On 7 and 8 April 2021, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum celebrated its 10th anniversary in a historic event that welcomed over 20,000 young people around the world — marking a historic moment as the largest and most diverse gathering of young people at the UN ever.
The ECOSOC Youth Forum is a unique platform for young people, Member States and partners to dialogue on the issues most important to young people today and for youth to share their vision and actions on implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
This year, 23 young people leading on resilient recovery in the Decade of Action and championing SDG implementation in their communities joined the conversation as part of the Forum’s plenary sessions. Let’s meet them and learn more about their work!
Aseel Soboh
— UNRWA Student, and a member of the first-ever UNRWA Agency-wide Student Parliament
“Like young people everywhere, young Palestine refugees are like all young men and women, are changemakers.”
Aseel Soboh is a 17-year-old Palestine refugee living in Lebanon, a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Student and a member of the first-ever UNRWA Agency-wide Student Parliament.
UNRWA schools have elected student parliaments at different levels, starting from the classroom, reaching to an UNRWA Agency-wide Student Parliament where elected representatives engage together across borders, conflicts and blockades to connect young Palestine refugees in different countries and voice students concerns to UNRWA management. UNRWA student parliaments are an example of democratic practices, organization and representation.
UNRWA student parliamentarians contribute to SDGs in different ways through the activities they organise in their schools and local communities, such as awareness raising activities on the needs of children with disabilities, environmental initiatives, such as recycling projects, others on planting the school garden, activities to support elderly people in the community, activities to enhance students’ civic engagement and participation, and most recently COVID-19 awareness-raising campaigns.
More about UNRWA’s work:
Poverty eradication and respect for human rights, central pillars of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are at the core of the Agency’s human development, humanitarian and protection work. By investing in the human capital of Palestine refugees, UNRWA actively contributes to the realization of the 2030 Agenda.
Read more on organization:
Visit UNRWA website: https://www.unrwa.org/
Twitter: @UNRWA Instagram: @youifmsa Facebook: @unrwa
Learn more about UNRWA Student Parliaments: https://www.unrwa.org/what-we-do/human-rights-education
Learn more about UNRWA and the SDGs: https://www.unrwa.org/sdg_2020