Almost two months have passed since the Summit of the Future, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York on September 22–23, 2024. The event brought together global leaders, youth advocates, and changemakers to discuss solutions for a more peaceful and sustainable world. The summit culminated in the adoption of the Pact for the Future, which includes key frameworks like the Global Digital Compact, the first comprehensive global framework for digital cooperation, and the Declaration on Future Generations, a series of concrete proposals and processes to safeguard the interests of future generations.
The summit’s theme – building a “Peaceful Future” – and the adoption of the Pact for the Future, represent important steps forward, yet the challenges remain significant, particularly for young people and women like me, who often find themselves at the periphery of decision-making.
Youth Participation: Beyond Symbolism
As a young woman passionate about peace, human rights, and gender equality, I was thrilled at the opportunity to contribute, alongside other young activists, to the discussions on the Declaration on Future Generations, with visible support from leaders such as UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Felipe Paullier Olivera, the first-ever Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs. However, the experience also pushed me to reflect on the symbolism of youth participation and the need for deeper systemic change within global institutions like the United Nations.
Despite our early involvement in the drafting of the Declaration, many young participants faced structural barriers, including visa complications, limited funding, and short notice, which in many cases prevented them from attending. Those present, on the other hand, often found themselves in passive roles with limited opportunities to speak, ask questions, or engage meaningfully in high-level discussions.
António Guterres himself highlighted this disconnect during the summit, stating: “While youth involvement has grown, we still need to ensure that it moves beyond tokenism to genuine, impactful participation. We cannot build a future fit for our grandchildren with a system designed by our grandparents”. His words resonate deeply, reflecting the need to move beyond surface-level inclusion and create real spaces for youth leadership and decision-making.
To translate this vision into reality, I believe it is essential to:
- Establish permanent, well-funded youth platforms within the UN to provide continuity in support and resources for young leaders to engage meaningfully.
- Ensure that youth delegates have active roles in shaping agendas and drafting resolutions, rather than just observing processes.
- Adopt mechanisms like youth and gender quotas in negotiation panels and decision-making bodies to guarantee diverse representation.
The Summit’s Key Focus: A Peaceful Future Amid Global Challenges
The Summit of the Future aimed to address some of the most pressing global challenges, including peace and security, climate action, digital cooperation, human rights, and gender equality. These themes were all woven into the Pact for the Future, which was formally adopted on September 22, 2024. The Pact represents the culmination of a collaborative process which involved millions of voices and thousands of stakeholders from around the globe.
Yet, despite the comprehensive nature of the Pact, it was difficult to ignore the reality of international compromises that marred some of its provisions. Several delegations expressed objections to sections of the Pact, particularly around issues of peace and security, highlighting the ongoing challenges in achieving global consensus in an increasingly fragmented world.
At the summit, the topic of a peaceful future felt particularly fragile in today’s context. While the reaffirmation of nuclear disarmament and the push for UN Security Council reform were seen as significant outcomes, there is a lingering sense of skepticism, especially among young people, about the credibility of global leadership to deliver on these promises.
Additionally, the gender perspective was notably underexplored in discussions on conflicts, peace, and security. A more in-depth analysis of how conflict disproportionately impacts women and girls—through displacement, gender-based violence, and exclusion from decision-making—could have enriched the summit’s conclusions. Ensuring the engagement of women in peace processes is not just about just representation but a proven strategy for more sustainable outcomes.
Prioritizing these gaps is crucial to achieving the Pact for the Future’s goals and transforming global governance, especially as the younger generation keenly feels the vast discrepancy between promises and tangible actions.
Systemic Change: Reforming Global Governance
One of the most critical aspects of the Pact for the Future is its explicit commitment to reform the UN Security Council—a process that has been discussed since the 1960s. For too long, the structure of the Council, and particularly the veto power held by the Permanent Five members (P5), has stalled action on many key global issues. This is one of the clearest examples of why we need systemic change if we are to create a future where peace and security are genuinely upheld.
The UN Security Council must evolve to better reflect the geopolitical realities of today’s world. Expanding its membership to include countries from the Global South and limiting the misuse of veto power are crucial steps toward making the Council more representative and effective. This reform is not just about fairness; it is about ensuring that global institutions are equipped to address the complex, interconnected challenges we face in a rapidly changing world.
The Importance of Women and Youth in Decision-Making
The Pact for the Future makes strong commitments to gender equality and the inclusion of youth and future generations in global governance. As a young woman, I strongly believe that our contributions — be they in peace negotiations, climate action, or digital cooperation — are not just important, they are necessary.
Research has consistently shown that women’s involvement in peace processes leads to more sustainable and inclusive agreements, and that youth-led initiatives are critical in fostering innovation and resilience. Yet, these findings must be reflected in practice. At the summit, tangible steps such as allocating funding to support women and youth-led initiatives or requesting the inclusion of gender and age-disaggregated data in all reporting could have strengthened the Pact’s implementation frameworks.
The true power of the Declaration on Future Generations lies in its potential to ensure that women and future leaders are included not just symbolically, but meaningfully, in processes that shape their lives. But for this to happen, we need systemic shifts in how we approach global governance. This includes the mainstreaming of gender into all aspects of decision-making and institutionalizing mechanisms for young people and women to co-lead solutions, not merely advise on them.
A Hopeful Path Forward
Despite the challenges I encountered, I left the Summit of the Future with a sense of hope. The Pact for the Future is one of the most comprehensive international agreements in terms of themes covered in recent years, and its promises regarding peace, security, and human rights are ambitious and imperative to fulfill. More importantly, the Declaration on Future Generations represents a concrete step towards ensuring that youth voices are not only heard but acted upon in the years to come.
Moving forward, I will keep advocating for a gender-inclusive and youth-centered implementation of the Pact. This means pushing for measurable targets and accountability mechanisms that ensure the promises of gender equality and youth participation are fulfilled. For example, establishing local peace councils composed of diverse youth and women leaders in conflict-affected regions could provide a platform for inclusive decision-making and grassroots input into global initiatives. These councils could work in tandem with international bodies to identify specific needs, propose tailored solutions, and monitor the implementation of peacebuilding efforts in their communities. Such actions would ensure that commitments are not just theoretical but directly impactful on the ground.
The road ahead is long, and the obstacles are many, but with collective action and genuine inclusion, I believe we can build a future that is more peaceful, equitable, and sustainable for all.
As Michele Griffin, the Policy Director of the Summit of the Future, said: “The most important ingredient in international cooperation is trust. Trust in each other. A sense of our shared humanity, our interconnectedness. And the summit is designed to remind all of us, not just governments and not just people who will be at the UN in New York in September, but everyone, that we have to work together to solve our biggest shared problems”.
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