blogpost
March 31, 2026
The Youth Call to Action is a vital document as young people from across Asia and the Pacific come together ahead of the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) to reflect on the progress, gaps, and challenges in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These discussions, held during the three-day APFSD Youth Forum, are translated into concrete advocacy tools: the Regional, National, and Sub-Regional Youth Calls to Action (CTA).
The APFSD Youth Forum’s Youth Call to Action is the result of a collaborative process that brings together youth leaders from diverse backgrounds across the region. Participants include representatives of youth-led and youth-serving organisations, feminist groups, social entrepreneurs, activists, students, and grassroots changemakers. Through dialogue and collective reflection, they articulate a shared vision for advancing sustainable development with focus on young people in Asia and the Pacific.
At the APFSD Youth Forum 2026, young people developed recommendations related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under review this year:
Their recommendations highlight the realities faced by young people in their communities while proposing practical solutions to accelerate progress on the SDGs.
The process of drafting the Youth Call to Action (CTA) begins with the formation of a CTA Working Group, composed of youth leaders and co-conveners who coordinate the overall drafting process. The working group facilitates discussions during the forum, gathers key insights from sessions, and compiles recommendations emerging from participants. The group is primarily responsible for drafting and finalising the Asia-Pacific Regional Youth Call to Action, ensuring that it reflects the shared priorities and collective demands voiced during the forum.
Alongside the regional CTA, country-level and sub-regional CTAs are developed by country facilitators and participants at the Forum. These documents highlight national perspectives, policy gaps, and recommendations tailored to specific country contexts. This approach allows the CTA process to capture both regional priorities and country-specific realities, strengthening the relevance of the recommendations.
Country facilitators play a crucial role in the development of national CTAs. Facilitators are selected from among country representatives based on their interest, and leadership potential, as reflected in their initial applications. Once selected, they are oriented on the CTA drafting process and supported in facilitating discussions among participants from their respective countries.
This structure helps ensure that national CTAs reflect a broad range of youth perspectives while maintaining alignment with the regional process. For many participants, this also becomes an opportunity to connect their local advocacy efforts with wider regional conversations on sustainable development.
In 2026, the process resulted in the development of 18 country and sub-regional CTAs alongside one Regional Youth Call to Action. These CTAs included contributions from youth across Bangladesh, Bhutan, East Asia, Japan, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Singapore, Central Asia, the Pacific, Maldives, and Malaysia.
Altogether, the Youth Call to Action documents captured the voices and perspectives of 705 young people from 38 countries across Asia and the Pacific who participated in the Youth Forum both in-person and online. The recommendations reflect a wide range of lived experiences, highlighting how global development challenges intersect with local realities.
The Youth Call to Action is a strategic advocacy tool designed to carry youth perspectives into national, regional and global policy spaces. By translating dialogue into clear and actionable recommendations, the CTA provides governments, UN agencies, and other stakeholders with concrete solutions for advancing the SDGs.
The recommendations developed through the CTA feed directly into youth advocacy efforts at the APFSD intergovernmental forum, as well as other global platforms such as the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) and the ECOSOC Youth Forum. They also contribute to broader UN processes, including the ECOSOC review cycle leading up to the SDG Summit in 2027.
Ultimately, the Youth Call to Action demonstrates that youth participation in policy processes is not only about representation, it is about influence. By consolidating youth perspectives into a collective document, the CTA ensures that the priorities, concerns, and solutions put forward by young people are visible within key policy discussions. It demonstrates how dialogue among young people can evolve into coordinated advocacy that pushes for more inclusive, accountable, and sustainable development pathways for the region.
