YLB Member Joins SDG Summit Panel on the 1.8 Billion Campaign

Photo from FIA Foundation

New York, USA - Youth Leadership Board Member Oliva Nalwadda joined an Intergenerational Panel titled “Accelerating SDG Commitments: 1.8 Billion Adolescents and Youth Transforming Our World” during the SDG Summit. Oliva joined Bolivia Youth Leader Paola, PMNCH Board Chair and Former Prime Minister of New Zealand Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, and WHO Assistant Director-General of Universal Health Coverage and Life Course Dr. Bruce Aylward. 

Levi Singh opened the dialogue by discussing action points for the 1.8 Billion Young People for Change Campaign or #1point8. He also touched on factors that contribute to making youth and adolescents happy and healthy from now until the future. 

Commitments for #1point8 were shared by the Secretary of External Relations and International Cooperation of the Republic of Honduras, Enrique Reina, setting a precedent for more countries to commit to policies that deliver the Global Goals.

Photo from Avi Silverman

Bolivian Youth Leader Paola kicked off the conversation by speaking about raising investment and access to sexual and reproductive health services,  sexuality education, and gender-based violence.

She points out that this is among the issues most affecting young people and how prioritizing solutions for gender-based and sexual violence will result in equity and more benefits for youth and adolescents. 

Rt. Hon. Helen Clark shared the same views adding that adolescents and their allies must “hold leaders’ feet to the fire to be accountable to deliver on youth rights”. 

“[Youth] are a distinctive and unique cohort - neither not large children nor small adults - that’s why we have to build a youth council to hear their needs and work with member states” - Dr. Bruce Aylward

Photo from FIA Foundation

During her intervention, Oliva spoke about the necessity of having youth in the decision-making process

“We’ve seen young people engaged in technical working groups and they’ve been able to meaningfully ensure that the voices of their peers are included in the commitments that have been made. So, briefly put, young leaders have taken a leadership role, and, being an African, I’m so proud to see young people come up and claim their spaces, especially on such decision-making tables where commitments are being developed on issues that concern them.” 

Oliva also spoke about how youth are taking action to combat the biggest killer of youth worldwide, road traffic crashes. As an SDG Champion to the Global Youth Coalition, she highlighted how road safety is a catalyst for accelerating the achievement of different targets under the SDGs. 

The panel was coordinated by the PMNCH, FIA Foundation, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), PLAN International, the World Health Organization - WHO, and UNICEF.