Photo: Clement Nocos/UN
Youth participation and leadership in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were at the forefront of a pre-conference session of the 66th United Nations Department of Public Information / Non-Governmental Organizations (UN DPI/NGO) Conference to be held 30 May – 1 June 2016 in Gyeongju, South Korea. The pre-conference session focused on ‘Youth as Agents of Change’ and included panelists and workshop activities to prepare young participants for the upcoming ‘Education for Global Citizenship: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Together’ conference. The conference will also highlight the importance of Sustainable Development Goal 4 that ensures quality education to help foster a global citizen identity and improve the global quality of life.
The pre-conference session started with a “Youth Toolkit Panel” of UN representatives that included the Director of the UN DPI Outreach Division, Maher Nasser. He spoke about the need for youth participation in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and what young leaders can do to promote the SDGs. With the largest generation of young people in human history, the panel stressed the importance of including youth to amplify the effects of the SDGs.
Ravi Karkara, Co-Chair of the UN Inter-agency Network on Youth Development, underscored the difference from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the SDGs in that the newer set of goals explicitly calls on youth to become agents of change for the 2030 Agenda. He called on youth to be the most effective and inclusive communicators of the SDGs, to create innovative youth lead solutions, to become the “eyes and ears” in monitoring their success and to hold the UN to account if they are not implemented.
A panel of youth leaders representing civil society organizations and academic institutions also spoke during this session, and presented their organizations and projects that actively include youth inputs into the 2030 Agenda. Youth that cannot attend the conference in Gyeongju are also encouraged to participate in the Conference via an open, online e-consultation that is accepting public input for the 66th DPI/NGO Conference Action Agenda outcome document. Youth can also participate in the Conference by following the social media hashtags #UNNGO2016 and #DPINGO on Twitter and by following “united-nations” on Snapchat.
The pre-conference session also included performances by young artists and workshop activities reflecting on strategies that promote the SDGs globally and in local communities. The session was organized in collaboration with the Youth Subcommittee to the 66th UN DPI/NGO Conference.
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Source: UN News Centre
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