30-31 January NEW YORK Around 900 participants attended the 2017 ECOSOC Youth Forum, held at UN Headquarters in New York and organized by UNDESA and the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, in partnership with the UN Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD).

This sixth edition of the Forum convened under the theme “The role of youth in poverty eradication and promoting prosperity in a changing world”. It was the largest ECOSOC Youth Forum ever, which provided a platform for young people to engage in a dialogue with policy makers and share their perspectives and recommendations on youth development in the framework of the 2030 Agenda.

The event featured also the largest high-level ministerial attendance, with 129 Member States of the United Nations represented. The participation of ministers from around the world was articulated in two roundtables, focused on the role of youth in poverty eradication and promoting prosperity, as well as on financing means for youth development.

The Roundtable discussions highlighted both success stories in engaging young people in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and remaining challenges. In particular, participants stressed the lack of consistent funding for youth development. On this regard, stakeholders shared best practices on how financing for youth development has been facilitated in the implementation of the national plans to achieve the SDGs. The second Roundtable also provided an opportunity for Member States and youth representatives to review progress achieved in the context of the youth-related commitments contained in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

Participants also stressed the need for quality, timely and regular youth-focused data in order to track progress, the need for stronger policy coordination and coherence for the effective promotion and implementation of national youth strategies, and the need for continuous capacity building and knowledge transfer.

The potential of ICTs in adopting approaches to training and job creation was underlined. The Forum also stressed the importance of social media to help young people access knowledge and have their voice heard. However, while recognizing that today’s youth are the most interconnected generation, participants also discussed the fact that many young people all over the world continue to lack access to basic technology such as Internet connection, which significantly limits youth development. Leveraging the increasing mobile phone penetration in developing countries and initiatives such as the UNICEF Innovation Fund were identified as potential solutions. 

Overall, young people were the real protagonists of the Forum, sharing their perspectives in the plenary and in each of the regional and thematic breakout sessions, which focused on the SDGs to be reviewed under the forthcoming 2017 High-level Political Forum (namely Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 5, Goal 9, Goal 14, and Goal 17).

Thematic Breakout Session on SDG2

FAO was invited by the IANYD Chair and the ECOSOC to lead the Thematic Session on SDG2: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”. The Session featured the participation of IFAD, the Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous People, and the UN Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY). The discussion was opened by Ms Carla Mucavi, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York.

Addressing the young participants of the Session, Ms Mucavi stated: “Today, you have an important role. Your voice, your contributions and your recommendations will help us to shape and better focus youth inclusion in SDG2 and in the overall 2030 Agenda”.  

Ms Mucavi also highlighted that “From ending poverty and hunger to responding to climate change, sustaining our natural resources and increasing decent employment opportunities, food and agriculture lies at the very heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. For this reason, FAO has broadly aligned its renewed Strategic Framework with the SDGs, promoting an integrated approach to poverty and hunger eradication, and sustainable management of natural resources.

“Agriculture is a vital part of many country’s livelihoods. Yet, its sustainability is threatened by a number of factors. For instance, there is evidence of an increasing aging farming population, therefore it is important that we re-engage young generations in agriculture” said Ms Mucavi. 

“The creation of meaningful and inclusive opportunities for youth employment in agriculture and in rural areas will not only impact young people’s lives, but substantially improve rural communities and national economies”. To pursue this, FAO places the promotion of decent rural employment as one of its top priorities, and has established a specific programme of work targeting youth.

Overall, the SDG2 Session gave member states, young people and civil society a space to discuss how to make agriculture more attractive to youth and how to facilitate young women and men’s inclusion in the rural economy, advocating for equal access to land for all.

The outcomes of the discussion were reported back in plenary at the end of the day. During his closing remarks, the President of ECOSOC acknowledged how young people have engaged with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its implementation. The President’s statement and the summary report of the Forum that will be prepared, will contribute to the upcoming 2017 ECOSOC High-level Political Forum, the central UN platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda.

Click here to see the interview with Alpha Sennon, young farmer, agripreneur and… food security superhero

Check out the video statements from 

ECOSOC participants, disseminated through the corporate social media channels:

• Ambassador Dessima Williams, Special Adviser for the Implementation of SDGs: http://bit.ly/2l3055a
• Ms Carla Mucavi, FAOLON Director: http://bit.ly/2lq2urO