Funded Youth Engagement - Application Guidance
The Summit of the Future Action Days will take place on 20 and 21 September and will focus on multistakeholder partnership and action, in keeping with the vision of multilateralism that is more inclusive and networked, and thus effective. The Action Days will bring together actors from civil society, private sector, academia, local and regional authorities, creative communities, youth, and many more. The purpose is to generate additional actions and commitments from all actors, to inspire and amplify relevant initiatives, and to increase the chances that the Summit produces sustained momentum on key issues. Special focus will be given to three priority themes on 21 September and for each of these priority themes co-leads have been assigned to organize sessions during the Action Days.
In addition, the Action Days will launch a new mode of engagement with youth – to elevate their voices and drive meaningful engagement in the issues that affect them, their futures and future generations of youth through a dedicated half-day of programming on Friday 20 September led by the UN Youth Office.
For more information about the Summit of the Future Action Days, please visit: Action Days - SOF | United Nations
In line with the priorities of the United Nations and the language proposals in the Pact for the Future (especially Chapter 4 on Youth & Future Generations), the overarching vision of the half-day of programming dedicated to youth (20 September, Friday) will be to strengthen meaningful youth engagement in policymaking and decision-making processes through intergenerational solidarity and dialogue. The Youth Day is being organized in collaboration with various UN entities, youth constituencies and other partners. The coordination is led by the UN Youth Office, in partnership with UN Youth Office, Major Group for Children and Youth, Stakeholder Group for Ageing Co Chair - Help Age International, Population Council GIRL Center and Women Deliver.
Complementary to the topics on the second action day (21 September, Saturday), the goal of the session is to advance concrete actions on cross cutting priorities - such as diversity, inclusion, and accountability - highlighted by young people throughout the last few years, including at the ECOSOC Youth Forum, the UN Civil Society Conference and youth preparatory processes in lead-up to the Summit of the Future.
The half-day will begin in the General Assembly hall, with an opening ceremony featuring keynote speakers from across generations. This will be followed by a high-level dialogue with the Secretary-General (TBC) on strengthening meaningful youth engagement in policymaking and decision-making processes.
Following the dialogue, the event would then break into three rooms: the ECOSOC Chamber, Trusteeship Council Chamber, and Conference Room 4. Each of the three rooms would have an overarching theme and would be focused on advancing concrete inputs from youth on those themes, under the umbrella of meaningful youth engagement.
The sub-topics, themes, and specific focus areas will be decided alongside youth and other partners.
The United Nations Youth Office will support up to 10 young persons (18-30 years old) to participate in person at the Actions Days and in particular to actively engage in the Youth Action Day. Participants will have the chance to collaborate with the UN, civil society, academia, private sector partners, as well as local and regional organizations on the Action Days.
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Final selection of young persons will be made by the Coordination Group of the Youth Action Day that includes representation from the UN Youth Office, Major Group for Children and Youth, Stakeholder Group for Ageing Co Chair - Help Age International, Population Council GIRL Center and Women Deliver. Selection will consider gender balance, geographical representation and other under-represented youth.
The following criteria will be used for the selection of participants:
If you have any questions, please reach out to the UN Youth Office: Romeral Ortiz Quintilla, Programme Management Officer, gracia.ortizquintilla@un.org , and representatives from Major Group for Children and Youth, Women and Girls Deliver and Stakeholder Group on Ageing at youth-intergen-sotf@unmgcy.org.
Application form is available here: https://forms.gle/MdV5JbbuBUcroihM7
Deadline: The Application form will remain open until Wednesday 10 July by midnight ET.
Your voice matters in shaping the future! We look forward to receiving your application and welcoming you to the Summit of the Future Action Days.
[1] The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Art.2, defines reasonable accommodation/s as necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Additionally, the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) defines reasonable accommodation (Indicator 7) as an anti-discrimination measure that allows people with disabilities to exercise their rights equally with others.