By Abigail Bokoyeibo
August 27, 2018
On August 22nd and 23rd, I had the privilege to participate in the 67th UN DPI/NGO we the people’s conference. This year’s theme was ‘people-centered multilateralism to finding solutions for global problems’.
Apart from connecting with progressive young people who are contributing to the development of their communities through the SDGs, I was mostly inspired by the sheer number of youth who are actively involved in finding solutions to global problems. Although not enough, it is commendable.
My greatest take away from the conference are:
- Young people are the leaders of today.
- We can not find global solutions to global problems without the full representation of all people, especially those whose human rights are threatened and those who are forced to be silenced because of their age or sex.
- To find solutions to global problems, it is imperative that the active representations of young people in the policy-making table are always maintained and the momentum of their solutions recognized.
- To strengthen a people-centered multilateralism is to strengthen their voices by encouraging intergenerational and multisectoral dialogues.
- The road to achieving the SDGs involves collective actions across sectors and the expansion of the global partnership between civil society organizations, private firms, government agencies, national governments, women and especially with young people.
- And, the effective communication of the benefits of multilateralism to stakeholders is key is collective participation.
Below is the link to the outcome document of the conference:
