In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, establishing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to secure the prosperity of people and the planet. With just four years remaining until the 2030 deadline, progress remains critically insufficient.
This report — Youth Voices for Sustainable Development: A Global Call to Action on SDGs 6, 7, 9, 11, and 17— centers the experiences and perspectives of young people aged 15 to 24 as a vital lens through which to understand and accelerate SDG progress. Focusing on SDGs 6 (clean water and sanitation), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), and 17 (partnerships for the goals), it explores the barriers and opportunities youth face in accessing the essential goods and services these goals enshrine.
Young people are not simply beneficiaries of sustainable development — they are agents of change. Their voices carry the right to be heard in local, national, and international policy and decision-making spaces and in accountability processes. This report highlights the lived experiences of youth from the Congregation of Jesus network – from Australia, Canada, England, India, and Nepal. It amplifies their voices, identifies cross-cutting themes including domestic and global inequalities often masked by surface-level indicators, and elevates their recommendations for achieving a just and sustainable future.
The findings are intended to inform youth advocacy at the 2026 UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and catalyze urgent, evidence-based action.
Autor: Sarah Rudolph, CJ
