Global Youth Action Plan launched during the 2024 WFF flagship event

The Global Youth Action Plan 2025-2026, developed by the World Food Forum's (WFF) Youth Policy Board (YPB), was launched on 18 October during a mainstage session at the 2024 WFF flagship event. Youth leaders from around the globe came together to unveil the Action Plan, which has an ambitious agenda aimed at reshaping food security, sustainability and agrifood systems across six major regions: Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Near East and North Africa, and North America. It acts as a two-year blueprint to guide the activities of the YPB, the Youth Assembly Secretariat and relevant stakeholders.

The Plan provides an overview of each region’s challenges and identified policy priorities, coupled with an action plan to address these challenges in alignment with the policy priorities. It details the methodology undertaken by each region during their consultations, the refined policy priorities based on the consultations, the proposed solutions and the relevant actions that would make these tangible. In addition, each region delineates a call to action to engage policymakers, scientists, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, farmers, Indigenous Peoples, civil society, the private sector, youth leaders and advocates, and other relevant youth stakeholders to help transform the policies into action.

During the event, FAO's Deputy Director-General, Beth Bechdol, praised the regional youth action plans, urging attendees to prioritize specific, actionable steps, as this is what will help enact and make a difference in each region. “We cannot continue to sit in forum after forum and ultimately keep saying the same things year after year.” she said, encouraging everyone to think beyond the conference and put effort into driving each regional youth action plan into reality. She also emphasized the importance of collaborations through these regional youth action plans, as “real change will only be realized through inclusive, accountable and committed collaboration across sectors”.

Buay Tut, Partnerships Lead in Youth4Climate and Food and Agriculture focal point at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), highlighted how youth need to be at the forefront of these initiatives and drive change within our agrifood systems.  He highlighted the crucial role of funding and support for youth-led solutions, noting that young people are already innovating and taking action independently - they simply need support to scale their ideas and transform our agrifood systems. His sentiment was echoed by Hisham Zehni, Lead Technical Specialist in theYouth and Social Inclusion Cluster at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), who underscored that alliances, coalitions and partnerships are instrumental for meaningful youth involvement and impact. Zehni highlighted how important it is to ensure inclusivity and bring together rural youth, marginalized groups and vulnerable groups and commended how the different regional plans included these voices.

The launch of the Global Youth Action Plan 2025-2026 marks a powerful step forward, with young leaders from across the world coming together to share solutions. Their collective efforts emphasize the need for action across generations and regions. The Action Plan will enable these changemakers to carry the WFF momentum, turning policy recommendations into impactful realities at the local level.