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Global youth leaders gather in Beijing to shape UN agenda

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      China

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      Global youth leaders gather in Beijing to shape UN agenda

      2024-08-15 23:43 Last Updated At:08-16 00:17

      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

      Global youth leaders gather in Beijing to shape UN agenda

      An official with the World Economic Forum (WEF) has stressed the importance of establishing an adaptable mechanism for dialogue and cooperation that allows the global economy to fully benefit from the development potential of new technologies while managing the associated risks.

      Mirek Dusek, one of WEF's managing directors, was speaking on the sidelines of the 2025 WEF Annual Meeting, which commenced in Davos, Switzerland on Monday.

      The five-day event has gathered around 3,000 participants from various regions and industries around the world under the theme "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age," highlighting the need for greater collaboration against a backdrop of rapid technological advancements and global divisions.

      In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Tuesday, Dusek said WEF is monitoring "two big forces" they believe are changing the world economy.

      "On one hand, we are living through quite a unique time in terms of technological advancement and innovation. But on the other hand, of course, we are also tracking forces of fragmentation. We are seeing a more competitive geopolitical landscape, shifting value chains and supply chains, and of course, also social polarization in certain societies around the world," he said.

      With the current uncertainties in the world, Dusek stressed the importance of building a suitable platform for dialogue, and ensuring that such a mechanisms is adaptable to respond to the various challenges.

      "Given the trends that we are seeing in the global economy, in international relations, that function of bridging and dialogue could not be more important. It's very important that we have mechanisms where we can have dialogue and cooperation, and of course,  we also need to be on the front foot of thinking, 'Okay, how do we make sure that the collaborative mechanisms are fit for the 21st century?'" he said, adding that this will be one of the focuses of the current Davos meeting.

       Dusek also emphasized China's vital role in promoting global economic growth and technological development, describing the country as a "key actor" in helping the world transition to a new era of tech-driven development.

      "Everyone understands that we need to be on our front foot, really thinking creatively around how do we relaunch growth that is inclusive, sustainable. But how do we relaunch growth in this new situation for the world economy? And China plays a very important role in that endeavor, on development, on trade, of course, as well. On technology, I mentioned the theme, 'The Intelligent Age'. What we are trying to communicate with that is that there is a huge opportunity around some of these technologies. What is quite special is that it's not only one technology, but we are seeing, at this moment, whole sets of technologies that are going to market and exponentially changing industry and economy. If we have this huge opportunity around these technologies, how do we design [not only] our dialogue mechanisms, but also our collaborative mechanisms to be able to harness these technologies for the benefit of the world economy while taking care of the risks," he said.

      WEF official calls for mechanisms to foster dialogue in new tech era, boost world economy

      WEF official calls for mechanisms to foster dialogue in new tech era, boost world economy

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