The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Loreto Generalate proudly aligns with the 2026 ECOSOC Youth Forum theme, “Innovate, Unite and Transform: Youth Shaping the Road to 2030.” Inspired by Mary Ward’s pioneering vision of education as liberation, we affirm that young people are indispensable partners in accelerating the SDGs. We particularly champion youth engagement on SDGs 6, 7, 9, 11, and 17 — recognizing that access to clean water, sustainable energy, and inclusive communities are fundamental rights, not privileges. We call upon Member States to invest in youth-led innovation, dismantle systemic inequalities, and ensure every young voice meaningfully shapes our shared road to 2030.
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The ECOSOC Youth Forum, 2026, was held from the 14th to the 16th of April, and it platformed several youth leaders and advocates, centering them while addressing the sustainable development goals under in-depth review at the 2026 High Level Political Forum. The opening session, in the words of Lok Bahadur Thapa, the President of the ECOSOC, was focused on the theme, ‘Innovate, unite, transform: youth shaping the road to 2030’.
President Thapa highlighted the role of youth as essential partners in sustainable development. He rightly expressed the need for governments, the United Nations, private organisations, civil society and academia to act as partners in the quest for youth involvement. The President of the 80th session of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, remarked how the saying ‘Young people are the future’ postpones responsibility, as young people are in the present to be active participants in development.
The interactive dialogue featured five remarkable panelists–Felipe Paullier, the youngest ever senior UN official, Nagma Shrestha, a model and prominent television presenter, Laura Valencia, a refugee youth leader, Laura Lock of Greenpeace International and Naveen Gautam of the Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent. Each panelist gave valuable insights, as Ms. Valencia discussed the need to invest in refugee led youth initiatives, Ms. Lock talked about the importance of diversity in youth representation in an age of violent unjustified warfare, and Mr. Gautam highlighted the need for formal recognition and real representation of marginalised youth groups instead of tokenism.
The opening session was refreshing, as real, ground-level programs and initiatives were discussed by youth leaders who actually founded or worked on them. Additionally, the panelists all placed emphasis on the importance of inclusion within youth-led movements, for communities such as the Roma, refugees, Dalits and indigenous people. The session reflected real progress and initiative, and young people from diverse backgrounds were included and given a platform to speak, advocate and inspire, making it a great start for the forum.
Author: Tejaswi Siwakoti, Youth Intern, Nepal
