– Anjali Sai Chalise, APFSD Youth Forum 2025 Scholar and the Women of the South Speak Out Asia and the Pacific Fellow
Today, there are 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24, accounting for 16 percent of the global population. This crucial population is the catalyst for change for a better future. The present world is facing several cascading impacts from extreme poverty, hunger, and wars, all triggering and intensifying the impacts of climate change, resulting in a global crisis.
The world has come up with various solutions to tackle these issues, one of the main ones being the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Since their implementation, only 12 percent of those goals have been achieved according to the Global Sustainable Development Report 2023. This figure clearly indicates that we need to gear up our actions.
The lack of progress on Sustainable Development, compounded by emergent multidimensional crises, requires an action-oriented, bold and convincing multilateralism to translate transformation in both ambition and outcomes.
Youths are very aware of the present status and instead of staying silent, we are actively engaging with the world around us, speaking out against injustices, and taking tangible actions to address crises.
A recent example of this proactive stance was seen in the Youth Forum prior to Asian Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development in 2025, which took place from February 19th to 21st in Bangkok, Thailand.
This forum was filled with energetic young people full of new ideas and solutions that the urgent world needs. The hybrid format of the event helped make it more inclusive, with 549 young people participating from 34 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific who worked together in preparing a CALL-TO-ACTION.
The document includes recommendations from the youth to the world leaders, governments, and civil societies so that we can meet the targets of SDGs by 2030. Our collective voice and actionable recommendations serve as a reminder of the immense potential that young people hold in shaping a more sustainable and equitable world.
The forum this year focused on five priority goals under review SDG 3, SDG 5, SDG 8, SDG 14 and SDG 17. The recommendations involved made sure that it addresses inclusivity, justice, and accessibility to everyone. It involved idea sharing and learning within young people, giving an overall message that targets can be reached if we work together as collaborators instead of competitors.
As youths, we always find ourselves at the crossroads where the success of the recommendations given depends on the actions taken in years to come. We strongly believe that to secure a just and sustainable future, there is a requirement for renewed commitments, increased accountability, real actions, and collaborations between and within nations.
Our demand as a whole is clear: youths need to be at the forefront of decision-making, as it is our present and future that are at stake, and we have the right to live in a world of justice and a healthy environment. We urge the decision-makers recognise young people as the agents of change.
Our journey towards a sustainable world begins now, fueled by the unwavering belief that together we can and will make a difference. The future belongs to us, the youth of today, and we shall not get diverted in our pursuit of a better tomorrow.
