Youth turning participation into action to accelerate the SDGs in Latin America and the Caribbean

^{Before a full room at ECLAC, girls, adolescents, and young people gathered at the event “Youth in Alliance: Accelerating the SDGs through Transformative Leadership.” Photo courtesy of Tremendas.} 

Santiago, April 16 2026 - Within the framework of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development 2026, the side event “Youth in Alliance: Accelerating the SDGs through Transformative Leadership” brought together young people, organizations, and institutions at ECLAC with a clear objective: to turn youth participation into decisions and measurable results. 

More than a space for dialogue, the meeting, organized by Girl Up, UN Women, UNICEF, Tremendas, and Participa Chile, functioned as a working lab to build a regional advocacy roadmap for 2026–2030, with clear commitments, defined responsibilities, and follow-up mechanisms.

During her remarks, the UN Women Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean, Bibiana Aido, was direct about what is at stake: “the future is not something to wait for, it is something to build.” She emphasized that this roadmap will only have an impact if it is backed by monitoring, financing, and real commitment. “Without gender equality and without meaningful youth participation, the 2030 Agenda will not move forward,” Aido stated. 

^{Bibiana Aido, UN Women Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean. Photo courtesy of Tremendas.} 

Throughout the day, this idea was reinforced with evidence and lived experiences. Youth in the region face higher unemployment rates, greater informality, and persistent barriers to participation in decision-making spaces. For young women, these gaps are further compounded by the burden of unpaid care work, violence, and limited access to economic autonomy. As Aido noted, not all young people start from the same place, and recognizing these inequalities is a basic condition for progress.

From the outset, UNICEF underscored the need for youth participation to be real, not symbolic. Violet Speek-Warnery, UNICEF Representative in Chile, made it clear: “It is not just about being in the picture or being heard for a few minutes. Participation means influencing, deciding, and co-creating policies.” She also stressed that these spaces must be owned by young people themselves, since no development agenda will be sustainable if it does not reflect their lives and priorities.

“Inequality continues to shape our lives, and those who feel it most are adolescent girls and youth,” Speek-Warnery explained, “but we also know that the most powerful transformations in our region have been driven by young people.” 

^{The event was organized by Girl Up, UN Women, UNICEF, Tremendas, and Participa Chile within the framework of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development 2026. Photo courtesy of Tremendas.} 

The experiences segment showed that this leadership is already underway. Girl Up, Tremendas, and Participa Chile shared concrete examples of youth advocacy on issues such as gender equality, political participation, and social activism, demonstrating that when networks, tools, and financing are in place, young people can influence public policy and national agendas.

“For youth participation and advocacy to be effective, we must materialize our goal. We are transforming experiences into a concrete instrument for political advocacy on care,” explained Justina De Pierris, Regional Associate at Girl Up.

One of the clearest focus areas was care work. Interventions highlighted how the unequal distribution of these responsibilities continues to limit young women’s educational and employment trajectories, and why this issue must be addressed as a central pillar of the development agenda.

“In all the experiences I shared today from Tremendas, there is one common element: the democratization of knowledge. When a young woman gains access to information, networks, tools, and safe spaces to grow, she stops being just a beneficiary and becomes a political and social actor,” said Constanza Camilo, Movement Coordinator at Tremendas.

The core of the event lay in the working groups, organized around three axes: political advocacy, care, and peace and security. Using a brief, focused methodology, participants moved from diagnosis to defining concrete proposals, identifying needs, capacities, and opportunities for collaboration.

The use of tools such as the mainstreaming matrix helped translate discussions into specific commitments linked to the SDGs, with assigned responsibilities, timelines, and financing needs. The objective was clear: to stop working in silos and move toward coordinated action.

The process concluded with the validation of a 2026 Decalogue of Commitments and a Regional Roadmap for 2026–2030. Both instruments aim to organize priorities, strengthen alliances, and ensure that youth advocacy continues beyond the event.

In her closing remarks, Aido stressed the urgency of the moment. For many girls, adolescents, and young women in the region, the SDGs are not a future goal, but an immediate necessity. The challenge, therefore, is not only to sustain dialogue but to translate it into concrete change.

The final message was clear: youth do not need more symbolic spaces. They need power, resources, and a real presence in decision-making. This event moved in that direction and laid a concrete foundation for continued progress. 
 

The full recording of the event is available here.