The theme of the 4th UN Environment Assembly, Innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production, highlights the importance of science and technology in the work of UN Environment. Science propels innovation, while the negative impacts of unsustainable production and consumption can only be effectively mitigated or reversed by decisive science-based leadership and policy making.

Speakers on Friday, March 8, the second and last day of the 18th Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum, highlighted issues of importance including the Aichi Biodiversity Targets maturing in 2020; a potential mismatch between the platforms for local communities and indigenous peoples intended by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties held in December 2018 in Katowice, Poland; climate justice and the dependence of indigenous peoples on their natural environment; and a perceived shift in priority from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for human rights to stronger investment in stakeholder interests.

On Thursday, March 7th, Global Major Groups and Stakeholders’ forum opened with a reflection on the situation for Major Groups and Stakeholders since the 3rd UN Environment Assembly to present with a look toward the future. This reflection continued into the afternoon before the breakout sessions with a focused discussion on the engagement at UNEA-4 by the MGS. Inviting a dialogue with the UN Environment Executive Director was another point of discussion by the Major Groups and Stakeholders.

UNEA daily monitor is powered by The Youth Cafe’s delegates attending the fourth UN Environment Assembly. The newsletter tracks the most important negotiations and events and delivers the daily news through the lense of young people.

On Monday, March 4th, the Open-Ended Committee of Permanent Representatives (OECPR) started its discussions and negotiations in preparation for the 4th UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-4)

We must be honest and open about the power relationaships between men and women in our society, and we must help build a more enabling and supportive environment that puts the role of women center stagein this struggle. Each one of us- sister and brother- Nelson Mandela

The Youth Cafe is excited to be attending the ongoing 1st ever International Symposium on Youth Participation in Peace Processes in Helsinki, Finland!

Young people under the age of 30 accounts for over half of the world’s population. It is estimated that 600 million youth live in fragile and conflict-affected states. These figures underscore the need to understand the importance of engaging them in conflict prevention & mediation processes – a domain where they are often marginalized. Despite their numbers and their progressive and effective interventions for sustaining peace processes, young people’s efforts and contributions remain undervalued. 

The World Youth Report on “Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, prepared by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), examines the mutually supportive roles of the new agenda and current youth development efforts. The report provides insight into the role of young people in sustainable development in the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and related frameworks, in particular, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development and the World Programme of Action for Youth.

The Report considers the role the 2030 Agenda can play in enhancing youth development efforts and examines how evidence-based youth policies can help accelerate youth-related objectives. It explores the critical role young people have in the implementation of sustainable development efforts at all levels.

Hello! Welcome to the United Network of Young Peacebuilders’ (UNOY Peacebuilders) Youth4Peace Training Toolkit that will bring you through the concepts and practice of delivering educational activities on confict transformation & peacebuilding and the creation of peaceful narratives.

This toolkit has been developed for beginners and intermediate youth trainers and educators in the feld of peacebuilding and we hope that this is going to be a useful tool for you to start or further implement educational programmes on peace and transforming conficts and narratives targeting youth through non-formal education. By making this toolkit accessible online, we hope to support the shift in narratives by equipping young people with basic understanding of core concepts, matched with relevant and practical non-formal education methods to promote the creation of an enabling environment for peace.

The Sustainable Development Goals include goals on decent work, peace and inequality while also vowing to end violence against women and girls, human trafficking and dangerous climate change. A stand-alone goal on inequality (SDG10) is a clear demonstration that fighting inequality shall be at the centre of national and global development agendas. By referencing within and among nations, SDG 10 highlights how much inequality is a challenge for every country and not just the developing ones.