It marks a significant milestone, commemorating five years since the UN Youth Strategy, Youth2030 launch. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the progress made in implementing Youth2030, comparing baseline data from UN Country Teams (UNCTs) in 2020 and UN entities in 2021 with the latest data from 2022.

Key Highlights

1. Progress in Youth Engagement:
   • Emphasizes the strides made in ensuring meaningful youth engagement within the UN system. It highlights young people’s involvement in decision-making processes and their substantial contributions to advancing UN work for and with youth.
2. Organizational Architecture and Capacities:
   • Examines the organizational structures and capacities essential for implementing the goals outlined in Youth2030. It underscores the importance of a coordinated, coherent, and holistic approach to youth issues across the UN system.
3. Data and Evidence:
   • Significant progress has been made in generating and making data and evidence on youth widely available. This includes setting standards for work on youth and ensuring that no youth is left behind.
4. Strategic Planning and Implementation:
   • Details how the UN system has advanced global youth commitments and integrated youth focus into strategic planning processes. It highlights improvements in policy coherence, public financing of youth, and in-country coordination on youth issues.
5. Regional Performance:
   • Europe and Central Asia are identified as the top-performing regions, with notable improvements in achieving green scores on key performance indicators (KPIs). Green scores in UN entities improved from 45% in 2021 to 55% in 2022 and in UNCTs from 25% in 2020 to 32% in 2022.
6. Challenges and Areas for Improvement:
   • Despite progress, it notes that achieving 80% green scores by 2024 is slow. It also identifies areas where youth engagement could be improved, such as technology and innovation, culture and tourism, urban development, and finance.

Recommendations and Future Directions

• Accelerating Implementation:
  • Calls for accelerating the implementation of Youth2030 to ensure that the UN continues to support key stakeholders, governments, and young people in achieving the 2030 goals.
• Intergenerational Partnerships:
  • Emphasizes the importance of intergenerational partnerships and advocates for meaningful youth engagement in decision-making processes at all levels[5].
• Global Standards and Youth Offices:
  • UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted efforts to establish a UN Youth Office to advance advocacy, coordination, and accountability. He also reiterated the need for a global standard for meaningful youth engagement in decision-making.

Overview

2. Reporting and analysis in 2022

Offers an in-depth analysis of the advancements made by UN entities and UN Country Teams (UNCTs) in executing the Youth2030 strategy. It primarily provides an exhaustive review of the reports and analyses conducted in 2022 to gauge the progress of UN entities and UNCTs toward achieving the strategy’s goals.

1. Reporting Against Scorecard KPIs: In 2022, UN entities reported against the scorecard Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the second year. The first report in 2020 was against the Initial Action Plans.
2. Data Availability: Time trends for 23 KPIs are available for 130 131 UNCTs, excluding certain KPIs with scoring revisions or data availability issues. For the KPA on “UNCT support to Governments on Youth and SDG,” time trends are available for 129 UNCTs, excluding the Islamic Republic of Iran.
3. Net Change Analysis: The net change in UNCTs or KPIs/scores was calculated by subtracting the negative change from the positive change. This analysis categorized entities or KPIs/scores as having made progress (net positive change), no change (zero net change), or falling behind (net negative change).
4. Exclusions from Analysis: Some UN entities reported for only one year (2021 or 2022) and were excluded from the analysis. Data for certain KPIs were available only for 2022 and excluded from the analysis.
5. Performance Scores and Time-Trend Analysis: Includes performance scores for 44 UN entities and 18 KPIs, along with a time-trend analysis based on the net change in performance from the 2021 baseline for 38 UN entities and 33 KPIs/scores. This analysis highlights entities and KPIs/scores that made progress, saw no change, or fell behind.

3. Overview of progress: 2022

Provides a snapshot of the progress made in implementing the UN Youth Strategy during the year. Specifically, it comprehensively reviews the achievements, trends, and challenges throughout the year, providing a holistic view of the status of youth-focused initiatives within the UN system.

1. Key Messages: Begins with key messages that likely highlight significant achievements, challenges, and trends observed in the progress towards the goals of the Youth2030 strategy.
2. Progress in UN Entities and UNCTs: This assessment provides insights into the progress made by UN entities and UN Country Teams (UNCTs) toward the 2024 milestone set by the Youth2030 strategy. It likely includes comparing performance against the established Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and targets.
3. Analysis of Progress: Delves into the analysis of the progress made by UN entities and UNCTs, highlighting areas where advancements have been notable, where stagnation has occurred, and where challenges have been encountered.
4. Trend Analysis: A trend analysis based on the net change in performance of UN entities and KPIs/scores is likely presented. This analysis may provide insights into the overall trajectory of progress, identifying areas of improvement, stability, or regression.
5. Comparative Analysis: The section may include a comparative analysis of the progress made in 2022 compared to previous years, showcasing the evolution of efforts and outcomes in advancing the objectives of the Youth2030 strategy.

