2024.11.10, United Nations Building, Beijing
In the golden autumn when the earth is full of splendor and abundant fruits, on November 10, nearly 100 well-known principals of universities, colleges and primary and secondary schools and leaders of international education institutions from all over China, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, gathered at the United Nations Beijing Headquarters, and gathered with representatives from the United Nations, the Ministry of Education, multinational companies and internationally renowned universities to discuss linking the United Nations and global partner channel resources, empowering Chinese youth to practice action, clarifying their mission and responsibility, and becoming important changemakers and decision-makers in promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and global issues!
As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the Youth 2030 Strategy: Young people are a huge source of innovation, ideas and solutions. They are vigorously promoting the changes we need in the fields of technology, climate action, and calling for an inclusive and just society. Dr. Luo Xiang, Chairman of the Management Committee of the United Nations Global Leadership and ESG Development Center (UNGLEP), served as the host of the conference. He reviewed the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals at the beginning. The data listed in the latest summary report of the United Nations is worrying. Only less than 20% of the goals and tasks are still being promoted, more than 60% of the plans have made little progress, and the other 20% have even regressed and become worse. What is the problem? Youth is an important force in achieving SDGs, but how can we empower Chinese youth to become active participants and contributors to this issue concerning the destiny of mankind? Fabrizio Hochschild, former Deputy Secretary-General and Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations In his keynote speech, Mr. Hochschild, Vice Minister of Education of China, expressed his sincere hope that through his extensive exchanges with Chinese youth in recent years, he believed that this generation of Chinese youth, with their rich global vision and innovative practices, would surely be an important participating and leading force in promoting the global sustainable development goals! In his speech entitled "The Global Mission and Responsibility of Chinese Youth in the New Era", Mr. Zhang Xinsheng, former Vice Minister of Education and Chairman of the 174th-177th Executive Council of UNESCO, encouraged Chinese youth to use international platforms such as the United Nations to strive to play a unique and important pioneering role in responding to the global climate change crisis and green sustainable actions! When it comes to how to use the United Nations channels and resources to empower Chinese youth actions, Philippe Aubert, Deputy Director of the Multilateral Diplomacy Department of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), believes that fully mobilizing the power of youth is one of the key factors in promoting the sustainable development goals and a series of major UN issues. He especially introduced that UNITAR will work closely with partners such as UNGLEP to launch more innovative projects and global practice activities to empower Chinese youth to participate. Dong Xiaoman, a representative of the United Nations Youth Office, which is responsible for managing global youth affairs, also sent a special video speech. She urged Chinese youth to do everything possible to actively participate in the United Nations Youth Agenda and project activities, and forge themselves into participants, contributors and decision-makers in future global governance.
A core principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to ensure that "no one is left behind"! As an active practitioner of this principle, the United Nations Global Leadership and ESG Development Center has launched a series of project activities to more accurately empower the sustainable growth of Chinese youth, such as the "Global Youth Innovation Technology and Climate Action Leadership Development Project", "Multinational Corporations College Students SDG Global Internship Growth Program", "ESG Global Best Practices Example Youth Entrepreneurs Tour", and "Global 25 Outstanding Youth Annual Awards under 25". The center invites global educational institutions to actively join the "United Nations Global Youth Excellent Leadership and Sustainable Development Goals Action Partner Program", aiming to build a high-quality SDG resource sharing ecosystem composed of the United Nations and international organizations, educational institutions, multinational companies, green investment and academic research institutions.
In the roundtable forum, seven influential and representative education leaders, including Chen Qianlin, principal of Hangzhou Experimental Foreign Language School, Peng Jingci, principal of Beijing Haijia School, Xu Fei, general manager of Yali Education Group, Huang Ying, secretary general of the board of directors of Hangzhou Yungu School, Yang Yiwei, representative of the Russell School in the UK, Ding Guosheng, vice president of China Baoxin Group, and Fu Yunhua, principal of Wuhan Economic Development Zone Experimental Primary School, hosted by Wu Zijian, founder and principal of Zi'ao Senior High School in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, held a lively and constructive discussion on the topics of innovating China's youth talent training mechanism, making good use of international resource channels such as the United Nations, and creating future global youth leaders. The discussion brought participants a unique scene perspective and innovative inspiration, which resonated with many people and received positive responses.
The organizing committee also specially invited Professor Zuo Xiaolei, a famous economist, and Ms. Shang Rong, vice president of Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group, to give special speeches on "Innovative Growth of Chinese Youth in the AI Era" and "Multinational Companies in the AI Era Prefer SDG High-Resilience Talents". Cheng Jiashu, Executive Director of the Stanford University China Center, discussed "What kind of applications do world-renowned universities favor" and other hot topics of common concern to the participants, exploring how to use this technological trend to provide systematic solutions for the healthy and sustainable growth of young people in the digital economy era of artificial intelligence.
2025 will mark the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the World Youth Action Programme, a programme of great significance and urgency, but its implementation lags far behind the commitments made by governments. The successful convening of the "United Nations Global Youth Leadership Sustainable Development and China Youth Mission Roundtable" is to explore how to effectively use the knowledge and resource network of the United Nations and global partners, including governments, multinational corporations, green investment and financing, and industrial technology forces, to actively encourage Chinese youth to participate in the most pressing global issues such as environmental protection, public health, clean technology and climate change, and cultivate them into a new generation of global leaders with a global vision who can work in a diverse cross-cultural background and complex international environment!
This roundtable meeting was jointly hosted by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the United Nations Global Leadership and ESG Development Center (UNGLEP), and received strong support and selfless dedication from institutions such as the Social Impact Investment Fund, the Asian Education Forum, the Multinational Corporation Carbon Neutrality 50 Forum, the Global Youth Leadership Development Council and the United Nations Youth Pilot Program.
