{"id":60716,"date":"2026-04-17T14:12:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/more-sport\/youth-charter-calls-for-stronger-youth-focused-communique-following-united-nations-un-economic-and-social-council-ecosoc-youth-forum-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T14:12:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:12:03","slug":"youth-charter-calls-for-stronger-youth-focused-communique-following-united-nations-un-economic-and-social-council-ecosoc-youth-forum-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/more-sport\/youth-charter-calls-for-stronger-youth-focused-communique-following-united-nations-un-economic-and-social-council-ecosoc-youth-forum-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth Charter Calls for Stronger Youth-Focused Communiqu\u00e9 Following United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"press-body-in\">\n                            <span><br \/>\n                                                            LONDON, United Kingdom, April 17, 2026\/APO Group\/ &#8212;<br \/>\n                                                        <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Following active participation in the 2026 ECOSOC Youth Forum at United Nations Headquarters, the Youth Charter (<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apo-opa.co\/48AflAs\" rel=\"noopener\">www.YouthCharter.org<\/a>) is issuing a call for a more youth-centred and action-oriented global communiqu\u00e9. This call urges the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and all Member States to elevate youth engagement and strengthen support for the growing global\u00a0sport for development movement\u00a0as a key contributor to achieving the\u00a02030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s Forum, themed\u00a0\u201cAdvancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda\u201d, featured inspiring dialogue between youth leaders, UN agencies, and Member States. However, the Youth Charter notes a critical gap in the formal outputs: the underrepresentation of\u00a0youth-led, grassroots, and community-based solutions; particularly those harnessing\u00a0sport, culture, and the arts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Global Youth Call2Action<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As a United Nations-accredited NGO, the Youth Charter reiterated its commitment to its\u00a0Global Youth Call2Action, presented during the Forum, which urges governments and development partners to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Support the integration of sport for development<\/strong>\u00a0into national youth strategies, education systems, and community development frameworks<\/li>\n<li><strong>Adopt and replicate the Youth Charter Community Campus model<\/strong>, which uses place-based innovation to engage, equip, and empower young people through sport, art, culture, and digital learning<\/li>\n<li><strong>Invest in Social Coach Leadership Programmes<\/strong>, to train local mentors who can guide young people away from violence and disengagement toward purpose and opportunity<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ensure youth are not only consulted but co-creators<\/strong>\u00a0in shaping policies and initiatives aimed at achieving the 2030 Agenda<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>A Stronger Role for ECOSOC<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Youth Charter is also calling for\u00a0greater recognition and integration of youth-focused outcomes\u00a0from the ECOSOC Youth Forum into the formal Ministerial Declaration of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF). This includes adopting an annual ECOSOC\u00a0Youth Communiqu\u00e9, co-created by youth, to ensure their contributions are not only heard but embedded in high-level decision-making.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we are truly serious about \u2018leaving no one behind,\u2019 then young people must not be at the margins of global development discussions\u2014they must be at the centre,\u201d said\u00a0Professor Geoff Thompson, Founder and Executive Chair of the Youth Charter.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As the world moves toward the halfway mark of the 2030 Agenda, the Youth Charter will intensify its advocacy efforts to ensure that\u00a0youth voices translate into youth outcomes, and that\u00a0sport, culture, and creativity\u00a0are recognized as essential tools in tackling inequality, disengagement, and global youth violence.<\/p>\n<p>The Youth Charter extends its appreciation to ECOSOC, the UN Youth Office, and all collaborating partners, and stands ready to work with global stakeholders to translate this year\u2019s Forum energy into lasting impact.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/press\/youth-charter-calls-for-stronger-youthfocused-communique-following-ecosoc-youth-forum-2026?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LONDON, United Kingdom, April 17, 2026\/APO Group\/ &#8212; Following active participation in the 2026 ECOSOC Youth Forum at United Nations Headquarters, the Youth Charter (www.YouthCharter.org) is issuing a call for a more youth-centred and action-oriented global communiqu\u00e9. This call urges the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and all Member States to elevate youth engagement [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/large\/0430266e7905791","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-more-sport"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/large\/0430266e7905791","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}