On 22 July 2024, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and UNU co-hosted “A Dialogue with Youth: Towards the Summit of the Future”.
The session brought together Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa, UNU Rector Tshilidzi Marwala, and a diverse mix of youth representing graduate students, youth engagement groups and young professionals. Organized in the lead-up to the Summit of the Future in New York, the session focused on two themes: the concept of well-being and the elements necessary to achieve it; and how youth can can be involved in global efforts such as the Sustainable Development Goals at national and international levels.
Opening the session, Rector Marwala emphasized to participants that “you must have confidence in your voice and your ideas. Japanese youth and international youth studying in Japan have profound solutions to the world’s development challenges. But your voices must be louder. We need your participation. While language barriers can be daunting, do not be deterred from engaging in international conversations.”
Minister Kamikawa followed with an invitation for youth perspectives: “You, the younger generation are taking the solutions of global issues as your own challenge…I also would like to learn how you would like to participate in these global efforts. What do you consider 'meaningful participation' in decision-making to be? What should be done both at the national and global level?”
The session continued with insightful remarks and interventions from youth participants that coalesced along themes including reconceptualizing sustainable growth, supporting holistic health and food systems, the need for intergenerational dialogue and community-building, and the vital importance of peace in realizing well-being across diverse contexts and cultures.
Youth representatives noted that “we need the wisdom of one context to help the wisdom of another context rather than imposing” and that we should look to cultural examples of well-being that expand the concept beyond personal and material well-being to “prioritize we before me”.
