The APFSD Youth Forum is an annual convening of young people. The forum aims to ensure young people’s experiences and voices are included in setting the regional agenda on sustainable development. It empowers young people through meaningful interactions and conversations with various stakeholders, and approaches the sustainable development agenda with an intersectional, youth, human rights, and justice lens. The Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Youth LEAD, and Y-PEER Asia-Pacific Center have been organising the annual APFSD Youth Forum since 2017. Since 2022, we have been joined by regional youth networks, such as Major Group for Children and Youth and Children and Youth Major Group to UNEP. We also collaborate with the RHRN partnership, UNESCAP, UNDP and the Youth Empowerment in Climate Action Platform (YECAP).
The scholars of the APFSD Youth Forum consistently develop outcome documents representing the collective voice, recommendations, and demands of the young people across the region. The prized outcome document is the Call to Action that outlines their collective recommendations and demands for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the region. Developed annually, the call to action document ensures that the young people’s perspectives are meaningfully included in regional discussions and decision-making processes related to sustainable development. It provides concrete recommendations to governments, UN agencies, and other stakeholders that can inform the development and implementation of policies and programmes related to the SDGs and Agenda 2030.
From 19-21 February 2025, 549 young people from 34 countries and territories in Asia and the Pacific came together to discuss, share ideas and collectively develop a Regional Youth Call to Action at the APFSD Youth Forum 2025.
The theme for this year’s Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) 2025 was: Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs for leaving no one behind in Asia and the Pacific.
The outcome document, the Regional Youth Call to Action, reflects the concerns of young people in all their diversities from the region and embodies their demand for sustainable, inclusive and human rights focused solutions as we move ahead with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with young people at the forefront.
Besides the Regional Youth call-to-action, additional country and sub-regional briefs were developed at the APFSD Youth Forum 2025.
The final day was dedicated to finalising and adopting the Youth Call to Actions and discussing ways forward for youth engagement in regional and global forums. Representatives from five national APFSD Youth Alliances (Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Mongolia, and Papua New Guinea) shared their experiences of establishing country-level platforms to advance SDG implementation and youth engagement at the national level.
