Dedicated to the theme “Youth and Future Generations,” the fifth seminar of the UNESCO Chairs Seminar Series ‘Towards a Pact for the Future’ took place on June 26, 2024. This seminar identified opportunities for cooperation between young people, UNESCO Chairs, UNITWIN Networks and other experts to take the commitments of the Pact and the Declaration forward, act with future generations in mind, and contribute to implementation at local, national and global levels.
Paula Razquin, Policy Research Lead at the UNESCO Future of Learning & Innovation Division and moderator of the seminar, reported that 280 participants registered for the event.
Participants emphasized the importance of involving the young generation in all aspects of technology, social issues, financial, medical, engineering through collaboration between different generations.
An attendee from Morocco noted that institutionalizing youth organizations for sustainable development, climate change, and heritage safeguarding remains a significant challenge. Dialog between policy makers and youth professionals is needed.
Additionally, participants in the seminar pointed out that fake news in social media is fueling the right-wing propaganda that targets young minds. This issue needs to be addressed.
In line with the seminar’s theme, Chapter 4 of the draft Future Pact is dedicated to Youth and Future Generations, with a Declaration of Future Generations is to be annexed. According to the World Youth Report (2020), there are 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 in the world, accounting for 16% of the global population.
The UNESCO Chairs Seminar Series is scheduled from March to July 2024.
More information:
https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/youth-and-future-generations