All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent. However, despite seventy-five years of aspiration, economic, social and cultural rights remain relatively neglected in poor and wealthy countries. Strengthening the protection of economic, social and cultural rights is an integral part of strengthening the protection of all the rights recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Including the youth is not only an asset but also a necessity. Currently, there are 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10 – 24 (the largest generation of youth in history), and the number is still growing. Connected to each other like never before, young people want to and already contribute to the resilience of their communities, proposing innovative solutions, driving social progress and inspiring political change. They are also agents of change, mobilizing to advance Sustainable Development Goals to improve people's lives and the planet's health. Given the necessary skills and opportunities to reach their potential, young people can be a driving force for promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights.

In this light, the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Development and Economic and Social Issues Branch (DESIB)- whose mission is to pay equal attention to the realization of civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights, including the right to development, will hold its Youth Engagement Sessions, a platform to encourage and empower youth-led organizations to participate in translating the 2030 Agenda into local and national and regional policy by providing them with the specific vocabulary of the economic, social and cultural rights.

The Youth Cafe Collaborates with DESIB in a virtual Youth Engagement Session that will bring together youth from different countries and backgrounds in a dialogue to identify barriers to implementing economic, social and cultural rights and approaches to operationalize these rights as a framework for addressing local and global challenges; raise awareness of the young people across the world about economic, social and cultural rights; promote initiatives and diverse implications of the youth; and to strengthen the linkages between the youth-led organizations.