APFSD Youth Forum and Asia and the Pacific Regional ECOSOC Youth Forum 2022
From 19th to 21st March 2022, ARROW, along with the regional co-convenors, YouthLead and Y-PEER and other regional youth networks, organised the virtual APFSD Youth Forum and Asia and the Pacific Regional ECOSOC Youth Forum. The Forum witnessed the participation of almost 450 adolescents and young people of diverse backgrounds from 33 countries in Asia and the Pacific region. The adolescents and young advocates contributed immensely to the discussion on progress, gaps and recommendations for Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5, 14, 15 and 17, which are being reviewed in 2022. The plenary sessions of the Youth Forum on Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 were live-streamed on Facebook.
The three-day Forum’s main outcome is the Regional Youth Call to Action which echoes the voices, concerns, and demands of young people discussed in the Forum. The Regional Youth Call to Action also contributed to the development of 8 country-specific Youth Call to Action and 5 sub-region-specific Call to Action that focused on targeted youth recommendations.
The Forum also witnessed the launch of a regional campaign called #CSE4ALL, that envisions a world where young people in all their diversities enjoy their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in gender-just societies. #CSE4ALL will reflect universal access to comprehensive sexuality education for young people and advocate for these demands at national, regional and global advocacy spaces, bolstered by strong public support. Learn more about the #CSE4ALL campaign.
In addition to this, APFSD Youth Forum advocates were engaged in the APFSD People’s Forum and APFSD Intergovernmental Fora.
On 24th March, ARROW, Y-PEER, YouthLead and RHRN organised a workshop at the APFSD People’s Forum, ‘Youth Movement Building for SDGs in Asia and the Pacific: Time for Action Now!’ The workshop featured four youth speakers who were part of the APFSD Youth Forum, who presented a set of concrete recommendations from the APFSD Youth Call to Action on increasing the resilience and capacity of CSOs, Member States and key decision-makers in responding to the COVID-19 crisis with a particular focus on SDG4, SDG5, SDG14, SDG15 and SDG17. Follow the discussion on Twitter.
On 28th March, Pema Wangmo Lama Mugum, a 22-year-old indigenous youth from the National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal, delivered an oral intervention on behalf of the youth constituency at the APFSD Intergovernmental Fora. Pema shared the APFSD Youth Forum Regional Call to Action and urged Member States to take priority actions for meaningful and inclusive youth participation to build back better from COVID-19.
ARROW’s Deputy Executive Director Sai Jyothirmai Racherla, on behalf of the women’s constituency of Asia Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism (APRCEM), intervened in the review of regional progress on SDGs at the APFSD Intergovernmental Fora. Sai, in her intervention, highlighted the pertinent deep gap around the lack of data to measure progress toward gender equality targets and called on Member States to remove all the systemic and structural barriers that impede women’s rights. Watch the intervention being delivered live.
On 30th March, during the APFSD Intergovernmental Fora, ARROW organised a side event titled ‘Young people at the forefront ensuring COVID-19 recovery for sustainable development in Asia’. Moderated by ARROW’s Deputy ED, Sai and Programme Manager, Shamala Chandrasekaran, the side event featured expert speakers including Sukmo Yuwono, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Bangkok, Sivananthi Thanenthiran, ED of ARROW, and Albert Motivans, Head of Data and Research at Equal Measures 2030 (EM2030). The side event also featured youth expert speakers Rajasurang Wongkrasaemongkol from Thailand and Shilpa Lamichhane from Visible Impact, Nepal. Follow the discussion on Twitter.
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.
