The Youth Pre-Meeting for the UN Summit of the Future was held in Beijing on Tuesday, bringing together over 300 youth ministers, youth leaders, and youth representatives from nearly 100 countries.
Participants engaged in a series of in-depth discussions on global issues related to the upcoming UN Summit, with the outcomes of the roundtable discussions set to be compiled into a report for submission at next month's summit.
The UN Summit of the Future, scheduled for September, is poised to play a critical role in revitalizing multilateralism and advancing the development agenda. It will focus on youth-related topics and produce documents such as the "Future Covenant," "Global Digital Compact," and "Declaration for Future Generations."
The young participants, representing a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives, tackled five key themes: sustainable development and financing, international peace and security, scientific and technological innovation and digital cooperation, youth and future generations, and global governance reform.
Those taking part are well-informed and passionate about driving change in the world.
"I want to change the narrative when it comes to women's issues. At my place, women don't have any decision-making [power]," said Jemilatu Jalloh, founder of JemsAgro, a female-led agricultural initiative in Sierra Leone aiming to promote the role of rural women in the sector.
"I am going to listen [to debates] about peace and security," said Kaarel Taimla, chairman of the Estonian National Youth Council.
Rodrigo Reis, a keynote speaker on Global Governance Transformation, stressed the importance of youth not just being heard, but also exerting influence and informing decision-makers at the United Nations.
"The next stage is how they can exert influence, and put pressure in terms of the decisions that are being made in so many topics debated at the United Nations," said Rodrigo Reis, executive director of Instituto Global Attitude.
While the specific opinions collated from the discussions remain undisclosed, a wide range of ideas were brought to the table.
"The bottom line for all the young people is pretty much similar. On top of the agenda was democratization of the UN structures, and especially the Security Council. Because we know in this world, and recently veto powers have been used by major powers to actually sabotage peace efforts," said Moaaz Awan, senior manager of China Three Gorges Asia-Africa, a major energy firm.
"Some of my group members said if we are to achieve SDG goals, those funds should be donated directly to the grassroots – so that they would be able to implement the projects that they were intended for," said Jeremiah Moore, program director of the All Africa Students Union Presidential Office.
Organized under the World Youth Development Forum, this Youth Pre-Meeting is just one of the events lined up to facilitate further discussions and expressions of opinions on global issues by young people.
Global youth leaders gather in Beijing to shape UN agenda
A 25 percent import tariff on all foreign-built vehicles entering the United States has raised serious concerns for manufacturers in South Africa.
Automotive giants like Mercedes and BMW have long used South Africa as a base for global exports -- but those plans may be shifting into reverse gear after the U.S. announced the punitive measures.
"If you take, for example, BMW, 97 percent of the X3 that we are producing in Rosslyn is exported out of the country. We only sell 3 percent in South Africa, and there's a huge number of those vehicles that also go into the U.S. So there are companies in South Africa that are purely here not because they are selling vehicles in South Africa; they are here to produce vehicles for the global market, and it's important for them to remain globally competitive," said Mike Mabasa, CEO of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa.
U.S. automaker Ford, which has deep roots in South Africa, is also in the crosshairs.
The company recently invested over 300 million U.S. dollars to upgrade its Silverton plant in Pretoria, South Africa, for the production of the world's only plug-in hybrid Ranger, which has just entered production but could face delays or restrictions.
"If an American citizen wants to buy specifically a Ford Ranger that is a plug-in hybrid, they can only place an order in South Africa, nowhere else in the world. So, that means, obviously, the capacity of Ford to be able to produce those vehicles in big volumes is going to be constrained, because Americans are going be looking at another Ford that is produced in another country, or even in the United States," said Mabasa.
South Africa has long enjoyed duty-free automotive exports to the U.S. under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, but that relationship now hangs in the balance.
A sharp shift in U.S. foreign policy threatens to derail an industry that employs thousands and contributes around 5 percent to the country's economy.
"We produce less than 1 percent of global automotive vehicles, so to say. So, in reality, the impact on us is likely to be more disproportionate than those of our peers that produce at the same level. And the risk is actually created -- a concentration risk -- in countries that have greater capacity and are building more; in those countries will be able to absorb some of this," said Parks Tau, South Africa's minister of trade and industry.
Amid growing concerns about overreliance on the U.S. market, Amith Singh, national manager for manufacturing at Nedbank Commercial Bank, emphasized the importance of tapping into regional trade opportunities.
"I think we need to make better use of some of our local agreements, our African continental agreements. How do we leverage that? How do we partner with the government and private sector to start benefiting the countries and the economies aside from the United States? So, those could be the catalyst to drive our localization projects; it could be what we need to drive the African economy as opposed to being completely reliant on the States (United States)," he said.
South Africa is for now standing firm in its decision not to retaliate against steep U.S. import tariffs, set to take effect in just a few days.
Officials in Pretoria acknowledge the challenges posed by the current U.S. administration but are pursuing a diplomatic approach in hopes of maintaining stable relations and preserving the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
US tariffs rock South Africa’s auto industry
