Why the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth is Launching a Month-Long Takeover Spotlighting Next Gen Agents of Change
August starts tomorrow, and in celebration the United Nations is launching a first-of-its-kind month-long spotlight on young change-makers.
And well before they head back to class, students everywhere are raising their hands to be seen.
Have questions about how it started and how to be involved?
Être did too – passing you the notes right here:
Start at the beginning: Who is the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth?
Meet Jayathma Wickramanayake of Sri Lanka, appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António as his Envoy on Youth. Noting in a UN statement that “[t]he success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development depends on empowering young people as rights-holders, agents of change and torchbearers,” Wickramanayake has been passionate about engaging today’s youth since she assumed the role.
In fact, she was dedicated to uplifting young change-makers well before that.
“Having represented and motivated global youth development on an international level since the age of 21,” the Secretary-General noted, “notably during high-level United Nations initiatives including the declaration of World Youth Skills Day, Ms. Wickramanayake has also played a key role in transforming the youth development sector at the national level, notably through the creation of a large movement for civic and political engagement of young people named ‘Hashtag Generation.’”
It is this hashtag generation that her August campaign is addressing.
“As we approach the mid-point of the 2030 Agenda and the SDG Summit this September,” notes the UN’s campaign page, “the promise for our common future is in deep peril. For the first time in decades, development progress is reversing under the combined impacts of climate disasters, conflict, economic downturn and lingering COVID-19 effects.”
“Unless we take urgent action now,” concludes the message, “the 2030 Agenda will become nothing more than a vision for a world that might have been. In light of this reality, young people undoubtedly remain one of our greatest hopes to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ensuring no one is left behind.”
And women in UN leadership positions agree.
Got it. And why are the UN Sustainable Development Goals so important?
For this we went straight to Alexandra Climent, sustainability role model, grassroots environmentalist and founder of Endangered Rainforest Rescue:
“The UN Global Goals demand more than isolated action,” Climent told Être. “They call for unity and mutual aid. Our youth, as rising global citizens, can dissolve divisions and foster a spirit of global togetherness. Their involvement,” she concluded, “is vital for a systemic change that bridges gaps rather than deepens them, paving the way to a sustainable, inclusive world.”
Bridging gaps rather than deepening them.
We love this. How can rising change-makers get involved in the August takeover kicking off tomorrow?
It’s easier than you think. Here are three quick ways to be seen and heard – and make sure others are as well:
You can submit original content to be part of the takeover. Note that you can customize a photo using this UN-provided template (available in six different languages) or add your image to this Instagram filter;
You can follow along with the takeover starting on August 1st and occurring across all UN Youth Envoy channels, including on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. Threads? We don’t know yet;
You can amplify the work of other change-makers by using this epic UN toolkit and then re-sharing what you see on the #YouthLead hashtag.
Because at the end of the day – or in this case at the end of the month of August – change is what moves the ball forward.
As we head towards International Youth Day on August 12 and the SDG Summit later in September, all eyes are on engaging the next generation and accelerating progress towards UN goals. It’s worth noting that the 2023 theme for International Youth Day is Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World, making Climent’s work and words all the more meaningful.
Bridging gaps rather than deepening them.
Here’s to an entire month of highlighting change and bridging gaps with strong ideas that can connect and sustain us all.
Looking forward,
Illana
ÊXTRAS: Here are three additional sites to follow in furtherance of the UN Global Goals next month: a full resources page for International Youth Day (August 12, 2023); more about all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals; and extra info about the SDG 2023 Summit taking place in NYC on September 18-19.
