A View from the Stage of the 9th UNESCO Youth Forum
By Nada Elfeituri
What do youth, climate change and a global agenda for sustainability have in common? That’s exactly what we went to find out about at the 9th UNESCO Youth Forum, which took place in Paris late last October. By ‘we’, I mean 500 active youth from across the globe, each with a wealth of experience, passion, and, most importantly, a keenness to talk about the future.
If you were surprised to hear that 500 youth were brought together in one place, then you can imagine my reaction when I found out that I was supposed to give a speech to them. Five hundred young individuals, each with a remarkable story of their own, would be listening to me for inspiration. Yeah, I was definitely sweating a little on that stage.
But looking out at the sea of attentive faces, I realized that I wasn’t giving a formal speech to a passive audience. I was continuing a conversation that started at the booths of the Forum’s marketplace and continued in the rooms and hallways of the UNESCO building throughout the Forum’s three-day duration. So I picked up the thread of those conversations and spoke in detail about the work I was doing in Libya to promote and advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals among my fellow peers. I spoke about the challenges and obstacles we faced in Libya, about how these goals would strengthen our work, and how we are determined to continue being part of the global youth conversation.
In this day and age, with the amount of bleak news we hear coming from around the world, it’s hard to imagine that hundreds of youth, each coming from very diverse backgrounds and speaking a plethora of languages, could work together and come up with a unified vision. But that’s exactly what happened on the last day of the Forum, proving, time and again, that youth should never be underestimated. The core of this vision was a set of recommendations on the 2030 development agenda, which included, among other things, the promotion of cultural diversity, increased advocacy on the importance of biodiversity and encouragement of personal development through community-built knowledge.
It’s the empowerment of youth to work on these crucial issues that makes up the core of the Networks of Mediterranean Youth (NET-MED Youth), an EU-funded project implemented by UNESCO, to build the capacities of young people in the South Mediterranean countries. It was through NET-MED Youth that I learned about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and got a chance to speak at the Youth Forum. It’s because of programs like NET-MED Youth that we’re seeing youth play a greater role in creating change for the region. Whether it’s through education, media or the economy, youth are taking charge and making meaningful progress towards creating more resilient communities.
To answer the question at the start of this piece, sustainable development is intricately linked to climate change, and the latter must be addressed if we hope to achieve the former. Youth are the key towards achieving these goals, and by equipping them with the necessary knowledge and tools today, I am confident that we will have ensured a more sustainable planet for the future.
About the Author:
Nada Elfeituri is an architect-turned-activist from Benghazi, Libya. As part of her role in NET-MED Youth, Nada has been leading efforts in Libya to raise awareness on sustainable development. She is also the founder of the Young Writers of Benghazi, an organization that promotes self-expression through writing.
The 9th UNESCO Youth Forum – Young Global Citizens for a Sustainable Planet – took place in Paris, France from the 26th to the 28th October 2015. The Forum brought together over 500 young women and men from all over the world to focus on issues related to Climate Change and the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda to ensure that the voices of future generations remain front and center of the new development agenda. Discussions focused on how young people, committing themselves as global citizens, can contribute to the creation of a sustainable planet. The recommendations of the Forum were presented by the young participants at the Plenary Session of UNESCO's General Conference as well as during the debates of its five Programme Commissions. Participants will also present the recommendations at the upcoming Commonwealth Youth Forum (21-25 November, Malta), and later on at the Coy 11 (26-28 November 2015) and COP21 (30 November-12 December 2015) in Paris.
Watch the video on the Youth Forum recommendations here. Click here for more information on the outcomes of the Forum and for daily videos from the Forum.
Inter-Agency Update
The Inter-agency Network on Youth Development held its monthly meeting on 26 October 2015 in Paris, France, in the context of the 9th UNESCO Youth Forum. The Youth Forum took place under the theme ‘Young Global Citizens for a Sustainable Planet’ from 26th to the 28th October, drawing together over 700 young people, youth organizations, practitioners, UN staff, and academics. You can learn more about the UNESCO Youth Forum here.
