The UN has published a report on progress made in the implementation of global youth commitments and in advancing youth focus in UN strategic planning processes. The report emphasizes meaningful youth engagement within the UN system and highlights progress made in ensuring youth’s active involvement in decision-making processes, along with their contributions to advancing UN work “for and with youth.”

Currently in its third edition, the report tracks progress in advancing Youth2030 – the UN Youth Strategy, five years since its launch. It does so by comparing baseline data from 131 UN Country Teams (UNCTs) (2020) and 55 UN entities (2021) with the latest reported data in 2022. It also examines “the organizational architecture and capacities essential for implementing the goals set forth in Youth2030.”

The milestone for the first phase of Youth2030 implementation in UN entities and UNCTs is to achieve the “green” rating on a yellow-red-green scale in ≥ 80% scores by 2024 for the relevant key performance indicators (KPIs). The report finds that while UN entities and UNCTs are making progress to achieve this milestone, the pace is slow. Green scores in UN entities improved from 45% in 2021 to 55% in 2022, and in UNCTs, green scores improved from 25% in 2020 to 32% in 2022. The report identifies Europe and Central Asia as the top performing region, with 44% green scores.

The report highlights that the UN system continues to advance on:

• Making data and evidence on youth widely available and setting standards for work on youth, with progress “evident” on generating data and evidence on youth left behind;
• Establishing programmes, projects, and partnerships on youth;
• Supporting governments in policymaking in the areas of: aligning national policies to the SDGs; improving policy coherence; leaving no one behind; making available disaggregated data; improving public financing on youth and development; mainstreaming youth engagement in the design, monitoring, and review of sectoral programmes; and improving in-country coordination on youth;
• Building the capacity of stakeholders and supporting the exchange of knowledge on youth; and
• Advocating and communicating on youth issues.

It finds that youth engagement could be improved in technology and innovation, culture and tourism, urban development, and finance.

Launching the report on the sidelines of the July session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) on 19 July 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said amid the multiple crises that threaten people and the planet, no one has a greater stake than young people. Highlighting efforts to establish a UN Youth Office in the UN Secretariat to advance advocacy, coordination, and accountability, Guterres reiterated his call for a global standard for meaningful youth engagement in decision making, establishing national youth consultative bodies, and creating a UN Youth Townhall. He identified the SDG Summit in September and the Summit of the Future in 2024 as key opportunities to accelerate efforts to advance meaningful youth participation. [Publication: Youth2030: A Global Progress Report] [Publication Landing Page] [UN News Story]