4. UN system: Advancing global commitments on youth

Highlights the UN’s youth development and empowerment efforts, emphasizing its multifaceted approach and the importance of data-driven decisions, partnerships, policy support, capacity building, and advocacy. All these elements promote global youth well-being and empowerment.

1. Data and Evidence on Youth: The UN system aims to make data and evidence on youth widely available and set standards for youth work. This includes collecting and disseminating data to inform policies and programs targeting youth.
2. Programs, Projects, and Partnerships: The UN system actively establishes youth programs, projects, and partnerships. These initiatives address various youth-related issues and promote youth development across different sectors.
3. Support for Governments in Policymaking: The UN system supports governments in policymaking on youth. This support includes offering expertise, guidance, and resources to help governments align their policies with youth-related global commitments.
4. Capacity Building and Knowledge Exchange: Efforts are made to build the capacity of stakeholders and facilitate the exchange of knowledge on youth issues. This involves training programs, workshops, and platforms for sharing best practices and lessons learned in youth development.
5. Advocacy and Communication: The UN system advocates for and communicates on youth issues to raise awareness, mobilize support, and drive action. Effective communication strategies are employed to amplify the voices and concerns of young people on various platforms.

5. Focus on youth in UN strategic planning processes

This document highlights the importance of integrating youth priorities into UN entities and UNCTs’ strategic plans. The section advocates for active youth involvement and support in planning and implementation.

1. Youth-Focus in UN Strategic Planning: Emphasizes the importance of incorporating a youth focus in the strategic planning processes of UN entities and UNCTs. This involves aligning organizational strategies and priorities to address the needs and aspirations of young people.
2. Alignment of Workplans to Youth2030: Efforts are made to align the workplans of UN entities and joint workplans of UNCTs with the objectives and targets of the Youth2030 strategy. This alignment ensures that youth-related activities are integrated into the organization’s operational plans.
3. Funding for Youth: Discusses allocating resources and funding for youth-focused initiatives within the UN system. It highlights the importance of financial support in implementing programs and projects that benefit young people and contribute to their development.
4. Transparency of Reporting on Youth: Transparency in reporting on youth-related activities and investments is emphasized. UN entities and UNCTs are encouraged to provide clear and comprehensive reporting on the outcomes and impact of their youth-focused initiatives.
5. Performance Evaluation: Includes an assessment of the performance of UN entities and UNCTs in integrating youth considerations into their strategic planning processes. This evaluation may involve analyzing progress, challenges, and areas for improvement.

6. Architecture and capacities to deliver on Youth2030

Focuses on the UN’s structure and UN Country Teams for effectively implementing the Youth2030 strategy. It highlights the importance of organization, coordination, and workforce development in youth initiatives. The goal is youth empowerment and the advancement of the Youth2030 objectives.

1. Engagement in Inter-Agency Coordination Mechanisms on Youth: Highlights the importance of inter-agency coordination mechanisms at global and regional levels to enhance coherence and collaboration in youth-focused initiatives. It assesses the level of engagement of UN entities in these mechanisms.
2. Strengthening Internal Capacities on Youth: Efforts are made to enhance the internal capacities of UN entities and UNCTs to deliver on the objectives of the Youth2030 strategy. This includes building expertise, skills, and resources within organizations to address youth-related challenges effectively.
3. Increasing the Proportion of Youth in the Workforce: Addresses the importance of promoting youth inclusion in the workforce of UN entities. Strategies to increase the representation of young people (<35 years) within the organizations are discussed to leverage their perspectives and contributions.
4. Strengthening Fair and Quality Internships: The focus is improving the quality and fairness of internships within the UN system. This includes providing meaningful learning experiences, mentorship opportunities, and equitable treatment for young interns to support their professional development.
5. Performance Evaluation: Includes evaluating the performance of UN entities and UNCTs in enhancing their architecture and capacities to deliver on the Youth2030 strategy. This assessment may cover progress, challenges, and areas requiring further attention and improvement.

7. Meaningful youth engagement in the UN system

The focus is to involve young people in UN decision-making and activities. The section emphasizes empowering youth to participate actively in the UN’s work. It encourages inclusivity, diversity, and youth partnership in decisions and initiatives promoting the Youth2030 strategy goals.

