Global Ethics Forum Roundtable Consultation

Shaping Tomorrow’s Agenda: Youth Consultation Workshop
September 2, 2024

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Hosted by: Globethics in collaboration with the UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES Coalition
Objective: To engage youth and intergenerational participants in shaping the UN Summit of the Future, with a focus on ethics, education, policy-making, and sustainable development.

Overview:
The Global Ethics Forum Roundtable Consultation, held on September 2, 2024, was a closed-door roundtable with 18 participants designed for intergenerational dialogue centered on youth participation in global decision-making processes. The session brought together various sectors, including academia, civil society, and international organizations, to deliberate on ethical leadership, systemic change, the future of education, and community-driven solutions ahead of the UN Summit of the Future, slated for later in September 2024.

This roundtable emphasized the importance of elevating youth voices, particularly in designing ethical frameworks for future governance, tackling corruption, and ensuring sustainability in policy and practice. The session addressed three primary topics:

1. Co-Designing the Future of Education: A consensus was among the participants that education is the key tool for creating a more equitable future. Discussions ranged from community-based approaches to multilateral approaches. Youth participation needs to be actively integrated into global education and policy strategies.
2. Policy Verses Practice: Participants expressed frustration with the differentiation between policies in place, what is practiced, and who bears accountability. Participants voiced concerns that it is not necessarily new policies that need to be created for change, but rather the implementation and, specifically, who is implementing these changes.
3. Accountability and Ability to Adapt: A recurring theme among participants was the personal and professional cost of being an ethical leader. Leading ethically within a government or organization that operates unethically is especially challenging, particularly across different countries and political systems. This discussion also highlighted the importance of cultivating future generations of ethical leaders through education, yet the pressing question remained: how can we create accountability and drive systemic change among those currently in positions of power?