Welcome to the United Nations
On April 7 to 8 2021, the tenth anniversary of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum was held. The Forum provided a global platform for a candid dialogue among Member States and young leaders from around the world on solutions to challenges affecting youth wellbeing. It also served as a unique space for young people to share their vision and actions as well as to provide youth perspectives on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The discussions at the ECOSOC Youth Forum 2021 will directly shape the youth input into the United Nations High-level Political Forum on sustainable development being held in July 2021.
The 2021 ECOSOC Youth Forum took place at a critical historical juncture where the world is struggling to respond to the multidimensional challenges of COVID-19. The pandemic has upended the lives of young people from every region, obliging them to adapt to new challenges to health, decent work and employment, food and nutrition security as well as social isolation and exclusion, among others.
Young people have been forced to adjust to a “new normal” where social distances prevail, notably with respect to diverse forms of distance learning to ensure the continuation of education and skills acquisition. Despite being disproportionately impacted, young people around the world are coming together to respond to this crisis demonstrating resilience, resourcefulness and leadership while tackling injustice and demanding accountability, from calling for urgent climate action and building peace, to tackling inequalities and gender biases. Their active involvement in implementing the SDGs Decade of Action is critical to achieving a peaceful, just and sustainable future.
As they embark on this journey of recovery – and building a “better” world - from an unprecedented pandemic, young people were invited to frame their discussions and share their views, experiences and ideas on the recovery from COVID-19 including a special focus on the SDGs under review at the HLPF in 2021.
This report is an informal summary of the proceedings of the plenary, thematic, and regional sessions of the 2021 ECOSOC Youth Forum. It is a direct call to action from young people on current challenges they are facing and their expectations vis-à-vis the international community.
This report is structured as follows: It will start with main policy recommendations for UN leadership and government representatives as called for during proceedings of the ECOSOC Youth Forum 2021. Then, the report will proceed with a broad overview summarizing the dialogue of the two-day Forum. The summary of proceedings in the report are organized by session type.
A Brief History of the ECOSOC Youth Forum
The Youth Forum was first organized in 2012, initially as a half-day conference on “Creating a Sustainable Future: Empowering Youth with Better Job Opportunities”. The first Forum enhanced awareness on high youth unemployment rates, a theme that built on the momentum of the International Year of Youth (2010-2011).
The success of the Youth Forum and the subsequent demand by young people to actively engage led to a full day meeting in 2013 and subsequent Forums have been transformed into two-day meetings. From 2014 onwards, the themes of the Youth Forum have been developed taking into consideration the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals contained in the 2030 Agenda, for Sustainable Development.
The 2021 Forum adapted a virtual format in light of COVID-19. This was the first time in ten years of ECOSOC Youth Forum history that young people were not able to connect in person. While the virtual platform posed numerous challenges, it is clear that this year’s Forum was the most accessible, wide-reaching and inclusive ECOSOC Youth Forum held to date.
Although limited and unconventional, youth who could not have otherwise afforded the opportunity to attend the Forum were given the opportunity to engage. Bearing in mind that children and youth are demanding a place on the world stage now more than ever, it is our responsibility to ensure that we are providing safe spaces for all young people of all places to contribute to high-level dialogue on issues of importance to them.
Thus, as we move with steady endeavour to achieve the 2030 Agenda, we must learn from the 2021 ECOSOC Youth Forum to guarantee that youth voices will continue to be amplified en masse, and that future events will settle for nothing less than as inclusive as they can possibly be. If we do not strive to provide room for all young people to engage in the international system we are doing a disservice to the future of our world.
Since its inception, the ECOSOC Youth Forum has been a key platform where young people can contribute to policy discussions at the United Nations through their collective ideas, solutions and innovations. The success of this 10th annual ECOSOC Youth Forum has given room to the conveners to reimagine the future of the event.
