The Road to 2030: Youth Can No Longer Be Sidelined

This article originally appeared in FairPlanet.

Adopted almost 10 years ago in 2015, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a crucial framework to address global challenges, from poverty and inequality to the climate crisis and lack of quality education. Central to this vision is inclusivity - a goal that cannot be realised without the active participation of our future leaders, our youth.

Accounting for 16 per cent of the world population, young people are already leading transformational SDG change and their innovation and involvement in sustainable development is a necessity as we enter the final five years of the 2030 Agenda.

In 2025, with major international conferences on the horizon - including the Conference on Financing for Sustainable Development, the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly and the Climate COP30 - there is a critical opportunity to empower youth and to give them a seat at the table. But history shows this has not always been the case.

Although the work of the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth and the United Nations Youth Office has been admirable, these offices were only established fairly recently - in 2013 and 2022, respectively - underscoring that young people were not a priority until recent years. Global youth opportunities also continue to face challenges, from a lack of financial support to trivial and meaningless representation.

A 2022 survey conducted by the Walton Family Foundation found that Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) have "low expectations that the government, corporations and other institutions will prioritise them or take their needs into consideration," and the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Report on Global Risks listed youth disillusionment as one of the top risks for the world population. 

Disillusioned and disheartened, youth must be given a seat at decision-making tables. There, they will have the opportunity to meaningfully participate in discussions and present their innovative ideas and perspectives. As such, we must empower them and remove the systemic barriers that stand in the way of building a sustainable future.

Since its launch in 2015, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Youth has been dedicated to amplifying the voices of young people. SDSN Youth provides tools, expertise and resources to help young leaders tackle the world’s most pressing challenges.

The Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY), mandated by the United Nations, and the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community are also prime examples of entities providing spaces for children and youth to contribute and engage in policy processes at the UN and empowering them to take action in their communities.

Some of their initiatives include the organisation of Youth Blast, which provides capacity-building opportunities during major UN events, and local projects led by various Global Shapers Hubs, such as the Lisbon Hub's development of illustrated books to address the growing financial literacy gap.

Meanwhile, at the national and regional levels, countries and intergovernmental organisations are also making significant contributions to the engage youth. Examples include the first-ever US Youth Policy Summit organised by the Biden administration, the establishment of a Youth Parliament in India, the work of the African Union with the African Youth Charter and the work of the European Youth Parliament. These examples underscore that meaningful youth engagement and inclusion are possible. Still, there’s more left to do.

Looking ahead, national and international institutions must revamp their approach to the 2030 Agenda to engage young people - who have always been willing and eager to get involved.

Moreover, poor youth inclusivity in decision-making processes is correlated with weaker implementation of the SDGs. Yet, current models often simply tokenise youth rather than empower or engage them. To accelerate the SDGs, institutions must instead promote capacity building for youth, finance innovative youth solutions and projects, amplify their voices and create significant partnerships that leverage resources and knowledge for more effective action. 

As the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said, "Youth have more bold solutions to offer," and are "the best hope [to address these] challenges."

With five years left to achieve the SDGs, the time is now to give them a seat at the table.