The United Nations Summit of the Future (SOTF) is proposed for 22-23 September 2024 in New York to “advance ideas for governance arrangements in the areas of international concern mentioned in this report, and potentially others where arrangements are nascent or require updating.” This gathering will take place a year after the SDG Summit and the Ministerial Meeting on a Summit of the Future, scheduled for 18 September 2023. In order to ensure that diverse civil society perspectives are engaged in the preparatory process of the 2024 Summit of the Future, a civil society-led Global Futures Forum (GFF) is proposed for 20-21 March 2023 in hybrid format from New York. The forum will comprise two days of discussions and action, preceded by multiple consultation tracks (e.g., regional & national forums, e-consultations, an open call for short global governance innovation briefs, and a monthly OCA dialogue series).
Register to join the Global Futures Forum Online here.
Modeling Intergenerational Co-Leadership
The Global Futures Forum is organized by a team of young people under the age of 30, supported by intergenerational advisory groups. Each of the seven thematic track co-lead teams consist of one young person, one civil society member, and one researcher. From its conception, the Global Futures Forum has placed an emphasis on mainstreaming youth perspectives across the initiative, and beyond just youth agendas.
Global Futures Forum Youth Pavilion
The Youth Pavilion will be an online space running concurrent to the Global Futures Forum, and integrated within it, on 21 March 2023. Organizations are invited to capitalize on 30 minute slots to champion research or initiatives led by young people related to either the seven thematic tracks of the forum or the Summit of the Future more generally. These sessions are completely virtual. To express your interest in either joining the pavilion as a participant or running a session, please fill out this form by 15 March.
Youth-Led Reception 21 March
The Youth Reception will be an in person networking opportunity for young people working on the Our Common Agenda and Summit of the Future process, as well as those working with adjacent areas of the UN system. The reception will also present the outcomes of the GFF Youth Pavilion.
Date: 21 March
Venue: Permanent Mission of Monaco to the United Nations, 866 United Nations Plaza # 4011, New York, NY 10017
Time: 6-8pm
Objectives
- Create a network and reception spaces hosted by young people to move beyond tokenization of youth and facilitate informal intergenerational conversations between young participants and high-level officials invited to attend the reception.
- Foster exchange of ideas, initiatives, and information between young participants attending the reception. Creating a space young people can join networks and explore opportunities to participate in concrete initiatives.
- Learn about programs and initiatives to promote youth engagement and the role of youth in promoting the objectives of Our Common Agenda, especially through the presentations of the outcomes from the GFF Youth Pavilion.
TO JOIN THE RECEPTION IN PERSON PLEASE RSVP HERE by 17 March.
Youth Futures Research Papers
At the end of 2022, we launched a call for young researchers to send us papers on the seven tracks of the Global Futures Forum, and the Summit of the Future and Our Common Agenda process more broadly. This was an initiative taken to move youth inputs beyond consultation, or questions of participation, and expand the breadth of issues with which young people engage across global governance systems.
We are pleased to now present the following papers by young authors as part of our Youth Futures Series:
A New “Age” of Global Climate Governance: The Role of Youth in the UNFCCC Process / by Jamie Cummings, University of North Carolina (Thematic Track: Environment)
Contemporary International Energy Governance is Failing our Climate Futures / by Ben Santhouse-James, Alara Kocabas, Esther Githinji, Gyubin Hwang, Subah Majid, and Yoko Lu, on behalf of the YOUNGO Renewable Energy Working Group; YOUNGO, UNFCCC (Thematic Track: Environment)
Pragmatism in Youth Climate Engagement / by Tanvi Mishra and Ben Santhouse-James; YOUNGO, UNFCCC (Thematic Track: Environment)
Educational Models to Promote and Localise Sustainable Development through Impact Oriented Partnership and Advocacy: Recommendations from APPGM-SDG on Youth Development / by Zoel Ng and Philus George, SDG Impact Malaysia (Thematic Track: Development)
UN Summit of the Future: Peace Child International Submission / by Peace Child International (Thematic Tracks: Environment and Peace & Security)
Youth Inclusion in Advancing the Agenda of Peace / by Lydia Atttoe, Peace Education Initiative (Thematic Track: Peace & Security)
Two Sides of a Coin: Benefits, Risk and the Solutions Therein / by Tabitha Mbuthia, Amnesty International (Thematic Tracks: Digital Governance and Peace & Security)
Artificial intelligence is a major technological force / by Jacopo DeMarinis, Citizens for Global Soluations (Thematic Track: Digital Governance)
Advisory board on YPS: steps for global governance reform / by Jorge H Valderrábano, Agora (Thematic Track: Peace & Security)
“Open-door” opportunities that leave many young people on the doorstep: United Nations unpaid internships under the spotlight / by Marina Jiménez Melgosa, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Thematic Track: Global Governance Innovation)
Channelling “the changemaking power of children” to drive environmental, peace, security and digital policies for the future : An intergenerational research paper / by Tin Bender-Dobardzic, Dhruv Bhatt, Ali Hassan, Januka Jamarkatel, Miriam Matar, Prathit Singh, and Kristen Hope; CovidUnder19 (Thematic Tracks: Global Governance Innovation, Environment, Peace & Security, and Digital Governance)