The UN has launched a set of principles aimed at translating shared commitments into practical guidance for inclusive, equitable, and trust-based engagement of young people in intergovernmental processes and the work of the UN. The principles seek to embed meaningful youth participation in agenda setting, decision making, implementation, and review to strengthen the legitimacy and responsiveness of global governance.
The ‘Core Principles for Meaningful Youth Participation in Intergovernmental Processes and Across the Work of the UN’ provide non-binding guidance for meaningful, representative, inclusive, and safe youth engagement. Developed under Action 37(d) of the Pact for the Future, the Principles are the result of consultations with Member States, UN entities, young people, and youth organizations.
According to the Principles, meaningful youth participation:
- Is rights-based and anchored in UN instruments;
- Guarantees accessibility and inclusion for all young people;
- Is characterized by diversity and representativeness;
- Offers safety, safeguarding, and protection;
- Enables co-governance with safeguards for independence;
- Establishes clarity of roles, mandates, and scope;
- Allocates resourcing and enabling costs;
- Provides capacity building for youth and duty bearers;
- Ensures timely dissemination of transparent information;
- Provides feedback, accountability, and follow-up; and
- Fosters intergenerational collaboration and respectful conduct.
In a foreword, UN Secretary-General António Guterres recalls the 2023 Policy Brief on Meaningful Youth Engagement, calling for a shift from symbolic inclusion to genuine partnership, to which Member States responded with the Pact for the Future. The Principles, he underscores, “turn[] commitment into practice and toward shared decision making that reflects young people in all their diversity.”
The Principles feed into the UN Youth Compass, launched in April 2025, which represents an evolving ecosystem on youth participation seeking to strengthen coherence, coordination, and accountability.
The Principles were launched on 16 March 2026 at a side event during the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), convened by the UN Youth Office, with young people, the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, UN Women, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the EU, and the Permanent Missions of Malawi and Portugal to the UN. [Publication: Core Principles for Meaningful Youth Participation in Intergovernmental Processes and Across the Work of the UN] [Publication Landing Page] [Pact for the Future] [Youth Office Implementing Pact for the Future]