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On 25 September, world leaders gathered to mark the 30th anniversary of the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY) in the first-ever high-level meeting on youth mandated by UN Member States to take place during the UN General Assembly High-Level Week — the busiest week of the diplomatic calendar.

Held under the theme “Accelerating global progress through intergenerational collaboration,” the meeting was convened by H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th session of the General Assembly, with support from the UN Youth Office. Nearly 150 UN Member States participated, including 13 Heads of State or Government, 90 ministers and over 600 civil-society representatives — the majority young people.

The meeting provided a platform to assess progress, identify gaps and share lessons across key policy areas — from education, employment, and health to environment, culture and participation — while charting a shared path forward to realize the rights and potential of youth worldwide.

The reflections that follow were co-authored by Aisha, Antonio, James, Nthanda, Vladislav and Zakira, who attended the High-Level Meeting and the 80th session of the General Assembly (UNGA80). The ����ר�� Youth Office thanks them for sharing their insights, experiences and aspirations, and for their leadership in shaping a more inclusive, sustainable and equitable future for young people everywhere.

The World Programme of Action for Youth: A Framework for Partnership

Thirty years since its adoption, the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY) remains one of the most significant milestones in global youth policy: a recognition that young people are not merely beneficiaries of development but essential partners in shaping it. Its fifteen priority areas; from education, employment, and participation to health, ICT and globalization — continue to guide how governments, civil society and multilateral actors engage with youth.

Nowhere is this more urgent than in Africa, where over 60% of the population is under the age of 35, and in countries like Malawi, where youth represent nearly 80% of the population. These demographics are not just statistics. They are a clear sign that the future of development depends on how effectively we harness the creativity, leadership and potential of young people today.

The findings of the #YouthLead Dialogues echo WPAY’s spirit: young people are no longer asking to be included — they are actively building systems, reshaping priorities and designing the solutions themselves. Yet, despite progress, many commitments remain underfunded, fragmented or disconnected from lived realities. As we mark WPAY30, the task is not to rewrite the framework but to realize its promise — investing in youth-led systems, embedding youth leadership in decision-making and creating pathways that transform demographic potential into lasting development impact.

Youth Power in Multilateralism

The same is true when we talk about multilateralism. Meaningful youth participation is not only a democratic imperative, it is a driver of more inclusive, accountable, and future-oriented multilateralism. As highlighted in Our Common Agenda and Youth2030, the UN Youth Strategy, young people strengthen decision-making by bringing diverse perspectives, lived experiences and long-term thinking to the table.

At the UNGA80, young people co-led dialogues on climate action, digital inclusion and the SDGs, demonstrating that when youth are trusted as partners, multilateralism becomes more responsive and relevant. However, genuine inclusion goes beyond symbolic representation. As one of us experienced, many youth events still focus on showcasing engagement rather than enabling true dialogue. Moments like “Charting Our Future: Youth Voices, Shared Directions” with DSG Amina Mohammed showed what real inclusion looks like, when youth voices are heard, ideas are noted and contributions inform future action.

For youth participation to move beyond tokenism, there must be clear mechanisms for representation and investment in youth capacities at the local level. Empowering young people to represent their peers effectively at national and global levels ensures that multilateralism is built not just for youth, but with youth.

Leaving No One Behind: Inclusion in Practice

Many young people have been and continue to be left out of important conversations at the ����ר�� and in other global decision-making spaces. This is especially true for young people with disabilities, young people from rural or low-income communities, and other underrepresented groups. They often face real barriers such as buildings or events that are not accessible, information that is not easy to read or understand, no interpreters, no financial support and unjust travel or visa rules. Too often, young people are invited to speak but are not given a real chance to influence the final decisions. This does not need to be the case.

However, we are starting to see progress. At UNGA80, some events were more accessible. Sign Language interpretation and captioning were provided at more sessions. Hybrid participation meant young people could join online if they could not travel. Some funding was made available to help people from the Global South attend. These steps show that when inclusion is planned from the start, it works.

But good examples should not be rare — they must become standard. Real inclusion means removing barriers and involving young people with lived experience in designing the solutions. To truly “leave no one behind,” global decisions must be shaped by all young people, not just a few.

The Future Youth Want, and the Partnerships to Build It

Through our shared, lived experiences at UNGA80 and WPAY30, we have ideas for how we move forward. We envision for young people’s future engagement to be structurally embedded in the processes that govern decisions affecting their lives, where partnerships are built around influence and the redistribution of power, not only visibility or fleeting recognition. Youth refuse to be invited only after the architecture of policy about their lives, their rights and communities has been laid for them. They demand instead to co-define, co-author, and co-implement the systems, policies, laws, strategic plans and funding priorities that shape their futures, whether in peacebuilding, humanitarian response, or governance, and whether in multilateral halls or local decision-making processes.

Meaningful youth participation must be understood as an interdependent process in which each layer reinforces the other: from creating spaces where youth can reach policymakers, ensuring their strategic inclusion so their voices are heard; and providing the financial, technical, and mentorship support needed to navigate institutional norms; to establishing follow-through mechanisms that show what their contributions changed, how they influenced outcomes, shaped agendas, and redirected resources; to creating formal accountability structures that allow youth to interrogate, question, and, when necessary, challenge or veto decisions national and multilateral level.

Engagement that inspires and mobilizes energy only to generate applause without systemic change is only co-option. True partnership places youth as equal political actors, with real authority, sustained influence, and the structural assurance that their labor and vision yield measurable, enduring outcomes. Only within such architectures of shared power can multilateralism be legitimate, inclusion meaningful, and accountability more than a rhetorical aspiration.