Side Event to the High Level Political Forum (HLPF)

1:15pm – 2:30pm
Monday 18 July, 2016
CR A, United Nations Headquarters, New York

 

On Monday July 18, on the sidelines of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), the Permanent Missions of Denmark and the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, on behalf of the Inter-agency working group on Youth and the SDGs, in collaboration with the UN Major Group for Children, will host an event on “Young People Powering the SDGs.”

The event will discuss and showcase how young people are promoting and supporting SDG implementation as partners. The event will feature a lively discussion among relevant stakeholders on how to promote an enabling environment for young people’s inclusive participation in the 2030 Agenda.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in September 2015, is the international community’s ambitious response to today’s most pressing and complex global problems

Young people played a key part in shaping the Agenda’s priorities and now as agents of change they will be indispensable to its achievement in the coming 15 years. The scale and scope of the ambition requires particularly strong partnerships at every level with young people, who are already engaged in making the SDGs a reality.

The annually convened High Level Political Forum (HLPF) has been established as the central space at the global level for the monitoring, follow-up and review for progress on the SDGs. Member States have committed to provide regular assessments on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the national level, and the 2016 HLPF will host the initial round of voluntary reports from 22 Member States.

The event will provide a platform in the context of the High Level Political Forum, for young people and other stakeholders to discuss young people’s implementation of the SDGs, including promising examples, innovations, and challenges as well as their role and current status in the implementation process more broadly.

 

Event Programme

Opening Remarks by co-chairs:

• Ms. Sarah Poole, Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Director of Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP
• Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth

Panel:

Moderator for Segment 1: Ms. Stephanie Beecroft, European Youth Forum

• How are young people involved in the implementation, follow-up and review of the SDGs at the global level?
o Ms. Annisa Triyanti, UN Major Group for Children
o Mr. Max van Deursen, Official Youth Delegate from the Netherlands
o Ms. Rosanne White, Restless Development

Moderator for Segment 2: Mr. Jordan Street, Peace and Disarmament Officer, World Federation of United Nations Associations

• Supporting young people as early adopters and starters in the implementation of the SDGs at national and local levels
o Mr. Morten Jespersen, Under-Secretary for Global Development and Cooperation, Denmark
o Ms. Maria Fernanda Olvera, Director of INJUVE CDMX, National Youth Institute, Mexico City
o Mr. Richard Dzikunu, HLPF youth participant from Ghana
o Ms. Kornelija Maceviciute, International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations

• Q & A

Closing by co-conveners:
• Ms. Sarah Poole, Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Director of Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP
• Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth