These new goals need to make history and not just be resigned to it. They must be of high quality and known worldwide, building on the current MDGs’ progress, as well as pushing our ambitions even further. While I currently lack the knowledge or experience of the experts, there are many things that I — and you — can do. As a youth ambassador, it is not just my job, but my passion to help make sure these goals become as widely known as possible.
Being young, I am often labeled as part of a “lazy generation.” But I believe my peers are crucial in shaping the future of development. Yes, we spend a long time on social media. But social media also gives us an enormous audience — more than 1.3 billion users on Facebook and 255 million on Twitter — for our advocacies.
With the current communications possibilities, the development agenda from 2015 could be radical. Although every country’s youth is different, social networks provide a global common ground that the older generations may lack. Whether you are a 20-year-old in Kenya or a 15-year-old in the Netherlands you have roughly the same platform to share your ideas.
Technology provides exciting new means that empower young people. Ideas once seen as the norm are being challenged — like the preconception that those in poverty will never come out of it. Individually we can make a difference, but together, through these channels, we can change the world.
Like it or not, young people are the future and amplifying their voices is far more powerful than trying to silence them. For the new development goals to succeed, all ages need to bang the drum for development, but it is the youth who will bang the loudest and the longest. It is vital that young people play a central role in shaping these goals. In effect, they must “own” them.