Virtual UN Side Event: Summit of the Future and Beyond

The UN Summit for the Future took place on September 22-23, 2024, bringing world leaders together to shape a global Pact for the Future with a focus on sustainable development and securing a better world for future generations. However, children, who make up a third of the world’s population, are still not given enough focus in these discussions, even though their rights and futures are deeply intertwined with the outcomes of the summit. During the Virtual Side Event, children's rights in relation to environmental issues were highlighted. Children and youth shared their ideas and recommendations for a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future, emphasizing the importance of their voices being heard in shaping the world they will inherit.

Background

The UN Summit for the Future 2024 took place on 22-23 September at the UN Headquarters in New York, where global leaders gathered to establish a new international consensus on building a better present and ensuring a sustainable future. With children making up over a third of the global population, the Summit and the resulting Pact for the Future will have long-term implications for shaping both their present and future. It is essential that children's needs and rights remain at the forefront of discussions and in the implementation of the Pact for the Future, recognizing them as critical stakeholders in decision-making processes that define our global path forward. Engaging children and youth is vital for building trust and legitimacy in governance.

As the Committee on the Rights of the Child emphasized: “Children deserve special attention and a place at the table as key partners and stakeholders in building peaceful, just, and inclusive societies. They are also the most significant future decision-makers for upcoming generations. Sustainable development, peace, and security cannot be achieved unless every child has their rights fulfilled, respected, and protected.”

DKA Austria along with Child Rights Connect, Yuwalaya, LCMC, Consortium Nepal, BSA, Alana, Kija, Liga for human rights, Terre des Hommes International Federation and BJV recently hosted the virtual side event titled Summit of the Future and beyond: A Conversation with and for Children on the Impact on Children’s Rights and the Environment.

This virtual side event provided a platform for children and young people to express their ideas, concerns, and solutions, reinforcing their role as active participants in shaping the global future. The event focused on recent developments related to children’s rights and the environment, including General Comment No. 26 on Children's Rights and the Environment with a focus on Climate Change (CRC GC26), as well as other existing UN frameworks and conventions related to human rights and the environment. It also explored how the Pact for the Future and related documents can be implemented in alignment with the UNCRC and CRC GC26.

Event Agenda:

Introduction and framing by child rights advisor Anghelina
Three short films illustrating children's realities and aspirations, presented by Alana, BSA and LCMC
Panel discussion featuring two adults (Soo Young Hwang, UNEP, Philip Jaffe CRC tbc) and two children/youth from Austria and Nepal (Anton and Aashutosh)
Q&A session
Wrap-up by the child rights advisor and an Austrian state representative.