Closing its twenty-second session this afternoon, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues sent three draft decisions to the Economic and Social Council for formal adoption as it approved several recommendations on this year’s priority theme, “Indigenous Peoples, human health, planetary and territorial health and climate change: a rights-based approach”.
As the biggest gathering of the Economic and Social Council Youth Forum of all time concluded today, youth delegates and high-level Government and United Nations officials underscored the vital role of young people in policy and decision-making and their more enhanced engagement in related intergovernmental processes, particularly the upcoming Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Youth-led and youth-focused initiatives and organizations must be fully supported by Governments, the private sector, and other key partners, with financing, mentorship, skills training, capacity-building, and safe spaces to ensure achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, speakers told the Economic and Social Council’s annual Youth Forum today, spotlighting the power of youth in designing solutions to address global challenges.
Young people must be included as equal partners in finding solutions and making decisions about the world’s most pressing challenges, speakers told the Economic and Social Council’s annual Youth Forum today, spotlighting how youth around the world are advancing progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and how the United Nations, Member States and other stakeholders should support their greater meaningful participation.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the 2023 Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum, held in New York and virtually from 25 to 27 April:
Expressing grave concern over recent shocks that are threatening sustainable development worldwide, the Economic and Social Council concluded its Financing for Development Forum today with the adoption of an outcome document aimed at reforming the international financial architecture in order to adapt to global economic changes and expedite progress towards realizing the Sustainable Development Goals.
Calls for Indigenous Peoples’ full inclusion took centre stage once again as the Permanent Forum today continued its twenty-second session, with speakers underscoring their need to ensure their full participation in realizing the Forum’s six mandated points, including their social and economic development and the preservation of their culture and languages, as well as their environment.
Calling attention to the myriad challenges, violations and injustices faced by their communities, speakers stressed that the rights of Indigenous Peoples cannot be realized without their full, meaningful representation and participation in decision-making processes at all levels affecting their territories, governance and families, as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues continued its twenty-second session with a day-long discussion on the human rights of Indigenous Peoples.
On the third day of its annual Financing for Development Forum, the Economic and Social Council heard from speakers stressing the need to address structural and financing roadblocks that condemn developing countries to struggle with the multiple crises of climate change, sustainable infrastructure transformation, and international tax cooperation in tackling illicit financial flows.
The Economic and Social Council opened the second day of its annual Financing for Development Forum with a high-level meeting of top global finance officials intent on working collaboratively to help debt-burdened developing countries overcome poverty, climate risks and other challenges to their sustainable development.