Since 2012, the annual Youth Forum of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), has become a platform where young people can contribute to policy discussions at the United Nations through their collective ideas, solutions and innovations. The Forum allows representatives of youth-led and youth-focused organizations and networks, youth advocates and others to dialogue with Member States, and to explore ways and means of promoting youth development and engagement.
The report of the Secretary-General “Critical milestones towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review at the global level” (A/70/684), prepared in response to paragraph 90 of the 2030 Agenda, recognizes the potential of the ECOSOC Youth Forum by stating that the High-level Political Forum could be informed by and benefit from several specific Economic and Social Council forums covering cross-cutting issues in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the existing forum on youth (para 31). Furthermore, in its resolution 70/299, the General Assembly encouraged coherence of the ECOSOC and its subsidiary machinery with the work of the High-level Political Forum. Youth development is a cross-cutting issue in the 2030 Agenda, and all goals and targets are interdependent and must be pursued together since progress in one area often depends on progress in other areas.
Photo Credits to the U.N.
The sixth ECOSOC Youth Forum (“The role of youth in poverty eradication and promoting prosperity in a changing world”), to be held from 30 to 31 January 2017, will take place at a critical historical juncture as the world is struggling to respond to the negative effects of globalization. Young people have been disproportionately impacted by rising inequality brought about by rapid technological innovation – where the beneficiaries are often the ones that are the innovators and investors. With the increasing digitization of the economy, the demand for highly skilled workers will continue to increase at the expense of workers with less education and skills. As more jobs get lost to automation and wages stagnate or decrease, the backlash against globalization is expected to increase. The trend towards nationalism and isolation, which is growing more widespread, is likely to grow stronger in response to global competition and trade.
While young people around the world are among those left behind, the unemployed, the working poor and underemployed, they have the potential to be among those who stand to benefit the most from technological innovation and associated changes in the global economy. They tend to be among the first to embrace new ideas and innovations and they remain open to the idea of global solutions to global problems. By involving them centrally in the project of “shared prosperity” which is at the core of the sustainable development agenda, they can continue to support multilateral approaches led by the United Nations. The ECOSOC Youth Forum is therefore an important dedicated space to engage in the discussion on how to make globalization work for everyone through the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. This universal, integrated agenda is designed to ensure equitable sharing of the benefits of globalization. This engagement will not only help to deliver results but also strengthen accountability.
Banner photo credits to Leigh Vogel
Format of the ECOSOC Youth Forum
The 2017 ECOSOC Youth Forum will feature opening and closing plenary sessions with representatives from youth organizations, high-level and other keynote speakers. The programme will also include thematic and regional breakout sessions. During the interactive sessions, the moderators will have a primary role to actively engage the audience, using social media, with pertinent questions related to the various themes to be addressed.
A Ministerial Roundtable will be held which could feature national reviews of progress on youth development and youth engagement in the context of the 2030 Agenda. Best practices and lessons learned could be shared that may benefit other Member States and other stakeholders. Representatives of youth-led and youth-focused organizations and networks, civil society and the private sector could also provide views on youth development and engagement trends. Young people will also be encouraged to make individual and group commitments for action for achieving the SDGs. The discussion will also reinforce the need for measures to ensure that globalization is embraced by everyone and its burdens and blessings are shared equally.
All plenary sessions will feature SDG Youth Advocates, YouTubers and social media influencers, in interactive and dynamic discussions. The objective is to leverage their influence and global reach to inspire concrete actions to promote implementation.
Participants will include Ministers, including Ministers of youth, high-level representatives of national youth institutions, UN Youth Advocates such as National Youth Councils or Institutes, representatives from the Permanent Missions of Member States to the UN in New York, youth delegates, representatives from the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth, youth representatives from CSOs or youth-led/youth-organizations and movements as well as representatives of regional and other multilateral organizations. Other participants will include the UN System, academia, business sector, media and NGOs with consultative status with ECOSOC. The Forum will also reflect diversity of youth organizations, include balanced representation of youth from developed and developing countries and ensure representation of youth from rural communities, indigenous groups and people with disability, both men and women.
The meeting will be webcast and participants will be able to pose questions via social media through Facebook and Twitter.
The outcome will be an informal summary of the proceedings by the President of ECOSOC capturing key outcomes of the discussions and findings of the Forum, which will be made available to the High-level Political Forum convened under the auspices of ECOSOC and the High-level Segment of the Council in July 2017. A Presidential Statement will also be issued at the closing of the Forum.
Draft Programme
SDG Media Zone
The SDG Media Zone will join the sixth ECOSOC Youth Forum on January 30 – 31 in New York to broadcast live dynamic discussions and interviews featuring SDG Youth Advocates, YouTubers and social media influencers. Each day #SDGLive will engage the online global audience on how to address the Sustainable Development Goals together.
Some of the confirmed speakers: