As the Leadership Council Meeting of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network gets underway in New York City on the eve of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, I am particularly proud of the ever increasing role played by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network – Youth (SDSN Youth) in mobilizing action from all stakeholders around the urgent need to invest in youth as a key demographics for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals worldwide.
With a particular emphasis on my position with SDSN Youth, I am also enthusiastic about the work of my team (Dominique Maingot, Michela Magni, Kanika Joshi and Angga D. Martha + Michelle Huang) ahead of such a crucial week, which made it possible to:
- organize one of the main sessions of this year’s International Conference on Sustainable Development (entitled “Supporting Youth Solutions for the SDGs”, and featuring the likes of Rebeca Grynspan, John Rutherford Seydel III, Morten Nielsen and Marieme Jamme as speakers);
- allow a number of young entrepreneurs pitch in their ventures in front of a panel of United Nations Foundation experts during another session of the ICSD;
- advance the agenda of the Youth Solutions Report among our partners and supporters; and
- push decisively forward with our project aimed at building the capacity of youth organizations to contribute to the SDG indicator framework as part of our role in the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (stay tuned for updates!).
In a little more than a year, SDSN Youth has become a key global actor for youth involvement in the 2030 Agenda, and I am confident that we will continue to go beyond advocacy to support effective problem-solving by young people around the SDGs while also harnessing their skills as a necessary step for the sustainable development of all countries and regions.
* Make sure you follow updates from our delegation in New York on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SDSNYouth.
* Remember to RSVP to our event on “Reimagining the World in 2030”, taking place at Columbia University on September 20: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reimagining-the-world-in-2030-tickets-27453691731.
Dario Piselli 