UN ECOSOC Youth Forum 2015 - A reportby | 30-04-2015 23:05 |
---|
![]() ![]() ![]() I recently attended he 4th ECOSOC Youth Forum at the United Nations in New York which was organized with the overarching vision of being a stepping stone towards enhanced youth involvement in the transition from the MDGs to the SDG. It sought to accelerate the process of engagement through youth involvement in agenda setting, policy making and implementation. The forum was held over the course of two days and spanned five sessions. The opening session was graced by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, H.E. Mr. Martin Sajdik, President of the Economic and Social Council, H.E. Ms. Gabriela Rivadeneira, President, National Assembly of Ecuador, Ms. Thandiwe Chama, and the United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth. The panelists unanimously spoke about the importance of youth in the Post-2015 Agenda and how education, poverty eradication, youth unemployment and gender equality all played a crucial role in helping empower youth, final emphasizing how a sustainable Future We Want cannot be achieved without youth. This was followed by Session One, which was about ?Youth Engagement in the Transition from MDGs to SDGs?. During this session, there were different working groups with themes such as ?Process and Consultations?, ?Accountability?, ?Measurement? and ?Partnerships, Capacity Building and Implementation?. I was a part of the working group on ?Process and Consultations?, where we spoke about how to make the different UN conferences more inclusive of youth. The outcomes of the working groups were safeguarding and ensuring the rights of women and girls, domicile status as a means of determining youth representation , intergenerational solidarity (institutionalizing Ombudspersons for future generations), education for all and national and regional engagement platforms. These were presented on the second day in the concluding session. The theme of Session 2 was ?WPAY+20 and the Post-2015 Development Agenda?. There were two panels, each of them with panelists from different countries such as Albania, UAE, Mexico, Spain, China and Burkina Faso to name a few. During this session, the panelists spoke about the slow progress and implementation of the World Programme of Action on Youth and the need to make its legacy more meaningful to the ?Future Generations? . Day One ended with an interactive dialogue with the youth delegates, where several of us echoed the fact that we , the youth, could and should play a decisive role in defining our future with a balance between the three pillars of sustainability. Day Two began with Session Three, the theme of which was ?Youth on the Rise: Youth Participation in Africa?. The African continent has 20% of the world?s youth population and thus requires the greatest attention to their development. The panelists echoed their support for the African Youth Charter and all the incredible work that was being done by the youth in the face of severe adversity and economic challenges. The ever widening gap between the rich and poor was highlighted. Government accountability and partnership with youth, the need for female empowerment, eradication of poverty and how youth should engage the political system from within, were highlighted as the need for future action which would lead to its youth empowerment. Continuing war and political strife continue to take heavy toll on the youth in the region , hampering their development and progress. Session Four focused on ?Gender Equality and Youth: 20 Years since the Beijing Platform for Action and onwards to a Post-2015 Development Framework?. The panel consisted of speakers who were all fighting for gender equality in their respective regions. All the panelists spoke about how it is imperative that we achieve gender equality with special emphasis on protecting and ensuring the rights of the girl child. Gender imbalance with regard to opportunity , representation and social bias needed to be addressed at all levels , with youth led civil society driving the change. The final session dealing with Global, Regional and other Processes, presented outcomes on previous youth-led conferences, such as the World Bank Youth Summit and the First IPU Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians. These sought to emphasise the need for youth involvement in governance and policy making. The closing statement from President of ECOSOC urged the youth to seize the moment for inclusive , gender –equal and participatory development of the sustainability agenda for the next decade. |