Young People Should Lead Charge in Peacebuilding, Development, Economic and Social Council Hears at Youth Forum
Youth are leading the charge in solving development challenges — driving innovation, demanding accountability and building more inclusive and sustainable futures — even as they face rising conflicts, soaring unemployment, escalating climate crisis and a widening digital divide, the Economic and Social Council heard today as it opened its Youth Forum.
Under the theme “Youth at the Forefront: Leveraging Science and Social Inclusion for Sustainable Development”, the event — held at UN Headquarters from 15 to 17 April — engages young leaders from all over the world and Member States in dialogue on youth issues. Today’s panels explored topics, including youth-led solutions for sustainable development, well-being in an era of digitalization and advancing gender equality.
Panel Discussion on Youth-Led Solutions
Moderating the panel on “Youth-Led Solutions for a Resilient Future”, Saru Duckworth, Next Generation Fellow for Jobs and Economic Opportunities, UN Foundation, emphasized the importance of imagination in driving change. “I think a lot of us lose that instinct to imagine, especially since the crises around us demand such constant attention and reaction,” she said. She reflected on the profound complexity young people face today — historic levels of unemployment, “live-streamed atrocities and the genocide of fellow children”, the climate crisis and an evolving technological landscape.
Felipe Paullier, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, emphasized the vital role of young people in shaping the future. He noted that the creativity of young minds underscores why it is essential to include them in decisions. “The values of the United Nations are more necessary than ever,” he added, commending institutions that are unafraid to collaborate with young people. He also underscored the need to challenge and transform the social and cultural beliefs that continue to portray young people as “inexperienced or unfit to lead and make decisions”. Mr. Paullier further called for more adequate funding to empower youth and reshape the way the world approaches development.
Maria Teresa Parreira, Technology Focal Point, Science Policy Interface Youth Platform, expressed concerns that global climate technology development is largely driven by wealthy nations and corporations. “The table itself remains inaccessible to many,” she said. Climate-monitoring systems are often designed without the voices of the communities most directly affected by climate change. “The technology literacy challenges we face today will only grow deeper if we continue along this path,” she warned. While many young people from marginalized groups — including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons and Indigenous communities — may own smartphones, they often lack access to educational opportunities that would allow them to move beyond being passive users of technology, she added.
Highlighting the crucial role of digital health services, Sarah Neggazi, Representative, Young World Federation of Public Health Associations, said it is essential to address gaps in delivering those services. As someone from the Global South, she is deeply cognizant of the need for equity and bridging the digital divide. As a pharmacist by training, she was excited to hear about the possibility of 3D printing in her industry that could transform medical devices. But, she said: “I ask myself, will I ever get to see that?” It seems within reach in the next 30 or 50 years, “but if I want to be realistic, then maybe never” is more likely, because of the digital divide, she said.
Christina Williams, Member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) SDG 4 Youth and Student Network Executive Committee, said: “We have to move beyond development for survival.” It is critical to think of education as life-long learning. “Imagine if all education systems could fulfill that,” she said, adding that it could lead to the “complete non-existence of all the wars, conflicts and crises”. Similarly, in gender justice, instead of “gender-sensitive”, the international community needs to imagine “gender-transformative systems”. She stressed the need for tax justice as many billions of dollars are lost to tax havens every year.
Joon Baek, Founder, Youth for Privacy, highlighted the need for an ethical artificial intelligence (AI) system. Outlining scenarios where AI is used to reject candidates for a job or to replace entry-level workers, he said this takes away human agency in dangerous ways. “In the past, culture has been dictated by kings and queens, by fashion magazine editors, by newspapers, but now in the digital age, culture is shaped by young people,” he said, because they drive internet culture. They get to decide what is cool or cringe — that is powerful social capital. By using the power of technology, Internet and AI, “young people must organize themselves to reject the versions of future that take away human agency”, he added.
Panel Discussion on Youth and Health
The second panel on “Youth and Health — Overcoming Challenges and Staying Healthy” was moderated by Kate Ndocko, Public Health Medical Resident in Lyon, France, and 2024 Vice-President of the European Network of Medical Residents in Public Health. Vulnerable communities, she said, experience harassment more than any other online. Youth demand ethical oversights of the system, including algorithm audits, data transparency and mental health support. “It’s not just about what happens to you online; it’s also about the silence when you ask for help,” she added. “Digital health is not a luxury; it is a public good.”
