20 June 2017: Announcing the appointment of 26-year-old Jayathma Wickramanayake of Sri Lanka as his Envoy on Youth, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed that the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development depends on “empowering young people as rights-holders, agents of change and torch-bearers.” On 28 June, UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Peter Thomson will host a High-Level SDG Action Event on Education to emphasize the importance of teaching about the SDGs, including for the 126 million children who will be eighteen years old in 2030.

Wickramanayake has played a key role in transforming the youth development sector at the national level, according to the UN, while also representing and motivating global youth development at the international level. She is credited with having established the ‘Hashtag Generation,’ a large civic and political engagement movement of young people. Presently working as an officer of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service, she previously served as Secretary to the Secretary General of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, and as a Senator at the Sri Lankan Youth Parliament.

The 28 June UNGA event on education is being convened in partnership with other stakeholders key for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, to ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.’ According to the concept note, the event seeks to galvanize the efforts of leading education stakeholders, to raise awareness about the obstacles to achieving universal access to quality education and lifelong learning, and to highlight ways to promote SDG learning in schools and other education institutions.

In addition to formal sessions, including an opening segment and several interactive panel discussions, the day-long event also will feature an exhibition of innovative approaches to education, a youth roundtable discussion, a reception and musical performances. In preparing the event, the UNGA President’s Office is working with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Chidren’s Fund (UNICEF), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Global Partnership for Education, the Global Commission on Education and the Global Education 2030 Steering Committee, among others. [Appointment of Special Envoy] [UN Press Release] [Webpage of High-Level Event] [Event Concept Note]