International Youth Day, observed annually on August 12th, is dedicated to celebrating and acknowledging the contributions of the world’s 1.9 billion young people. This year’s theme, “From Clicks to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development” highlights, and mobilizes around, the essential role of youth in driving sustainability and innovation across different sectors of development, especially through the use of digital technology.
The theme also underscores progress as a key idea. This comes at a critical time when rising complex challenges, and mistrust due to geopolitical tensions have lowered the bar on concrete commitments and clear accountability frameworks in intergovernmental negotiations to track progress. The World Program of Action Youth (a seminal resolution creating fifteen fields of action nationally and internationally toward young people) being taken out of the Summit of the Future’s Pact for the Future outcome document Revision 2, is but one example. A key shift, however, of youth engagement engendered from the Summit of the Future and Our Common Agenda process has been from within the UN. From creating a UN Youth Office and appointing the youngest high-level UN representative in history, to the several consultations that have fed into the Pact and its annexes, the UN has explored new ways of engaging with young people, and facilitating their engagement with other stakeholders. Critical to the idea of concrete progress however, is the baseline it is measured against and how it is measured.
Launched in 2018, Youth 2030 is the UN’s Youth Strategy engaging 55 UN Entities and 132 UN Country Teams. Every year a progress report is produced with the latest edition, launched during the UN’s High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July, marking the five-year point of the strategy.
Overall, 2024 milestones have been achieved. In 2023, the top performing UN entities were the UNDP, UNFPA, and UNYO, and the ones who showed the most progress on the Youth 2030 framework since 2022 were UNAIDS, IOM, and ITU. At the UN Country team level, Chad, Mozambique, Kosovo, Bhutan, Costa Rica and Thailand were top performers with Mozambique and Jamaica making the most progress since 2022. These national indicators are particular promising given where the future of youth engaging with multilateralism will have a large center of mass in the future.
The World Bank stipulates that one-third of the world’s population and working-age population will be African by 2075. This evidence really positions African youth not just as beneficiaries of development agendas but as key drivers of progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and African Union’s Agenda 2063. With the theme of this year’s International Youth Day, and the objectives of the Global Digital Compact being negotiated for the Summit of the Future in September, the importance of involving young Africans in sustainable development efforts, fostering digitally innovative solutions to global issues, and celebrating Youth stewardship and leadership in promoting Digital pathways to advance socio-economic development is paramount. Here the work of the Office of the African Union Chairperson’s Youth Envoy has helped launch initiatives such as the Make Africa Digital Campaign that has equipped over 4,000 young people in the region with essential digital skills to increase opportunities in the digital economy.
Looking ahead, the Summit of the Future in September this year must act as a catalyst amongst heads of state to further meaningful youth engagement, especially from capitals and at the national level. International organisations, such as the UN, benefit from creating avenues for young people to engage, and build and showcase their expertise. Critically, shifts in the Youth 2030 Progress reports after the Summit will be indicative of what has also filtered into the UN system.
Today, we stand in solidarity with those in our generation facing war, humanitarian crisis, climate catastrophes, and the most uncertain of futures. It is in securing their freedom of opportunities that many of us have the responsibility to act.
Young People in Multilateralism and Reflections on the Youth2030 Progress Report
By Chido Mpemba • Nudhara Yusuf
International & Regional Organizations
International Youth Day, observed annually on August 12th, is dedicated to celebrating and acknowledging the contributions of the world’s 1.9 billion young people. This year’s theme, “From Clicks to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development” highlights, and mobilizes around, the essential role of youth in driving sustainability and innovation across different sectors of development, especially through the use of digital technology.
The theme also underscores progress as a key idea. This comes at a critical time when rising complex challenges, and mistrust due to geopolitical tensions have lowered the bar on concrete commitments and clear accountability frameworks in intergovernmental negotiations to track progress. The World Program of Action Youth (a seminal resolution creating fifteen fields of action nationally and internationally toward young people) being taken out of the Summit of the Future’s Pact for the Future outcome document Revision 2, is but one example. A key shift, however, of youth engagement engendered from the Summit of the Future and Our Common Agenda process has been from within the UN. From creating a UN Youth Office and appointing the youngest high-level UN representative in history, to the several consultations that have fed into the Pact and its annexes, the UN has explored new ways of engaging with young people, and facilitating their engagement with other stakeholders. Critical to the idea of concrete progress however, is the baseline it is measured against and how it is measured.
Launched in 2018, Youth 2030 is the UN’s Youth Strategy engaging 55 UN Entities and 132 UN Country Teams. Every year a progress report is produced with the latest edition, launched during the UN’s High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July, marking the five-year point of the strategy.
Source: Youth 2030 Dashboard, United Nations. Accessed August 11, 2024.
Overall, 2024 milestones have been achieved. In 2023, the top performing UN entities were the UNDP, UNFPA, and UNYO, and the ones who showed the most progress on the Youth 2030 framework since 2022 were UNAIDS, IOM, and ITU. At the UN Country team level, Chad, Mozambique, Kosovo, Bhutan, Costa Rica and Thailand were top performers with Mozambique and Jamaica making the most progress since 2022. These national indicators are particular promising given where the future of youth engaging with multilateralism will have a large center of mass in the future.
The World Bank stipulates that one-third of the world’s population and working-age population will be African by 2075. This evidence really positions African youth not just as beneficiaries of development agendas but as key drivers of progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and African Union’s Agenda 2063. With the theme of this year’s International Youth Day, and the objectives of the Global Digital Compact being negotiated for the Summit of the Future in September, the importance of involving young Africans in sustainable development efforts, fostering digitally innovative solutions to global issues, and celebrating Youth stewardship and leadership in promoting Digital pathways to advance socio-economic development is paramount. Here the work of the Office of the African Union Chairperson’s Youth Envoy has helped launch initiatives such as the Make Africa Digital Campaign that has equipped over 4,000 young people in the region with essential digital skills to increase opportunities in the digital economy.
Looking ahead, the Summit of the Future in September this year must act as a catalyst amongst heads of state to further meaningful youth engagement, especially from capitals and at the national level. International organisations, such as the UN, benefit from creating avenues for young people to engage, and build and showcase their expertise. Critically, shifts in the Youth 2030 Progress reports after the Summit will be indicative of what has also filtered into the UN system.
Today, we stand in solidarity with those in our generation facing war, humanitarian crisis, climate catastrophes, and the most uncertain of futures. It is in securing their freedom of opportunities that many of us have the responsibility to act.
For those wishing to engage in amplifying voices, the UN Youth Office has launched a “Let #YouthLead for the Future” survey on August 12, building on the mobilization of thousands of young people in recent months telling world leaders “It’s Time to Let #YouthLead”, with preliminary findings to be presented at the Summit of the Future Action Days.
Chido Mpemba is the African Union Chairperson’s Youth Envoy
Nudhara Yusuf is the Executive Coordinator of the Global Governance Innovation Network and Co-Chair of the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference
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