bold solutions to offer — than young people.  In 2018, I launched Youth 2030 — a strategy to expand the participation of young people across our work.

Today we’re launching the strategy’s third progress report. The results are encouraging.  Fifty-five UN entities and 131 UN country teams are actively supporting youth programming with Governments and civil society around the world.

We are establishing a new United Nations Youth Office in the United Nations Secretariat to advance advocacy, coordination, and accountability for and with young people.

And we are committed to doing even more. In April, I launched a policy brief that calls for a global standard for meaningful youth engagement in decision-making, establishing national youth consultative bodies and creating a UN Youth Townhall.

The brief also stresses the importance of new avenues of youth participation across intergovernmental mechanisms, including the UN’s own deliberative and decision-making processes.

We need to make youth participation the norm, rather than the exception, across decisions, policies and investments.  The upcoming SDG Summit in September and 2024’s Summit of the Future represent key opportunities to accelerate these efforts. Across this work, I am grateful for the leadership of my Envoy on Youth, her team and the High-level Steering Committee for Youth 2030.

My friends, your ideas and energy continue to inspire me. And you give me hope that we can put the world back on track towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. I will continue to stand with you as we shape a more prosperous, equal and resilient future for all.  Thank you.