The European Youth Forum calls for UN member states, especially in Europe, to make sure that Sustainable Development Goals are reached and not to abdicate their responsibility to ensuring a sustainable future for everyone.

The European Youth Forum welcomes the ambitious goals, which form an agreement on a universal, interlinked agenda that applies to all countries and brings together the three pillars of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. Its core aims -to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty, reduce inequality, achieve gender equality, improve water management and energy, and take urgent action to combat climate change- should help to improve millions of lives and will help ensure the future of our planet for forthcoming generations.

The Youth Forum now calls on member states to ensure that the goals’ potential is realised, that young people are given the space to participate in the policy making to implement them, and that there is proper monitoring and follow-up.

“With over half of the world’s population under the age of 30, now is the moment for world leaders to pioritise young people! Whilst we are pleased to see an ambitious universal development agenda, the adoption of the goals must not be a lost opportunity. The responsibility is now on world leaders; the success of the Sustainable Development Goals will depend on each and every country – in Europe and beyond – implementing them fully. We call on member states to go beyond the simple adoption of the SDGs and to make commitments for adequate support, resources and attention to maintaining permanent and self-organised spaces for the participation of young people within policy processes at all levels.”

Joan Conca Domenech, Vice President of the European Youth Forum