Marina el Khawand, Founder and President of Medonations, opened the panel by recalling the collapse of medical services in Beirut following the August 2020 blast. She spoke about how her organization is transforming access to medication in Lebanon and beyond, harnessing the power of digital platforms to mobilize a new generation of youth. “The future of healthcare is not just in hospitals, clinics or the hands of doctors — it’s in our hands,” she added. Digitalization is more than a tool for efficiency and innovation; it is a form of resistance, resilience and radical care. “When your world collapses, do not wait for someone to fix it; use what you have,” she added.
Rehman Hassan, Youth Expert, World Health Organization (WHO) Youth Council Steering Committee Member, recalled the moment he found himself in the middle of a climate disaster searching for answers on survival. “I didn’t know what to do,” he said. Many young people around the world feel like a lack of digital access has left them invisible to their Governments. “Before receiving a termination letter from Elon Musk, I was at USAID helping write the [Joseph R.] Biden Administration’s policy on AI in the global context — making sure that ethical design was not just a footnote,” he added. Young people, he stressed, must be leaders of the future — one where no one ever has to search online for instructions on how to stay alive.
Diene Keita, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director for Programme, UN Population Fund (UNFPA), said that, because of the major role technology plays in young people’s lives, it is also being used as a weapon to perpetrate violence. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence takes many forms — from image-based abuse to cyberstalking. “This is not an isolated form of violence,” she warned. It has devastating emotional and psychological consequences. “The lack of regulation and safeguarding in place and the inaction we are seeing from tech platform is exacerbating the problem,” she said. It is important to actively engage with the tech industry to promote the development of safer digital platforms.
Panel Discussion on Gender Equality and Youth Participation
Another panel discussion — “Goal 5: Strengthening institutions for gender equality and youth participation in sustainable development and peacebuilding” — was moderated by Kinga Szalaba, Youth Representative, World Organization of the Scout Movement, Hungary. She opened the discussion by asking listeners to raise their hands if they had ever “experienced a moment when a young woman’s voice made a real difference in your life, community or workplace”. The resulting show of hands, she said, demonstrates that young women and girls are at the forefront of driving positive change. Yet, systemic barriers prevent them from achieving their full potential. This must be tackled with “gender- and youth-responsive institutions” that empower young women to shape the policies that affect their lives and futures, she said.
Echoing that, Gwendolyn Myers, Founder and Executive Director, Messengers of Peace, Liberia, noted the barriers young women face in accessing justice, community safety and participation in peace efforts. Citing former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, she said that gender equality is more than a goal in itself; it is a precondition for reducing poverty and promoting sustainable development. It strengthens institutions and reduces violence, she said, adding that equitable access to services is also crucial for good health and well-being. She then highlighted her organization’s work in offering mental health services and peer-led civic education. “We must treat gender inclusion, not as a check box, but as a core principle guiding peacekeeping, judiciary processes and development,” she stressed.
Gauri Praveen Nimbalkar, Global Focal Point, Gender Youth Caucus, Major Group for Children and Youth, India, drew attention to the vulnerability of adolescent girls in particular, in conflict situations. They face not just violence, but are often the last to access essential services like healthcare, at an age when these services can be life-altering. “We need spaces that are built with us, not for us — spaces where our leadership is not conditional,” she added. Girls in conflict zones are already showing leadership in their homes and communities, while facing threats. But, too often, their leadership is invisible “because the spaces we’ve built are not safe or accessible for them to show up fully”, she pointed out. Safeguarding means more than just protecting girls from harm — it means protecting their right to speak and lead without fear of violence, stigma or digital attacks.
“From the Balkans to sub-Saharan Africa and beyond, young women everywhere face legal, economic and institutional barriers to justice,” said Anes Demirović, Governing Board Member, United Youth Task Force Network of Young Kosovo Peacebuilders, Kosovo. He highlighted the need for disaggregated data that shows how justice and security systems fail young women. Youth organizations can step in here by conducting independent monitoring and producing “shadow reports”, and working with institutions to ensure the data reflects the real lives of women, he suggested. Another priority is addressing hate speech against women, especially those in governance and politics, before it evolves and progresses into violence.
The Forum also held a panel discussion on “Goal 14: Youth for sustainable oceans — mobilization and actions”, with speakers addressing the urgent need to protect the ocean, highlighting threats like overfishing, rising temperatures and coral bleaching, while focusing on the critical role of youth in driving sustainable solutions.