3 June 2014: Young people at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum discussed and presented an outcome document, ‘The Global Youth Call,’ requesting the mainstreaming of youth issues in the post-2015 development agenda and focusing on a range of targets related to education, employment and entrepreneurship, health, good governance, and peace and stability.

The youth-related targets address many issues, including: universal access to quality primary and post-primary education; reduction of the number of unemployed youth; meaningful and inclusive participation of young people in public decision making, governance and peace building; adolescent and youth health; and elimination of violence and discrimination.

Opening the Youth Forum, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that half the world’s population is under 25, and that youth engagement is now needed ‘like never before’ as there are around 500 days to the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the global sustainable development goals are being negotiated and climate change remains “a clear and present danger.”

Csaba Kőrösi, Permanent Representative of Hungary to the UN and Co-Chair of the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), invited youth to review the OWG’s ‘zero draft’ on SDGs and work with governments on national implementation plans.

Noting that over 1.5 million young people around the world took part in the UN’s MyWorld survey to express their priorities for the post-2015 agenda, UN General Assembly (UNGA) President John Ashe encouraged youth representatives to remain engaged in the negotiations toward the post-2015 agenda.

The ECOSOC Youth Forum also reviewed the outcomes of the UN’s crowdsourcing initiative that sought to identify youth concerns and define priorities beyond 2015. Ahmad Alhendawi, the UN Secretary-General’s first-appointed Special Envoy on Youth, noted that the Youth Forum now involves thousands of youth worldwide in discussions on the post-2015 agenda. Alhendawi recommended more access points at the UN to enable young people to participate in its work.

Over 1,000 youth organizations were represented at the ECOSOC Youth Forum, which took place at UN Headquarters in New York, US, from 2 to 3 June 2014. [The Global Youth Call] [UN Press Release] [Ban Statement] [Ashe Statement] [Meeting Web Page]