WFF side event at the ECOSOC Youth Forum: Leveraging SDGs to empower youth and women in agrifood systems
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum will take place from 15 to 17 April 2025 at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The Forum offers a platform for young people to engage in dialogue with Member States and other stakeholders, allowing them to express their views and concerns while fostering actions and recommendations to catalyze sustainable development, guided by the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The ECOSOC Youth Forum will be guided by the 2025 theme of ECOSOC and the High-level Political Forum (HLPF): “Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for leaving no one behind”. It will also provide opportunities to discuss concrete actions and commitments to realize the SDGs under review at the 2025 HLPF, namely SDG 3 (Good health and well-being), SDG 5 (Gender equality), SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth), SDG 14 (Life below water) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
As part of the ECOSOC Youth Forum, the World Food Forum's (WFF) Global Youth Action Initiative will host a side event on 15 April 2025 from 13:15 to 14:45 (EDT), titled “Leveraging SDGs as enablers of sustainable agrifood systems transformation: Youth and women's leadership from policy to action”. The event will take place in Conference room 12 at the United Nations headquarters in New York and will be streamed online on Zoom.
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The event will bring together youth advocates, technical experts and policymakers to discuss an integrated approach to the SDGs, highlighting the connections between SDG4 (Quality Education), SDG8 (Economic Growth and Decent Employment) and SDG5 in the framework of SDG2 (Zero Hunger). It is co-organized by the Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY), UN Women and the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Ireland and Nepal.
The side event will highlight best practices for youth involvement in policymaking and presentations by UN Women on the importance of youth consultative processes. It will also serve as the final - consultative platform for drafting a Youth Recommendations Paper. This paper, to be presented at the HLPF in July 2025 by the WFF Youth Initiative and partners, will outline key actions to empower young women in agrifood systems by leveraging SDGs.
Register for online participation!
More information on the year-long consultation process read about the WFF side event at CSW69 and at the Expert Group Meeting.
Contribute today to global discussions on gender equality and women empowerment in agrifood systems.
Agenda
| 1:15 PM - 1:25 PM | Welcoming remarks: The Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York (FAOLON) will share her welcome remarks, followed by remarks from the Permanent Representative of Nepal. |
| 1:25 PM - 1:30 PM | Presentation by UN Women's Youth Engagement Team and Beijing+30 Youth Steering Committee: Key takeaways from the "Global Youth and Adolescents Recommendations: Young Feminist Priorities for Beijing+30" will be presented, focusing on their relevance to agrifood systems. |
| 1:30 PM - 1.35 PM | Overview of the year-long consultation process: The WFF Youth Policy Board will provide an overview of the Youth Assembly consultation process to date, outlining efforts to address SDG 4, SDG 5 and SDG 8 within agrifood systems. The session will also cover the first outcomes of the ongoing consultation and discuss the localization-implementation plan. |
| 1:35 PM - 2:10 PM | Panel Discussion - "Adopting a Nexus Approach: SDG 4 and 8 as Accelerators of Gender Equality in Agrifood Systems": Panel members will share best practices from local, national and global perspectives, reflecting on barriers and opportunities for youth leadership in advancing SDGs. |
| 2:10 PM - 2:35 PM | Q&A and Open Floor Session. |
| 2:35 PM - 2:39 PM | Summary and Next Steps: The WFF Youth Policy Board members will summarize key outcomes from the session, focusing on education, decent work and sustainable agrifood systems transformation. They will outline the next steps in the consultation process, which will inform the Youth Recommendations Paper for HLPF 2025. |
| 2.39 PM - 2.45 PM | Closing Remarks by the Permanent Representative of Ireland highlighting the contributions of the WFF Ireland Youth Chapter. |
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