FAO at the ECOSOC Youth Forum 2024

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum provides a yearly global platform for dialogue among Member States and young leaders from around the world on finding solutions to challenges affecting the well-being of youth.

The 2024 ECOSOC Youth forum was guided by the overall theme of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on "Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions". The discussions took place around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under review at the 2024 HLPF, namely, SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), and SDG 17 (partnerships for the goals).

FAO co-organized the session on SDG 2 entitled: Feeding the Future: Youth and Sustainable Food Systems for All.

The session was jointly led by two major youth organizations, the Major Group of Children and Youth (MGCY) and the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD) network, with overall support from the World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Youth NGOs (YOUNGO), Youth Representatives to the SENA Group of the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, and the World Food Forum (WFF) Youth Policy Board.

The aim of the session was to i) Showcase and discuss youth-led best practices and scalable solutions related to SDG 2; ii) Discuss young people's role in the implementation of SDG 2 and their inclusion in national youth consultative bodies; and iii) Identify practical steps to take young people and future generations meaningful engagement systematically into account in global decision-making processes.

The session opened with the latest results from a global pre-event survey where young people were asked to provide recommendations on SDG 2. 41.5 percent of the young respondents were from Africa, nearly 17 percent were from Asia, with the same percentage from Europe and smaller percentages from Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, North America, and Oceania. While the majority, nearly 58 percent of them, were based in urban areas, over 66 percent of the overall young respondents considered themselves as coming from an agricultural background.

Nearly 95 percent of all respondents were concerned about how the food we consume is produced! Their major concerns were whether the food production process provides decent income to local farmers and workers in the value chains and whether it preserves local natural resources and promotes human health.

It was also very clear from the youth respondents' replies that most of them recommended their governments to systematically include youth and their organizations in national advisory boards, while also stressing the need to have them as partners.

Youth discussants at the session shared their roles and experiences in supporting the implementation of SDG 2.

For example, Yazmeen Khan Wardman, Cree and Saulteaux (Anishinaabe) from the Key First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada, stressed the role of Indigenous Peoples as custodians of 80 percent of the world's remaining biodiversity and that Indigenous food systems provide healthy diets in diverse environments around the world.

Wenhao Deng, founder and CEO of Zhongke Dynamics (Beijing) Technology, is working on solving climate and food security issues through technology and entrepreneurship. He shared about his commitment to reversing climate change while achieving food security through innovative carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies at his company in China.

The role of young farmers was highlighted by Vanessa Garcia Polanco from the National Young Farmers Coalition, which supports equity-driven, farmer-centric research, policy, and programmatic interventions for more just food systems. The Coalition also serves as an organizational council member of the US National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Aisha Hamman, via her work at the Lift Africa Foundation, shared how she is an advocate for gender equality, education for out-of-school children, and civil rights justice. Her work supported the reintegration of over 3 000 children into education and the empowerment of 2 000 young women farmers. As a public defense lawyer, Aisha also shared her work in high-profile cases related to gender-based violence (GBV) in her native Nigeria.

Lastly, Lana Weidgenant, spoke about her work on the intersection of climate action, youth empowerment, and sustainable food systems, including via ProVeg International, the food awareness organization focusing on empowering people and institutions by promoting attractive plant-based and cultivated foods.

Member States also provided their insights during the session, most notably, H.E. Dr Balaam Barugahara, the Uganda State Minister for Youth and Children Affairs, in the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, H.E Elmer Catarina Mamani, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, H.E Kyaw Moe Tun, Permanent Representative of Myanmar, H.E Muhammad Usman Iqbal Jadoon, Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan, Mr. Isaac Katopola, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Malawi, Ms. Reena Vivienne Pineda of the National Youth Commission in the Philippines, Mr. Angelo Wijaya, Youth Delegate from Indonesia, and Mr. Enea Dessardo, Youth Delegate from Croatia.

The recommendations provided by youth both at the session and via the pre-session survey are expected to lead to important knowledge sharing and ideas related to the impact and further implementation of SDG 2.