Final thoughts: working together as a global community
More than 500 young people from all over the world were present at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from 26 to 28 October 2015 to establish youth as a top concern on the agenda ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21), and in the context of creating new global sustainable development goals.
The Forum was a unique opportunity for young change makers to impact the UN agenda on these demanding, global problems.
The UNESCO Youth Forum has been taking place since 1999. As for every edition, this year’s forum will be occurring just before UNESCO’s General Conference in early November. The Forum was therefore a timely reminder that young generations are the future and must be heard by Member States, as UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova reminded us. “...in 2030, the population of young people will have increased by seven percent,” she said. “It is therefore vital that we engage them now if we are to stand a chance of achieving the goals mentioned during the Forum.”
Recommendations have been made throughout the Forum on how UNESCO should move forward with policies, programs, and real action on climate change and a post-2015 sustainable development agenda -- issues that are now, more than ever, priorities of our century. Young participants have successfully initiated community projects at home and developed recommendations for a greater UNESCO audience, thus effectively representing the change they want to see in the world.
See also
- AUP Newsletter: welcome edition
- AUP Newsletter: Day 1 of the Forum
- AUP Newsletter: Day 2 of the Forum
Contact
For further information, please contact 9thUNESCOyouthforum(at)unesco.org
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