1. Principles of Meaningful Youth Engagement: Defines meaningful youth engagement within the UN system. These principles include institutional mandate, rights-based and safe engagement, designated spaces for youth participation, adequate resources, transparency, accessibility, voluntarism, informativeness, reciprocal accountability, diversity and inclusion considerations, and partnership with youth.
2. Youth2030 Scorecards: Mentions using Youth2030 Scorecards for UN Country Teams (UNCTs) and UN entities to assess youth meaningful engagement. These scorecards include indicators related to policies and processes for youth engagement, the diversity of engaged youth, youth involvement in strategic planning, government support, and participation in UN-led projects and campaigns.
3. Performance Evaluation: Includes evaluating the performance of UN entities and UNCTs in achieving meaningful youth engagement. It may assess progress in meeting the established principles, engaging youth in various initiatives, and enhancing youth participation in decision-making processes.
4. Improvement Areas: Highlights areas where improvements are needed in youth engagement within the UN system. This could include enhancing youth participation in strategic planning, strengthening policies and processes for meaningful engagement, and ensuring that youth voices are effectively integrated into organizational activities.

8. Global governance and system-wide coordination

Outlines the key governance structures and coordination methods for implementing youth initiatives in the UN system. The “Global Governance and System-Wide Coordination” section emphasizes these aspects to enhance collaboration, strategize, and ensure the successful implementation of youth initiatives. The importance of coordinated actions for the Youth2030 strategy goals is underscored.

1. High-Level Steering Committee: Discusses the role of the High-Level Steering Committee in providing strategic guidance for youth-related activities within the UN system. This committee plays a key role in setting priorities, monitoring progress, and ensuring alignment with the objectives of the Youth2030 strategy.
2. Joint Working Group: Highlights the Joint Working Group’s function in providing technical leadership for youth-focused initiatives. This group coordinates efforts across different entities and ensures coherence in implementing youth-related programs.
3. Task Team: Task Teams are established to address specific and time-bound areas of action related to youth within the UN system. These teams focus on strategic priorities and work towards achieving targeted outcomes in line with the Youth2030 strategy.
4. Stakeholder Engagement and Visibility: Emphasizes the importance of engaging stakeholders, including Member States and youth networks, in implementing youth-related initiatives. This engagement ensures diverse perspectives are considered and fosters collaboration with external partners to amplify the impact of youth-focused programs.
5. Youth2030 Secretariat: This section may mention the role of the Youth2030 Secretariat in supporting the coordination and implementation of the UN system-wide Youth Strategy. The Secretariat provides operational support, facilitates communication among stakeholders, and helps drive progress toward the strategy’s goals.

9. Way forward

Outlines the UN’s future strategy for youth initiatives, focusing on youth engagement, better internships, and increased workforce representation. It highlights the UN Youth Office’s role in advancing global commitments and cooperation.

1. Strengthening Implementation in Priority Areas: Emphasizes the need to strengthen implementation efforts in priority areas identified within the Youth2030 strategy. This includes focusing on specific geographic regions where implementation may lag and enhancing support for youth engagement initiatives.
2. Enhancing Youth Engagement Across the UN System: Underscores the importance of ensuring meaningful and impactful youth engagement within the UN system. Efforts will be made to institutionalize mechanisms for youth participation, track resources committed for youth-related activities, and promote youth inclusion in decision-making processes.
3. Improving Internship Opportunities: Highlights the UN system’s commitment to improving the quality and fairness of internships. This includes enhancing learning experiences and mentorship opportunities and supporting young interns in facilitating their professional development.
4. Enhancing Representation of Youth in the UN Workforce: Discusses strategies to increase the proportion and representation of young people in the workforce of UN entities. This aims to leverage youth perspectives and contributions in shaping the work of the United Nations.
5. Establishment of the UN Youth Office: Mentions establishing the UN Youth Office and its mandate to ensure coordination and accountability on youth-related matters within the UN system. This office is expected to accelerate system-wide efforts to work with and help youth achieve global commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals.
6. Reinvigorating Multilateralism: Highlights the role of the United Nations in reinvigorating multilateralism through its youth-focused initiatives. By effectively engaging young people, the UN aims to advance global commitments related to sustainable development, financing, and climate action.

Henceforth. Furthermore. Nonetheless. Nevertheless. Therefore. However. Henceforth. Furthermore. Nonetheless. Nevertheless. Therefore. However. Henceforth. Furthermore. Nonetheless. Nevertheless. Therefore. However. Henceforth. Furthermore. Nonetheless. Nevertheless. Therefore. However. Henceforth. Furthermore. Nonetheless. Nevertheless. Therefore. However. Henceforth. Furthermore. Nonetheless. Nevertheless. Therefore. However. Henceforth. Furthermore. Nonetheless. Nevertheless. Therefore. However. Henceforth. Furthermore. Nonetheless. Nevertheless. Therefore. However.