YouthProAktiv was kindly invited to participate last 19^th of September of the High Level Side Event at the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly. The event was organized under the format of a high-level breakfast co-hosted by H.E. Ms. Ulla Tørnæs, Minister for Development Cooperation of Denmark, H.E. Ms. Shamma Sohail Faris AlMazrui, Minister of State for Youth Affairs of the United Arab Emirates and the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Development Programme.

The event enabled an interactive ideas exchange between young leaders and world leaders who are spearheading progress on the SDGs. Participants included members of the UN Young Leaders, Youth Delegates to the UN and youth representatives from civil society and was joined by Heads of State and Government, Ministers, senior representatives of civil society, academia, the private sector and the UN System.

Under the “World Café” format, we were able to focus on a particular SDG-related theme and featured a collection of solutions being implemented by young people and collected by one or two world leaders by table. YouthProAktiv had the pleasure to exchange ideas with the Secretary General of the International Labor Organisation.

In the closing plenary segment, the world leaders along with select youth leaders were offered the opportunity to share some key reflections and take-aways from our table conversations with the larger audience.

It has now been two years since the adoption of the most ambitious and inclusive development agenda in history: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In 2015, the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth supported efforts to bring 193 young people from nearly every country to the United Nations to partake in this historic event alongside world leaders as well as Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who addressed the General Assembly on behalf of youth. The participation of 193 young people from all regions provided a powerful message to the world leaders that young people are key partners in the implementation of the SDGs and reinforced the need for a youth-led approach to development.