Our Future Agenda is a newly launched initiative from the UN Foundation.
Our mission is to empower young people to be designers of their own future, and to build a global coalition of organizations dedicated to delivering transformative change for young people and future generations.
Last year, with the help of eight Next Generation Fellows, we worked with young people from around the world to put together Our Future Agenda: a vision and plan to address the biggest challenges facing the next generation (young people under 30 who make up half the world’s population), and future generations (the 10.9 billion people who are yet to be born this century).
Now, we are determined to turn the ideas in this report into action through the following pillars of work; The Next Generation Fellows, and The Unlock the Future Coalition. The Our Future Agenda initiative covers a broad range of issues, including transforming education, jobs and economic opportunities, climate and sustainability.
The Engine Room
The Our Future Agenda initiative covers a broad range of issues.
Transforming Education
with a focus on helping young people catch up on lost learning due to the pandemic, and on triggering transformation in how formal and non-formal education prepares children for life and for work.
Jobs and Economic Opportunities
where there is an urgent need to target young people in COVID-19 recovery packages, to address the mismatch between economic opportunities and where young workers live, and to help young people adapt to a rapidly changing world of work.
Climate and Sustainability
as young people mobilize to tackle the planetary emergency, and play a central role in climate action, while holding leaders to account for their failures to act.
Peace and Justice
as young people are fighting for justice and equity in their communities and across the globe – be it social, environmental, historical, or intergenerational – often at the risk of their mental or physical well-being.
Future Generations
with a focus on the 10.9 billion people who are yet to be born this century, the inheritance that this generation will pass to the ones that follow it, and for solidarity between generations.
Gender Equality
at a time when girls and women face persistent inequities – enshrined in laws, policies, and norms around the world, but also whilst young feminists are taking the lead in providing bold and transformative spaces for co-leadership.
Next Generation Fellows
Each year, the UN Foundation convenes a small group of young changemakers and provides them with a platform to tackle some of the challenges facing young people, engage with other young thinkers and activists, and work with leaders across the international system.
The Unlock the Future coalition
In September 2021, the UN Foundation brought together the world’s biggest youth-led and youth-focused organizations to launch the Unlock the Future coalition: a high-ambition coalition with and for all young people and future generations.
We are determined that the coalition will act as a forum for political and strategic alignment, support joint advocacy campaigns, promote increased and more sustainable financing for young changemakers, and – crucially – provide a platform for intergenerational action.
To kick-start this work, we held the very first Unlock the Future Big Brainstorm event to launch a series of intergenerational action groups that will sit at the heart of the coalition.