Unlock the Future Coalition

In September 2021, the UN Foundation brought together some of the biggest youth-led and youth-focused organisations to launch the Unlock the Future coalition.

At a virtual event held during high-level week at the opening of the 76th UN General Assembly, the leaders of these organisations announced the Unlock Declaration. In it, we set out our intention to join forces to build a high-ambition coalition with and for all young people and future generations.

See full declaration here.

Now, we are working to find ways to fulfil these promises, whilst embracing our shared principles of diversity, representation, impact, and accountability.

As a first step, we designed the Big Brainstorm to incubate and launch a series of youth-led Action Groups, which will be the engines driving our work.

Find out more here.

Our Future Agenda is a newly launched initiative from the UN Foundation

Our mission is to empower young people to be designers of their own future, and to build a global coalition of organisations dedicated to delivering transformative change for young people and future generations.

In 2022, with the help of eight Next Generation Fellows, the Award and our Unlock partners worked with young people from around the world to put together Our Future Agenda: a vision and plan to address the biggest challenges facing the next generation (young people under 30 who make up half the world’s population), and future generations (the 10.9 billion people who are yet to be born this century).

Now, this coalition of dedicated members are determined to turn the ideas in this report into action through the following pillars of work; The Next Generation Fellows, and The Unlock the Future Coalition. The Our Future Agenda initiative covers a broad range of issues, including transforming education, jobs and economic opportunities, climate and sustainability.

SDG Summit 2024

Proposals for Joint Action through the Unlock the Future Coalition.

The SDG Summit in September 2024 will be crucial for world leaders, the UN, and the broader international community to review progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and accelerate action towards their achievement.

Young leaders and thinkers are essential to delivering the 2030 Agenda as they are both the current and future leaders and agents of change who will be most impacted by the achievement or non-achievement of the SDGs. Often at the forefront of global movements advocating for transformative change, young people’s energy and determination make them a powerful force in driving progress toward the SDGs. They bring fresh ideas, innovative solutions, and a sense of urgency to address the world’s most pressing challenges. Young people also hold a unique ability to bridge divides with their future-oriented perspective, fostering the intergenerational solidarity necessary for collective action to tackle immediate and long-term challenges. Their involvement ensures that today’s decisions are sustainable, equitable, and consider the needs of current and future generations.

With a reach of over 875 million people, the Unlock the Future coalition is well-positioned to mobilize efforts to increase the commitments, financing, and impact to accelerate SDG implementation. Together the coalition can advocate for urgent SDG actions and investments in young people for the benefit of current and future generations, and ensure that young people are meaningfully engaged and represented in the SDG Summit and the process toward the Summit of the Future in 2025.

Objectives

Generate greater political and strategic impact through joint action, with shared recommendations and commitments presented to world leaders and decision-makers throughout the SDG Summit and preparations for the Summit of the Future.
Mobilize intergenerational action and dialogue with political champions and young changemakers to increase impact, commitments, and financing for next and future generations.
Ensure that young people are meaningfully engaged and represented in the SDG Summit process at all levels, including through the participation of Unlock coalition members in various SDG Summit-related events and activities.

Showcase Unlock contributions to achieving the SDGs and advocate for greater investment in young people to foster more networked and inclusive multilateralism.

Are you a young person, interested in joining The Engine Room?

Sign up to become a part of the Engine Room – Our Future Agenda

The Engine Room is designed to:

Provide an inclusive, accessible and flexible space for young change makers to develop their innovations.
Offer a platform for collaboration, motivation, support, and empowerment for young leaders.
Spotlight the work of young change makers and the successes of the Action Groups in accelerating action for the SDGs.

The Engine Room works across eight thematic Action Groups on the following priorities:

Climate and Sustainability
Transforming Education
Future Generations
Gender Equality
Jobs and Economic Opportunities
Peace, Justice, and Inclusion
Financing for Young Changemakers
SDG Summit

As a part of the Engine Room you will:

Be the first to know about any curated Engine Room opportunities including training and development
Participate in regular Engine Room calls and other regular opportunities for networking, feedback and guidance from the Our Future Agenda team
Have the chance to be spotlighted in Our Future Agenda publications
Contribute to the curation and direction of the Engine Room

The time commitment is:

Engage in the Engine Room with the intention to remain engaged until the SDG Summit (Sept 2023), as this is the strategic focus of the Engine Room
Attend 1-2 Action Group Meetings a month (~1 hour each and the timezones depend on where the specific Action Group has the most members)
Be able to contribute a couple of hours a month outside of the Action Group Meetings
Attend the Engine Room Meets (there are 3 more remaining this year, and they are about 90 mins each)

Note: we do not know the details of meetings (dates/times) as they are specific to the action group that you choose to join.

Please email [email protected] if you are a young person or have a young person to nominate who would like to take part.