UN Entities Highlighted News
ILO: Working poverty remains main concern for young people in Sub-Saharan Africa (VIDEO)
Two in three young workers in Sub-Saharan Africa are living on less than US$2 a day, says Sara Elder, Chief Technical Advisor of the ILO's Work4Youth project. While attending The MasterCard Foundation's first "Young Africa Works Summit”, in Cape Town in October 2015, Sara Elder stressed the urgency to invest in policies directed to scale up infrastructure in rural areas and to boost the potential of the agricultural sector as the primary employer of youth in Africa. More
ILO and J-PAL Executive Education Course on evaluating labour market programmes (18-22 October 2015, Cairo)
The International Labour Organization in collaboration with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT offered an Executive Education course on evaluating labour market programmes targeted at youth in the Middle East and North Africa. The course took place at the American University in Cairo from 18-22 October 2015. This training is a five-day course that provides participants with a thorough understanding of impact evaluations using a combination of lectures and case studies. The course material is available on the ILO course website.
ILO: Youth Employment in the CIS - 5th regional network meeting
On 13-17 October 2015 the city of Sochi, Russian Federation hosted the fifth meeting of the Youth Employment Network members within the framework of the project Partnerships for Youth Employment in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). This ILO project aims to support the Governments and social partners in the CIS in their search for good practices and models promoting job creation and youth employment. More
ECLAC organizes international seminar on youth social inclusion in El Salvador
The closing international seminar for the project “Social inclusion of youth in contexts of increasing violence and insecurity” was held on 13-14 October 2015 in San Salvador, El Salvador. The seminar gathered over 170 participants, including experts, youth, representatives of national youth entities, UN agencies, and civil society to discuss issues related to youth social inclusion in the region. During the seminar, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) launched the youth portal JUVeLAC and presented the book “Youth: realities and challenges for development with equality” and a practical guide (toolkit) aimed at policy-makers who are responsible for designing policies, programs and strategies for youth development, all prepared as part of the project. More
Congratulations new UN MGCY Youth Gateway Team members!
206 youth representing 70 countries applied for the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) Youth Gateway Team. To learn more about the Youth Gateway Team applicants please visit here. We are excited to announce that a team of 25 will be building educational content, developing web and data platforms, advancing partnerships, and promoting the website via social media. If interested in sharing creative ideas for the Youth Gateway or engaging in partnerships please write to: gateway@childrenyouth.org. Congratulations team!
UN MGCY: The Doha Declaration on Reshaping The Humanitarian Agenda is out!
The World Humanitarian Summit process is coming to an end. Youth have been extensively involved in the process, with their presence felt in the regional, thematic and independent consultations. The culmination of youth involvement in the process was the Global Youth Consultation in Doha on the 1-2 September 2015. Facilitated by the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY), 300 youth from 86 countries convened to discuss youth priorities and involvement in the humanitarian landscape. The outcome was the Doha Declaration on Reshaping the Humanitarian Agenda. More
PLURAL+ 2015 Youth Video Festival in NYC
Save the date and submit your RSVP to PLURAL+ 2015 Youth Video Festival and Awards in NYC on 3 December 2015! Hosted at The Paley Center for Media, PLURAL+ will feature panels on youth-produced media in refugee communities and in incarceration settings, screenings of partner award winning videos, and opportunities to experience the virtual reality film “Clouds Over Sidra” throughout the day. There will be an awards ceremony in the evening with a special screening of the three International Jury Award videos. A reception following the ceremony will close out the festival. To RSVP, visit pluralplus.unaoc.org. More
UNDP: Winners of COP21 Youth Climate Video Competition Announced
Saraswati Upadhaya from Nepal and Charles Batte from Uganda, two young activists who have told compelling stories of youth engagement to combat climate change, have won the 2015 Global Youth Video Competition. The competition was launched by Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) in partnership with Television for the Environment (TVE), and supported by the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme run by UNDP. The winners will travel to the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris and support UNFCCC’s communications team covering highlights of COP21. More
Voices2Paris: 5 Young Journalists win UNDP Storytelling Contest on Climate Change
In August, UNDP launched a storytelling contest for young journalists in developing countries to increase the coverage of climate change impacts, local level solutions and give greater visibility to young journalists’ work. We received more than 130 articles, all published in national press, and selected the top 25 to be disseminated globally. To read the winning stories, including the 5 winners who will travel to Paris to cover the COP21, check our twitter account @UNDPGeneva and follow #Voices2Paris. More
