UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis has laid emphasis on the need to engage and empower young people to advance sustainable development in Bangladesh.

“The UN has actively worked in partnership with youth organizations, movements, and networks to promote a shift that empowers young people and puts their views at the heart of sustainable development in Bangladesh. By involving young people in shaping development programs, their aspirations can be considered, and innovative solutions harnessed for a sustainable future for all Bangladeshis,” she said.

Representative of UNESCO and Chair of the UN Adolescent and Youth Technical Working Group Susan Vize said youths show extraordinary strength, leadership, and resilience.

“They urgently need to be better supported and seen as development actors rather than beneficiaries. The world should not and cannot afford to limit the potential of young people in development processes,” she said.

Youth representatives participated in the “UN Roundtable Dialogue with Young People: Engaging Youth for Sustainable Development” in Dhaka on November 27.

The roundtable with Bangladeshi youths was a part of the UN system’s wider efforts to help the youths pitch Bangladesh’s efforts to achieve sustainable development.

Senior management from the 16 resident UN agencies in Bangladesh attended the roundtable along with young people from the UN Adolescent and Youth Technical Working Group, representatives from youth-led organizations, young activists and change makers, members of the National Youth Council, youth in academia and think tanks, and various young UN program personnel.

The roundtable provided an opportunity to build on, and take forward, the recommendations, relating to youth engagement, that came out of the SDG Summit that took place on September 18-19, 2023 in New York.

The Summit marked the halfway point to the deadline set for achieving the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

It marked the beginning of a new phase of accelerated progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals with high-level political guidance on transformative and accelerated actions leading up to 2030.

The Summit reviewed areas where progress was needed globally towards achieving the SDGs that had been stalled or even reversed.

For Bangladesh, these included the key areas of education, digital transformation, and climate change.

The UN must engage young people to ensure that they can engage extensively in initiatives for the realization of the 2030 Agenda in these areas, said the UN communications team in Dhaka on Tuesday.

The attendees briefly reviewed 2023 SDG Summit outcomes and recommendations; youth representatives and UN management discussed issues including change vulnerabilities; education transformation; digital skills and innovations for a Smart Bangladesh; and how youth could contribute to these areas.

Participants also recommended specific actions, projects, or initiatives that could be undertaken by UN agencies and young people to mitigate SDG-related challenges in Bangladesh.

Following this event, the United Nations will be seeking ways to strengthen the integration of youth-led solutions within its program and to provide additional opportunities for dialogue on other aspects of SDG implementation.