The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum – Zambia’s Watch Party, took place from 25 to 27 April in Lusaka, Monze and Petauke districts of Zambia. The Forum provided a platform for young people to engage in a dialogue around the theme of ECOSOC and the 2023 UN High-level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF): “Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at levels”.

The communique developed and presented by Zambian young people during the watch parties of the ECOSOC Youth Forum joining virtually from Lusaka, Monze and Petauke districts is presented below:

Preamble

We, the youths of Zambia, that convened during the ECOSOC youth forum from the 25th to the 27th of April in Lusaka, Monze, and Petauke coming from 6 provinces, developed this statement to our voices heard as we continue to play a critical role in the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

The ECOSOC youth forum would not have come at a better time than this when Zambia is preparing  the Second  National Voluntary Review (VNR) report to be submitted to the High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development.

We wish to acknowledge and applaud Zambia’s commitment towards the implementation of the transformative agenda 2030 for sustainable development which has been visible through the mainstreaming of SDGs in the national development plans starting with the 7th National Development Plan and now the 8th National Development Plan, as well as putting in place strong coordinating and monitoring mechanisms meant to track progress on SDGs.

This Communique builds upon the outcomes of the 2023 ECOSOC YOUTH FORUM held in Lusaka, Monze, and Petauke with the support from the United Nations in Zambia, in which the youth of Zambia gathered in Lusaka, Monze, and Petauke while others joining virtually.

Acknowledging the critical role of young people as stakeholders in the implementation of sustainable development goals as well as the DOHA Program of Action and ensuring that these development agendas address the critical developmental needs and challenges of young people in Zambia, which   is addressed primarily to the United Nations in Zambia and the Government of the Republic of Zambia.

The Youths acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of the UN in Zambia through its dedication to support Zambia’s commitments as outlined in its New the cooperation framework on sustainable development (2023-2027) launched last year.in the implementation of sustainable development goals as well as strengthen cooperation between the UN system in Zambia, the Zambian government, and its development partners to deliver for the Zambian people.

We further appreciate the UN in Zambia for the support rendered to the youths to host the ECOSOC Youth Forum Watch Parties which is another demonstration of the commitment to ensuring that young people are not only acknowledged for their potential to drive change but also given seats  to be part of the decision-making  as well as strengthen their ability in a quest to drive the agenda collectively as key drivers of sustainable development which is necessary for sustainability.

The ECOSOC Youth Forum has given youths not only a platform to define the challenges and priorities but has also created an opportunity for  the youths of Zambia to gain inspiration from our fellow young people across the global on the key role  played in accelerating the efforts towards the implementation of sustainable development.

Having meaningfully engaged with our fellow young people from our various watch parties through intense activities, several issues informing our communique were identified cutting across the challenges, opportunities, and our pledges as young people in a quest to accelerate the implementation of SDGs as key stakeholders.

The importance of young people in Zambia cannot be overemphasized as we account for about 36% between 15 to  35 years. As a nation, we should see this as a great opportunity for the country in our development trajectory as this can be attributed to 36% of our population with new and fresh ideas, perspectives, enthusiasm, new skills, innovation as well as new energy towards accelerating our efforts in the implementation of SDGs.

However, young people have continued to face several challenges that have the potential to affect the ability for them to drive the agenda for sustainable development. Limiting these challenges to the theme and focusing on the ECOSOC Youth Forum, young people continue to face the realities of growing water scarcity, Poor water supply and Sanitation services inclusive of contaminated water in distribution systems especially in rural areas, limited proper infrastructure and funding. They further continue to have limited platforms for meaningful youth engagement, poor dissemination of information, high levels of corruption, and increased digital divide as well as limited platforms to build capacities of young people necessary to spark innovation, especially in rural areas.

Furthermore, we continue to experience inadequate access to clean and cheap energy which is also attributed to inadequate major energy sources apart from the hydroelectricity Power sources that are also limited. Hydroelectric power being the major source of energy in Zambia is expensive in its production which makes accessibility and attainability to be fairly scarce as not many Zambians can afford the rising ZESCO tariffs.

