The SDG Village served as a focal point for high-level discussions on sustainable development, addressing a wide array of topics critical to attaining the SDGs. These included collaborative democracy for sustainable development, county engagements on SDGs, financing strategies with a gender perspective, and the nexus between human rights and SDG realisation. Additionally, the role of various stakeholders, such as parliamentarians, innovation startups, and media, in combating climate change and supporting climate innovation was explored. Discussions also revolved around accelerating gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, assessing progress on specific SDGs, and identifying policy and legal barriers to their achievement. Political parties’ involvement in localising SDGs was another significant area of focus.
Using Social and Behavior Change in Youth Democracy, Rights, and Governance Programming
Through years of programming and evidence generation, we have learned that focusing exclusively on improving services or systems may not lead to desired outcomes. As such, programs are increasingly focusing on working with individuals, communities, and other groups to demonstrate the impact of utilizing SBC approaches. Understanding what influences behaviors, as well as the barriers to changing them, are critical to bringing about desired changes in these behaviors
What's Next? | Claiming the Democratic Future
The young believers of democracy are responding to the democratic erosions by demonstrating their democratic ambitions and transforming political spaces through innovation, localized and intersectional approaches, arts, and digital media. Discontent with traditional political institutions has encouraged young people to create innovative and alternative spaces of political engagement. Thus, young people are at a critical juncture in reversing the anti-democratic trends, but the lack of a global youth campaign is a lost opportunity to capitalize on youth innovation to strengthen democracy.