The theme of International Youth Day 2024, celebrated on August 12, is 'From Clicks to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways to Sustainable Development,' a phrase that underscores the importance of connecting digitalization with the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and highlights the crucial role of youth as leaders in technological innovation for their achievement. Considering that only 17% of the SDGs are on track to be met by 2030, ensuring youth participation in public policy formulation and decision-making processes cannot wait. This, in addition to accelerating progress toward sustainable development, will contribute to reducing political polarization and rebuilding trust in democracy in a world heading toward fragmentation.

The recent UNDP Human Development Report 2023/2024, ‘Breaking the gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world’, emphasizes that to close development gaps, institutions must focus more on people, promote agency, and be more future-oriented. In this context, young people are essential agents of change, capable of harnessing the transformative power of technologies to overcome inequalities in our societies. Their energy, commitment, and desire to participate are a source of hope for more just and resilient societies. Connecting their ability to innovate and interest in participating with formal decision-making processes is key to addressing development challenges and creating new social contracts that revitalize our democracies.

Youth: Part of the Solutions

Democracy is living a paradox: nine out of ten people say they support democracy as a form of government. However, half of these people support leaders who could undermine it. This is compounded by a deficit in youth representation in formal decision-making spaces. Globally, only 2.98% of parliamentarians are under 30, even though half of the population is 30 or younger. In Latin America and the Caribbean, while 25% of the region's total population is between 15 and 29 years old, only 4.7% of parliamentarians are under 30. Thus it is not surprising that, according to Latinobarómetro, 75.7% of young people between 15 and 25 years old think they are governed by groups that respond to their own interests, that satisfaction with democracy's performance is 45%, and that distrust in their governments and in political parties reaches 40% and 50% respectively.

This should not be interpreted as a lack of interest and commitment from the youth. Youth mobilization for social causes such as climate change or gender inequalities shows transformative potential and is a clear example of the fact that youth political apathy, is a myth. What these numbers suggest is a need for transformation of institutional spaces to ensure meaningful and purposeful participation, reducing the gap between youth mobilization and formal participation mechanisms, thereby promoting effective governance.

Participating to Build Trust

In the recent UNDP publication 'UNDP Signals Spotlight 2024: Hope for All Generations,' some of the areas where our legacy to future generations is at stake are identified, and the meaning of this for development is discussed, starting from the idea that hope in the future does not diminish our determination to face the immediate challenges of the present and do justice to current generations. The Pact for the Future and the Declaration on Future Generations, which the 193 governments that are part of the United Nations will agree upon at the Summit of the Future convened by the Secretary-General for September of this year, constitute an opportunity to boost institutional youth participation. They are the chance to restore hope in an equitable future, in responsible technological progress, and in resilient communities.

Youth can and must play a leading role in the design and construction of our future. We need to act coherently, opening up spaces and opportunities for their social, labor, and political participation, recognizing their voices and contributions for what they are: decisive actors in the future of democracy, just transitions, and sustainable development. Let us walk together through the changes and policies that enable this agenda of participation, dialogue, and intergenerational justice.

Originally published in El País.