Action 37(d)

Request the Secretary-General to continue to develop core principles, in consultation with Member States and young people, for meaningful, representative, inclusive and safe youth engagement in relevant intergovernmental processes and across the work of the United Nations, for the consideration of Member States.

UN entity lead: United Nations Youth Office

UN entity co-leads: United Nations Population Fund

Milestone 1 | Deadline 30 April 2025

Comprehensive desk review completed, and the first two drafts of the Core Principles developed and jointly reviewed by the Task Force, UN Youth Office Working Group and Youth Reference Group, analyzing existing standards for meaningful youth participation – including the Youth 2030 Strategy, Our Common Agenda policy briefs, outcomes from the Summit of the Future and other global best practices – to ensure alignment with internationally recognized frameworks.

Milestone 2 | Deadline 30 June 2025

Stakeholder mapping and engagement conducted, finalized and multi stakeholder consultations launched, including Focus Group Discussions with youth and youth-focused organizations to capture the lived experiences, aspirations, and expectations of young people, key informant interviews with Member States and United Nations entities, and a multilingual online survey, concerning their meaningful participation in intergovernmental processes, as well as Key Informant Interviews with Member States and United Nations entities, to explore current and best practices, challenges, and political and operational realities related to meaningful youth participation.

Milestone 3 | Deadline 30 September 2025

Develop draft Core Principles, Implementation Framework and Monitoring Tools developed and to be circulated to stakeholders for feedback, based on evidence from the desk review and consultations. A pilot exercise will be conducted with selected stakeholders to test their relevance, practicality and usability in real-world contexts before Task Force endorsement and publication.

Youth participation must be meaningful, not just symbolic. By co‑developing clear principles, an implementation framework and monitoring tools with young people and Member States, this action translates inclusive and intergenerational engagement into enforceable standards across the UN, moving beyond tokenistic involvement. This action ensures clear principles are developed with young people and Member States to make engagement across the UN more representative, inclusive and safe.

Over the coming months, the Task Force will complete Member State consultations and integrate feedback into a summary report, then finalize the Implementation Framework and Monitoring Tools and circulate them for comments. In early September, a pilot test of the framework and tools will take place, followed by Task Force endorsement of the full package. The final set of core principles, the Implementation Framework and the Monitoring Tools will be released to Member States and UN entities in October.