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How to support young women to succeed in a multilateral context
At the same time, 20% of young women feel discouraged from participating in political activities because of their age and gender. 76% of youth under 30 think politicians do not listen to young people.
Against this background, UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector co-organized an online side event of the UN’s 61st Commission for Social Development (CSocD) on 14 February 2022. The event, focusing on advancing youth inclusion to address ageism and sexism in the multilateral spheres, was convened together with UN DESA, UN Women, UNOCT and the Major Group on Children and Youth (UN MGCY).
UNESCO shared experiences and lessons from the Initiative for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue, which guides policymakers and practitioners on leveraging dialogue as a tool for human rights and gender equality. UNESCO also put forward its work on engaging youth in and through its programmes, and its efforts to reinforce institutional capacities to meaningfully engage young people across the UN system. For example, the UNESCO Youth Forum bridges the gaps between youth and institutions, and the Youth as Researchers initiative supports young people in the production of knowledge that directly informs decision-making.
The event showcased personal experiences from inspirational storytellers, inspiring the audience to actively support young people, especially young women, to ensure they can achieve their full potential.
Participants identified several avenues for potential solutions, notably:
- Ensuring that multilateral environments are well connected to, and centre on, the local context.
- Producing and disseminating data and knowledge to identify underrepresented intersections that favor exclusion.
- Providing educational and capacity-development opportunities for underrepresented youth groups to enable their meaningful engagement.
The takeaways and innovative solutions will feed into other global UN processes, including the 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women Youth Forum, the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, and the ECOSOC Youth Forum ahead of the SDG Summit of September 2023.
