15th International Convention On Melaka Twin Cities 2015 UN

Dr. Tee Ching Seng
Senior Vice Chairman
International Conference of Asian Political Parties Youth Wing
Former Deputy Director for UNHABITAT Youth Empowerment & Ecological Safety Project
Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a proposed set of targets
relating to future international development.

To replace the Millennium Development Goals once they expire at the end
of 2015. The SDGs were first formally discussed at the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012
(Rio+20).

The proposal contained 17 goals with 169 targets ( included ending poverty
and hunger, woman & youth empowerment, improving health and
education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and
protecting oceans and forests )
Why youth for development?
 More
than 1.2 billion youth, aged 1524: largest generation of young people
the world has ever known
Their
opportunities for communicating,
acting and influencing are
unprecedented.
 Youth
participation is crucial to
achieving sustainable human
development
Young people as agents of
positive change in society.
 They can call for institutions to
national or global concerns.
 They can provide the energy,
creative ideas and
determination to drive reform.
 They can increasingly develop
their own solutions to global
challenges.
 Young people’s contribution to
development, at local, national,
regional and international levels
is evident, and should be
recognized.

“Youth are often the first to
stand against injustice…Young
people are a force for
transformation.”
- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Youth and the Post-2015 Development Agenda

The youth have made their voices heard about the future they
want, during the post-2015 UN consultations

Young people have demanded education, jobs, honest and
responsive governments, and greater and meaningful
participation in decision-making.

Young people need to become part of the implementation
mechanisms and accountability fabric around the new
development agenda.
„nothing about me, without me‟
“Sustainable Development” refers to
“development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.”
We cannot then talk about sustainable
development and future generations without
including young people meaningfully and fully
in the dialogue.
What are the mechanisms for
ensuring this?
1) Legal Framework
2) Financial and capacity building support
3) Develop Enabling environments for youth participation
4) Highlight positive contribution of youth
Legal Framework
RIGHTS
CHANNEL
Youth are engaged in public life
and participate in political
processes and institutions
• When young men and women
understand their rights, they can
become empowered to engage in
civil society, public service and
political processes, at all levels.
• They need to know the channels
through which they may exercise
their civil and political rights and
contribute to decision-making
processes that impact their lives.
Financial and capacity building support to youth structures
and economically empowered:
Decent work and livelihood creation are chief determinants in the socioeconomic empowerment of youth; they also contribute to sustainable
human development overall.

Success means increasing the quantity of jobs for young
people.

Access to finance and markets

Non-formal education

Fostering a policy environment conducive to job creation
for young people.
Develop Enabling environments for youth
participation
Youth are agents for community resilience
Youth can be positive agents of change in their communities in
time of conflict and disaster.
 Early
action.
 Strategic entry points focus on mobilizing and empowering
youth.
 Youth also can be mobilized in disaster preparedness,
education and post-disaster.
Highlight positive contribution of
youth & Volunteerism

young people are innovative and creative, that they are
agents of true change.

their work to be supported.

must ensure that young people do.

Volunteerism.

Provides opportunities for young people to become active
leaders and citizens in their diversity

Fosters their inclusion in global peace and sustainable
human development processes.
What is the UN doing to involve
young people?
1) Institutional framework for sustainable development
2) Technical support to the open working group on developing
SDGs
3) Support to an expert committee
development financing strategy
on
a sustainable
4) Options for a facilitation mechanism that promotes the
development, transfer and dissemination of clean and
environmentally sound technologies
Thank you