By Miki Fukuda, IGES

At the midway point of the SDGs, it is increasingly clear that a definitive course change is necessary to achieve the 17 Goals that sit at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Such a course change requires not only accelerating implementation of the 2030 Agenda, but empowering youth to drive transformative change to socioeconomic systems. Harnessing the energies of young people can bring innovative ideas to the surface and inject momentum into often stagnant processes.

The importance of young people’s involvement in SDG processes is gaining recognition at the highest levels. For instance, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua underlined the significant role played by youth representatives in his closing statement at the July session of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). However, creating spaces for nominal surface-level participation may not be enough. Rather, there is an urgent need to focus on the essential elements of meaningful youth engagement.

This commentary draws upon the author’s and other participants’ experiences at the HLPF to highlight progress on youth engagement. It also points to three pillars of meaningful engagement that merit added attention: 1) representation; 2) inclusivity; and 3) empowerment.

Progress made within the UN system

As mentioned, the UN system itself has made demonstrable progress in involving youth in the SDGs and related processes. For example, the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth fosters a collaborative and integrated approach to UN initiatives on youth issues. The office aims to encourage youth engagement and solicit young people’s insights and ideas to inform UN activities.

In addition, in 2018, UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched “Youth2030, the UN Youth Strategy” to enhance youth participation. The UN has published Youth2030 progress reports since 2021, and shared the main findings of the report’s third edition at a recent HLPF side event. The report suggests there has been some improvement in youth engagement. Yet, it also notes persistent challenges regarding meaningful participation, understanding diversity across youth, and listening to the most marginalized young people. At the international level, the UN plans to address these challenges through the establishment of a UN Youth Office, among other institutional changes. However, it is also important to promote meaningful engagement at regional, national, and local levels.

Expanding spaces for meaningful engagement

At the national level, the recent Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) offer illustrative examples of meaningful engagement. At the 2023 HLPF, Ireland and Iceland introduced dedicated chapters for youth for the first time. Iceland incorporated a chapter written by its UN youth delegate on sustainable development. The chapter includes both a status report and recommendations for deepening youth engagement.

Ireland went a step further by initiating a drafting process that was led by young people and consisted of four-month-long discussions and group work involving 85 youth participants, which resulted in a dedicated VNR chapter. A side event organized by the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the UN reflected on this drafting experience, noting that meaningful and inclusive youth engagement does not happen by itself. Instead, it requires sufficient time, funding, and a clear framework to support activities. The event also involved input from youth from different countries, who emphasized three considerations that need to underpin meaningful youth participation moving forward:

• Representation: Conducting a thorough and iterative review processes to ensure that proposed content captures diverse views, opinions, and positions of young people;
• Inclusivity: Being mindful of minority groups within the youth demographic and conducting consultations targeting a wide range of young people; and
• Empowerment: Continuously supporting youth-led initiatives through platforms like Youth Councils, while also focusing on education and capacity development to build confidence and knowledge.

How youth representation, inclusivity, and empowerment can contribute to SDG processes

The three considerations merit attention for a few reasons. First, while there is no doubt that involving young people is important, thinking about who is participating is equally essential. Studies show that active youth are more likely to be from more advantaged social groups, leaving out those from less economically privileged and less educated families. Therefore, there is a risk that opening the door for certain well-represented segments of youth could widen existing disparities. It is thus paramount to understand the diversity within youth, identify those who are marginalized, actively seek their input, and foster inclusive thinking. Creating opportunities for safe and meaningful participation and providing learning opportunities are also important.

Another reason to pay more attention to youth’s meaningful participation is their potential contributions to SDG processes, including the HLPF. The annual HLPF serves as the UN platform for monitoring and reviewing SDGs. Its emphasis has been on comprehensive and inclusive assessments of progress on the SDGs. In this context, enabling youth participation, particularly in the follow-up and review processes, presents an opportunity to improve SDG performance. Examples of youth’s active involvement in developing VNRs in countries like Iceland and Ireland can bolster accountability for implementation and highlight the positive impacts of VNRs. Young people will provide the most significant contributions to follow-up and review if there is an effort to extend representation, be broadly inclusive, and empower different youth demographics.

Third, decision makers must realize that some of the more motivated youth are not merely passive recipients of care but, as stewards of the future, can provide expertise in youth-related matters. Young people’s meaningful engagement is hence pivotal in fostering better decision making. Achieving this may necessitate a shift in mindsets to recognize youth as equal partners in pursuing improved policies and a more equitable society. An approach grounded in social partnership, empowering young people to take ownership of the SDGs and their implementation, is hence crucial for accelerating progress on the Goals.

As we look forward to the upcoming SDG Summit and the Summit of the Future in 2024, we need to make a collective effort to transcend generational boundaries in the spirit of partnership and solidarity. To confront challenges and embrace opportunities that lie ahead, it is imperative that people from all generations unite, for it is together that we can truly usher in a brighter and more equitable future.

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This article was written by Miki Fukuda (miki.fukuda@iges.or.jp), Policy Researcher, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Hayama, Japan.  

This commentary is based in part on research performed with support from the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (JPMEERF20221M03) of the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency provided by Ministry of the Environment of Japan.