Hannah Adames, student at Marymount Manhattan College studying Politics, Human Rights, and International Studies – Daughters of Charity Intern
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend the ECOSOC Youth Forum from 14-16 of April. The Youth Forum focused on the acceleration of the 2030 Agenda, particularly emphasizing SDGs 6, 7, 9, 11, and 17; the forum served as a precursor to the upcoming High Level Political Forum (HLPF) in which these SDGs will be specifically reviewed.
This year’s forum was my second year in attendance, and my first as an intern with the Daughters of Charity. It was delightful to see many different Youth Representatives, civil society advocates, and university students. Now more than ever the ECOSOC Youth Forum’s modality became a space to commentate and call to action on the most pressing issues facing youth from every single corner of the world. Considering the ongoing humanitarian crisis due to war, climate change, and poverty, in addition to several unstable state governments, this forum defined what it means to be a young person not only within society, but within the structures of the international system.
A remarkable side event I attended was called “Youth Mental Health and Well-being as a Foundation for Sustainable Development.” This event especially intrigued me because of how severely underdiscussed mental health is in our society today. Some of the highlighted discussion points included the correlation between policy and grassroots activism as a sound mechanism in upholding youth mental health awareness; another highlighted discussion point emphasized that youth resilience is paramount in rewriting the current structures of our system. As a young person, I felt very hopeful seeing a topic such as mental health being discussed within an international organ such as the United Nations. Moreover, I believe it’s important to note that youth led activism is not sustainable when youth are dealing with mental health struggles; because of this I hope for more UN engagement that platforms youth mental health.