This past week, on November 3^rd, the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa, YALDA, held a conference in Nairobi University. The aim of the conference was to shine a light on the role of youths in sustainable development in Africa. The main speakers of the day were Caren Wakoli, a transformative leadership trainer Irungu Houghton, a senior management professional specializing in areas of public policy advice and advocacy, institutional strengthening and expansion Maryline Kiptoo, a business development analyst at Cytonn Investments Management Simon Ndirangu and Daniel Ndambuki. The conference also offered internship opportunities and refreshments galore. I was very excited when I heard about the conference but I did not get the chance to attend since we were having exams on that same day. However, getting introduced to YALDA was an eye-opener that got me wondering what the role of youth in sustainable development really is.

While people of all ages share in the goal of creating a sustainable and healthy planet, it is the youngest members of the global population who may have the most to win or lose in whether we achieve targets for sustainable living. Decisions made by individuals, countries and as an international community will have long lasting impacts that will continue affecting the lives of the members of our youngest generation, who will have more time to spend on the planet in the future than older generations, for many years to come. So what role can young people play in achieving sustainable development?

Harmful stereotypes of today?s young people as careless slackers who only have interests in frivolous matters are common. The truth, however, is that young people are active drivers of change in local communities. Young people have a role in engaging people at the grassroots level and a role in communicating the goals to a wider society. Firstly, we have the opportunity and ability to take on key leadership roles in understanding, promoting and supporting efforts to help the world achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. One key role that youth can play in supporting the Sustainable Development Goals is helping to make sure others are aware of the 2030 Agenda and its importance. Project Everyone, an organization that has set a goal of making sure everyone on the planet is aware of the Sustainable Development Goals, shares the goal of promoting the Sustainable Development Goals with youth. According to Project Everyone, their outreach efforts have already come half-way to achieving the goal of reaching every single person on the planet with information about the Sustainable Development Goals. The organization believes it is critical to make sure everyone is aware of the Sustainable Development Goals because people who are informed and knowledgeable of the Sustainable Development Goals can help to hold their governments and leaders accountable for working to achieve these critical goals.

Secondly, we can also participate in forums with world leaders, such as the United Nations Economic and Social Council Youth Forum, which provided ?youth representatives with an opportunity to voice their opinion, share ideas and to think together about specific issues of relevance to youth in the context of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.? Youth are also active leaders within groups and organizations that seek to support the 2030 Agenda such as the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth and the Sustainable Development Solution Network Youth Division, among many others.

Thirdly, we can engage as leaders supporting the Sustainable Development Goals on an individual basis or working in small groups, such as the Meek family from the United Kingdom, who have embarked on a family challenge to remove 100,000 plastic bottles from the environment and encourage others to limit their consumption of single-use disposable plastic products. Getting involved in promoting the Sustainable Development Goals can even start with something as simple as a selfie! A Global Goals Selfie gives youth the opportunity to support the Sustainable Development Goals by sharing a photograph of themselves promoting the Sustainable Development Goal they feel most passionate about within their social networks.

I look forward to learning more about the role of youths in sustainable development from my friends who attended the conference. Meanwhile, it is important to remember that we all have a role to play.