The event aims to promote innovative solutions to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Made under the theme Innovate, unite and transform: youth shaping the path to 2030, The forum reaffirms young people as essential partners in building a sustainable, inclusive and resilient future.
Bringing the ‘sun’
Acknowledging that it is rare to see a room filled with so much positive energy, General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock thanked participants for bringing “sunshine” to the halls of the UN.
Emphasizing that young people must be included now, not just in the future, he told the audience that they were there to do more than talk: “It is a test of whether we are really prepared to act.”
He shared three messages with delegates, ministers and young leaders:
“First, to the delegates and Permanent Representatives in New York: keep going, no excuses. (…) Secondly, to the ministers and representatives of capital: the discussions here must go beyond this chamber. (…) And finally, To the young people: keep pushing the limits. Keep questioning. keep leading.”
Ms. Baerbock also urged participants to take the opportunity to engage with policymakers and be authentic: “Don’t let anyone tell you that you have to dress like a diplomat in a dark suit or talk like a diplomat to be taken seriously. Because We need your voices precisely because they are exclusively you..”
Agents of change
Inaugurating the forum, ECOSOC President Lok Bahadur Thapa highlighted the challenges facing young people today, including geopolitical tensions, climate change, economic uncertainty, rising inequalities, technological disruption and digital divides.
“In the midst of these challenges, Young people are not only the most affected, but also indispensable agents of change.. Across communities and sectors, young people are not only promoting solutions but are actively shaping a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future for all,” Thapa said.
Highlighting the importance of youth leadership, he added that hope, solidarity and innovation “are already alive in all regions of the world.”
Calling for truly inclusive progress, Mr Thapa underlined the need to “ensure that all young people, regardless of geography, gender, ability or socio-economic background, have equal access to opportunity, voice and influence”.
Many excluded
According to the data, there are 1.2 billion young people between 15 and 24 years old, representing 16 percent of the population. By 2030, the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that make up the 2030 Agenda, it is expected that the number of young people will have increased by 7 percent, to almost 1.3 billion.
Echoing calls for greater inclusion, Mr. Jaewon Choi, executive director of the DMUN Foundation, a youth-led non-governmental organization that trains them to be active stakeholders, and keynote speaker at the event, warned that many young people remain excluded from the very systems meant to serve them.
“Every 4.4 seconds, a young person dies… from malnutrition, from preventable diseases, from violence, from natural disasters and from the tragedy of being excluded from all the systems that were mandated to protect them,” he said.
Emphasizing the urgency to act, he added: “We are the ones who will inherit, and already are, the consequences of every decision made or avoided. We deserve the fundamental right to be part of making these decisions.”
Discussions at the Forum focus on clean water (SDG 6), energy (SDG 7), infrastructure (SDG 9), sustainable cities (SDG 11) and partnerships (SDG 17); the latter will be further explored at the 2026 High Level Political Forum in July.