Delegate: Mr. Chris Eigeland
22. Mr. Eigeland (Australia), speaking as a youth delegate, said that with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the stage had been set for empowerment of young people, who were recognized as critical agents of change.
23. An overwhelming majority of the young people he had met in his capacity as a youth delegate had expressed confidence in the future, but that confidence had been tempered by fear of economic disruption and inequality. For many, inequality was driven by unemployment; in his own country the unemployment rate for youth was twice that of the general population.
24. In addition to raising the most pressing issues they faced, young people had also proposed solutions. In their view, the starting point for inclusive economic development must be inclusive, relevant and high-quality education. For example, information technology was being used effectively to provide affordable access to education in remote areas of Australia. The time had long since come for equal gender representation in industry, technology and government and for policy frameworks to encourage women to participate in society and men to share in the unpaid care work for their families.
25. His generation, which would reach its forties by 2030 and the conclusion of the Sustainable Development Goals, did not want to be forced to admit to the next generation that it had failed to build an inclusive economic agenda, and was prepared to meet that challenge.
UN Doc.: A/C.3/71/SR.3
Cite as:
UN Doc.: A/C.3/71/SR.3, 5 October 2016, p. 4, Youth Delegate Search: https://youthdelegatesearch.org/australia-2016/, doi: 10.17176/20221018-192948-0.