Youth summit responds to five Sustainable Development Goals
THE GLOBAL Youth Summit 2017, one of the program highlights of the recent Global Peace Convention, was a celebration of youth leadership that aimed to engage and inspire the world’s future experts.
Held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena last March 3, the summit convened thousands of young leaders from the Philippines and abroad, where they shared ideas and utilized their diverse skill sets, knowledge and networks to effectively address the persistent problems of today.
This year’s summit centered on the theme, “Achieving 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Through Youth Collaboration, Leadership and Innovation,” and focused on five global goals that impact today’s youth and the world. Based on a youth poll conducted by Global Peace Foundation with 3,209 respondents, the chosen summit topics were: Quality Education, No Poverty, Decent Job and Economic Growth, Climate Action and Zero Hunger.
Rounds of talks and discussion were on the five subjects were led by speakers, namely, UN Economic and Social Commissions for Asia and the Pacific officer Marco Roncarati, journalist Karen Davila, Unicef World Food Programme ambassador KC Concepcion, Climate Change Commission’s Vernice Victorio, National Youth Commission chairman Aiza Seguerra and Unicef celebrity advocate for children Anne Curtis.
The 2017 summit also launched #GlobalYouth4SDGs, a one million peso seed grant competition that aims to showcase the leadership potentials and innovative efforts of the youth by developing sustainable programs on the five issues. Out of more than 1,000 entries, the chosen awardees were: 5EBig Project, a community program that aims to increase employment and help out-of-school youth; Poultry and Garden for a Healthy Future, which targets malnutrition in Brgy. Rizal in Alicia, Isabela; SakunApp, a mobile app that can monitor the safety of a community; Taytayan, which aims to bring gender equality among primary grade-school pupils of Mabolo Elementary School in Cebu; and Ropes for Hope, a rope-weaving enterprise that provides mothers an alternative source of income.
The event was sponsored by SM Cares, a division of SM Foundation Inc., Vivo Smartphone and Unilever.