From 26 to 28 October, Paris hosted the ninth edition of the UNESCO Youth Forum. This is a biennial event that dates back to 1999. Its major goal is to enable young people to participate in the issues that concern them.

This year’s edition was special due to the recent approval of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations General Assembly held in New York. The conclusions reached at the end of the three days would be subsequently incorporated into the General Conference of UNESCO so that the ideas of the young people from the 195 countries that are members of the Concert of Nations could be submitted.

Almost 500 young people gathered at the three-day Youth Forum in the city of lights. A unique opportunity to make the needs and concerns of young people known, and, above all, to promote their ideas. In this line, the Forum’s format allowed the active participation of those present in small discussion groups in which the main connecting thread was the future.

During the first day, the importance of young people regarding the implementation of the SDGs was stressed as well as the idea of working with various agents to achieve the most important Goal: save the planet.

In addition, the event was attended by various social stakeholders involved in youth issues, such as the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Mr. Alhendawi; Federico Mayor Zaragoza; the Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, etc.

In summary, and in line with the slogan of the ninth edition of the Youth Forum, the world needs “Young global citizens for a sustainable planet”. The event was organized by UNESCO to channel, once again, all the potential and ideas of young people.

9th UNESCO Youth Forum – Day 1

9th UNESCO Youth Forum – Day 2

9th UNESCO Youth Forum – Day 3