News for Youth

News stories

5 Jul, 2023

Youth Force: Transforming Accountable Growth and Recovery from COVID-19

Background   The world today is home to 1.9 billion young people, most of whom live in developing countries. Young people today continue to be disproportionately impacted by the multifaceted crises facing our world, ranging from COVID-19 to the climate crisis. Despite global economic progress, there remains a significant annual financing gap of $2.5-3 trillion

16 Mar, 2023

UN Secretary-General Announces New Youth Climate Advisers

NEW YORK, 16 March 2023 — UN Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the seven young climate leaders who will form his next Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change and called on young people everywhere to ratchet up the pressure, acknowledging their vital role keeping the world’s climate goals alive. The announcement comes as the

20 Sep, 2022

United Nations Announces 17 New Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals

United Nations Announces 17 New Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals Young Leaders for the SDGs is a flagship initiative of the Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth which recognizes exceptional young people around the world. 21 September 2022 (United Nations Headquarters, New York): – The United Nations today announced the latest

11 May, 2022

Launch of “Be Seen, Be Heard” Campaign

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth and The Body Shop launch global collaboration calling for more young voices in the halls of power  The Body Shop and United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth launch ‘Be Seen Be Heard’ to amplify young voices in the halls of power. From left to right; Samson Itodo,

21 Jan, 2022

World leaders renew commitment to “Youth, Peace and Security” agenda

Governments announce new actions to meaningfully include youth in peacebuilding efforts at the High-Level Global Conference on Youth-Inclusive Peace Processes 21 January 2022 (Doha, Qatar) —  At the virtual High-Level Global Conference on Youth-Inclusive Peace Processes, more than 160 young peacebuilders from 74 countries joined discussions over two days with a diverse range of

9 Dec, 2020

Young Human Rights Defenders Adapting to COVID-19

Celebrating Youth Resilience & Creativity on International Human Rights Day By: The UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth & Amnesty International’s Global Youth Collective  Youth-led human rights activism has never been an easy task. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the lives of people everywhere, many young human rights defenders faced multiple challenges to their

4 Dec, 2020

On International Volunteers Day, Meet Our First Class of Fellows 

5 December 2020   Earlier this year, the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth said goodbye to unpaid internships, introducing a new fellowship programme — in collaboration with UN Volunteers (UNV) — designed specifically to provide more meaningful, paid employment opportunities for young people at the United Nations.  Through the programme, we received thousands of applications from qualified, passionate candidates around the world, all eager to contribute

25 Nov, 2020

Breaking gender barriers for young women parliamentarians

Twenty-five years after the Beijing Declaration to advance women’s rights, young women are still one of the most under-represented groups in political leadership positions. IPU figures show that only 2.2 per cent of MPs worldwide are under 30, of which women only make up a small proportion. On 18 November 2020, the IPU and the

14 Apr, 2020

Statement Issued by the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth

The Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth has become aware of various instances of individuals or groups misleading the public regarding their affiliation with the United Nations by means of websites or other media.  Some of the communications from those individuals or groups are promising the launch of projects and other collaborative opportunities,