2022 HLPF Final Report
Overview
The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is the central United Nations (UN) platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the global level. This year’s HLPF was held in person at the UN Headquarters in New York from July 5 to 15, 2022. The theme for this year’s Forum was “Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.
YDC sent three delegates to this year’s Forum: Nina Lam (Winnipeg, MB), Leah Morris (Toronto, ON), and Megan Tran (Toronto, ON).
Highlights
Before and during the HLPF, we carried out meetings with various stakeholders, including Bob Rae, Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations; Ambassador Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council; and five organizations doing work related to the Goals in focus.
During the HLPF, our delegation hosted an official side event titled “Leading with Science, Tech, & Innovation: Artificial Intelligence and the SDGs”.
We are recording a podcast episode on our experiences at the HLPF, scheduled to be aired on Beyond the Headlines in December.
Key Take-Aways
Be intentional about the purpose of your participation and what you want to achieve.
The most important activity to do on the ground is network; the opportunities that are available to you depend on it. In fact, the side events – where the networking happens – are arguably more important and insightful than the official sessions themselves.
Youth continue to face barriers to their ability to meaningfully engage within the UN system and with the Canadian federal government on strategic policy. Systemic change is required to make these institutions more inclusive to youth input.
Up Next
On the one hand, our insights into the SDGs from the HLPF will support our ability to facilitate local implementation of the SDGs in the work we do in our communities. On the other hand, our experiences revealed to us the cruciality of continuing to seize opportunities beyond the Forum to serve as advocates for youth inclusion and policy action, for the sake of an equitable future.