Moreover, the Zambian youths have continued to have structural limitations which have created a barrier to accessing financial resources making access to Financial Resources remain limited which makes it hard for the Youths to access, if available with highly bureaucratic standards and terms inclusive of conditions to access them, which makes the youth (who are also the key stakeholders), to have barriers hindering successful recognition of their innovation and facilitation for growth as well as sustainability.

Unfortunately, the realities of these cross-cutting issues have negatively impacted the internally displaced people. These cross-cutting issues have not spared the refugees who experience the harsh realities of these realities and most of them are most often forgotten and overlooked while the development of the asylum nation is a subject of discussion. Similarly, persons with disabilities are another group of stakeholders who are overlooked and yet have brilliant solutions and input to the discussion of achieving the 2030 Agenda through sustainable development goals.

But we are not discouraged, for we see those challenges as opportunities as well as our entry point in ensuring that our contributions are viable enough to accelerate the attainment of the SDGs. Therefore, to ensure that we strengthen our role and contribute effectively to the development trajectory, we shall commit ourselves to the following;

1. Meaningful Youth Participation

• Formulation of platforms for meaningful youth engagement to strengthen youth participation as well as build capacities to spark interest to bring innovation across the SDGs in line with the National Development Plan.
• Enhance our role as stakeholders in SDG implementation by scaling up awareness raising activities, engage in advocacy and lobbying efforts to ensure SDG integration in the curriculum, accessibility in terms of resources for inclusive innovative ideas from young innovators while also strengthening our innovation and capacity as contributors to new ideas and innovations necessary for the attainment of SDGs.

2. Strengthening Youth Innovation

• Pioneer-inclusive and environmentally friendly innovative projects to ensure the effective contribution of youths as well as increase our carbon sinks through afforestation and reafforestation to strengthen sustainable usage of our energy sources.
• Commit to ensuring that every innovative idea is not hidden but supports one another to ensure that these innovative ideas are exposed, tapped in, and sustained. We also commit to ensuring inclusivity of projects pioneered by people with disability, internally and externally displaced young people inclusive of other vulnerable groups.
• Ensure inclusivity of persons with disabilities, internally displaced and refugees in providing their capacity needs necessary for investing in their abilities, for purposes of achieving more innovative ways to tackle various problems raised across SDGs collectively.

However, this can’t be effectively done without the collaboration with government, the UN, and the development stakeholders. Therefore, riding on the Policy Brief produced by the UN Envoy on Youth, we stand in harmony to speak the same voice in demanding the following;

• Call upon   government  to make a strong commitment to meaningful youth engagement in decision-making at local, national, and international levels. This is necessary to curtail the barriers that could hinder accessibility to youth innovation as well as strengthen meaningful youth participation.
• Support for the Formulation of the Youth Advisory Council to the UN which will be able to strengthen the coordination of Youth in Zambia inclusive of their meaningful engagement in the implementation of the DOHA program of Action as well as the SDGs.
• Encourage  government and the UN to enhance its  investments in skills-enhancing activities including vocational skills training, technology to give capacity to the youth to have right and necessary skills needed to drive social economic development.
• The government to strengthen transparency for purposes of strengthening Progress Tracking: The progress tracker for youth entrepreneurship, innovation, and invention must be equipped to track progress on the impact as well as sustainability.
• Demystify the processes of fund accessibility as well as the conditions attached for one to access funds necessary to strengthen innovation.
• Youths should be involved in the decision-making and planning. The policy and plans should contain the realities of what the youths are going through to ensure that their needs are met because if they are left behind, it may lead to isolation  and increase of poverty

Conclusively, we the youth of Zambia present at this forum, collectively pledge to champion the agenda of the solutions highlighted above by providing our skills, volunteering our services, and partnering with the government and UN Agencies to attain this pertinent SDG agenda.