UNEP: Art exhibit showcases the gravity of food waste
More than 1/3 of all of the food produced globally gets lost or wasted before reaching the dinner table. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to display the top North American submissions for UNEP’s 23rd International Children’s Painting Competition on food waste at the USDA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The global winner, Sami Khan, age 13, from California, was chosen from over 65,000 submissions. The exhibit is seen by over 4,000 people every day. More
UNFCCC: Young and Future Generations Day at COP21/CMP11
Young and Future Generations Day, on 3 December 2015, is a non-stop celebration of youth power and participation at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21)! The day will include an Intergenerational Inquiry and other youth-led side events, workshops and activities to showcase innovative, ambitious and creative climate action taken by young people around the world. Youth leaders and high level representatives will hold discussions, giving young people a voice in the midst of this important conference. More
Y-Peer Palestine recently graduated 33 Y-PEER trainers and members in the West Bank. Young trainers are now engaged at various community outreach activities and sessions organized with universities and Community Based Organization. Youth are using techniques and methods learned through the training of trainers (ToT) to encourage youth and adolescents to take part in the Network and contribute to creating change in the Palestinian society. More
UN-Habitat: Asia-Pacific hosting first ever APUFY 2015
UN-Habitat teamed up with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the UN Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) and the Ministry of Public Works and Housing of the Government of Indonesia to organize the first ever Asia-Pacific Urban Youth Assembly (APUFY) in Jakarta in mid-October. The event was a huge success with over 300 participants from all over the region. Carefully prepared parallel sessions and dialogues with prominent politicians helped stir the discussions around sustainable cities and effective urban planning. With many great ideas presented, the youthful spirit was transmitted to the subsequent events – the sixth Asia Pacific Urban Forum (APUF-6) and High Level Regional Meeting for Habitat III. More
MTV helps raise vital funds and awareness for UNICEF refugee appeal
MTV announced its support for UNICEF’s Refugee Crisis Appeal at the 2015 MTV EMAs, held in Milan, on 25 October 2015 and broadcast to millions around the world. Currently 644,000 people, a third of whom are children and women, are seeking refuge in Europe. Pharrell Williams performed “Freedom” at the conclusion of the EMAs to raise awareness, trigger activism and donations to support the Syrian refugee crisis. More
World Bank Group Youth Summit 2015: Crowd-Sourcing Solutions for Climate Change
The World Bank Group is hosting its third annual Youth Summit on 16-17 November 2015, in partnership with the International Council of Small Business, The Climate Reality Project, and 1776. This year’s event will focus on young people’s role in the fight against climate change. The Summit will gather bright future leaders to discuss solutions for climate change and inspire communities everywhere to take action. The two-day event will feature a plenary session, several workshops and a live competition. More
UNFPA: Updates from Eastern Europe and Central Asia on the Youth Voice Campaign
The recently published Youth Voice Campaign News Bulletin contains compiled updates from country teams from Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova and Turkmenistan as well as regional updates from youth advocates who were involved in various post-2015 development agenda related processes. More
UN-PBSO: Report from the Global Forum on Youth, Peace & Security now available!
The final report from the Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security, hosted by Jordan on 21-22 August 2015 and co-organized by the United Nations and partners from civil society, is now available at youth4peace.info. More
Publications
UNDP: Report: Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security
The report of the first Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security, co-organised by UNDP in August is now available. Close to 500 participants, including more than 200 youth from 100 countries, NGOs, governments and United Nations entities met in Amman, Jordan to agree on a common vision to partner with young people to prevent conflict, counter violent extremism and build lasting peace. The Forum culminated in the adoption of the “Amman Youth Declaration” the result of extensive youth-led consultations.
UNDP: Report: Global Forum on Youth Policies
The report of the first Global Forum on Youth Policies, which took place in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2014, is now available. The Forum, co-organised by UNDP, brought together 700 youth policy leaders, ministers and directors, activists and volunteers, researchers and young politicians to address 2 key questions: What can we learn from the past 20 years of youth policy practice? What can - and must - be done to improve public policies for young people?
