Video "The story you are shaping"
Chair:
Keynote and remarks:
Messages on behalf of youth:
Ambassador Philemon Yang, President of the 79th UN General Assembly, is a distinguished diplomat and politician. He served as Cameroon’s Prime Minister (2009–2019) and held key ministerial roles, including Minister of Mines and Energy. Internationally, he was Cameroon’s High Commissioner to Canada (1984–2004) and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps. A champion of UN ideals, he chaired the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and advocates for climate action, human rights, and UN reform. Educated in law and business, Yang holds degrees from the University of Yaoundé, University of Ottawa, and Century University. Married with three children, his career reflects a steadfast commitment to global peace and development.
His Excellency Bob Rae was elected the President of the 2025 session (July 2024 to July 2025) of the Economic and Social Council on 25 July 2024.
He is currently the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations. Before his appointment by the Government of Canada, Mr. Rae served as Canada’s special envoy on humanitarian and refugee issues, continuing the important work that he began in 2017 as Canada’s special envoy to Myanmar while also addressing other pressing humanitarian and refugee issues around the world.
The former premier of Ontario and former interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Mr. Rae was elected 11 times to federal and provincial parliaments between 1978 and 2013. He stepped down as a member of Parliament in 2013 to return to legal practice and, in particular, to work with Indigenous communities and continue his work in education, governance and human rights. His passion for social justice dates back to his early days in student politics and community service.
Before his appointment as Permanent Representative, Mr. Rae was senior counsel at Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP. In addition to his legal practice, he taught at the University of Toronto in the School of Public Policy and Governance, in the Faculty of Law and at Massey College and Victoria University, and he was a fellow of the Forum of Federations, Massey College and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. He has also worked as a mediator and arbitrator with ADR Chambers. A former partner at Goodmans LLP, Mr. Rae led the restructuring of the Canadian Red Cross and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and chaired the board of the Royal Conservatory of Music. He is the author of 5 books and a number of government reports.
Mr. Rae is a privy councillor, a companion of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of Ontario and has numerous awards and honorary degrees from institutions in Canada and around the world. He received his Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern History from the University of Toronto and a Master of Philosophy degree as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and graduated from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
António Guterres has served as the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations since 1 January 2017. Guided by the principles of the UN Charter, he has prioritized dignity, peace, and sustainability during a time of global crisis. His leadership has addressed major challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and gender inequality.
Before becoming Secretary-General, Guterres was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2005–2015), leading the agency through some of the most severe displacement crises in recent history, including those in Syria, Iraq, and South Sudan. Under his leadership, the number of displaced persons worldwide rose from 38 million to over 60 million.
Earlier, Guterres served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and held leadership roles within the Socialist International, where he was President from 1999 to 2005. A longstanding advocate for social justice, he founded the Portuguese Refugee Council and the Portuguese Consumers Association.
Born in Lisbon in 1949, Guterres holds an engineering degree from Instituto Superior Técnico. He is fluent in Portuguese, English, French, and Spanish. He is married to Catarina de Almeida Vaz Pinto and has two children, a stepson, and three grandchildren. Guterres is also a member of the Club of Madrid.
Carolina Rojas is a sustainable development engineering professional with a background in mechanical engineering and expertise in technology assessment. She leads projects that use technology to drive socio-economic growth and empower communities in developing countries.
She currently serves as the Technology Focal Point for the Youth Science-Policy Interface Platform within the Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY), where she has led youth engagement with the UN’s Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Forum for the past three years. Carolina has coordinated innovation hackathons, led the UN Call for Innovations, and supported capacity-building between the 10-Member Group and young innovators.
At Engineering for Change (E4C), Carolina serves as a Program Specialist, leading the development of the Solutions Library, which evaluates impactful technologies for low-resource and humanitarian settings.
She is also the co-founder and Strategic Design Coordinator of Re-inventa, a Panama-based organization advancing district-level circular economy ecosystems. Through Re-inventa, she collaborates with communities, local governments, and entrepreneurs to co-design circular economy systems, promote sustainable resource use, and implement locally driven solutions for urban resilience.
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