The 7th Annual Devolution Conference shall be held from 23rd - 26th November 2021 in Makueni County. The Youth Café is honoured to hold an exhibition during the event!

The COP26 summit, taking place in Glasgow, will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The sixth session of the Regional Forum is designed to be an action-oriented Forum for member States and other stakeholders to explore, gain insight into, share and agree on sets of concrete and workable solutions actions that will enable the countries to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 within the set time frame.

The Forum will therefore be held under the theme “2020-2030: A Decade to Deliver a Transformed and Prosperous Africa through the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.”

The 2020 ARFSD is intended to be an action-oriented Forum for stakeholders to explore, gain insight into, share and agree on sets of concrete and workable actions that will enable the African countries to achieve set targets within the set time.

The Conference seeks to stimulate debate and reflection on the importance of, and the key role played by, active citizens’ participation and local democratic governments in the modification of the negative trends of powerful, speculative interests that stand in the way of human rights, preventing tendencies the right to housing and the right to the city; while at the same time aligning the voice of those cities committed to realising the right to the city; the right of all inhabitants, both male and female, to live in cities that are more human, more habitable, more democratic, fairer and more solidary; and against the commodification thereof, which generates looting, segregation, gentrification and the destruction of the social fabric.

The Conference is to be organised around a series of plenary sessions, keynote speeches, round table debates based on thematic areas, territorial round tables based on the exchange of experiences, popular encounters inlocal districts, utopianroundtables, participatory innovation and creativity, cine- debate sessions, in which pride of place will be given to exchanges between participants. Parallel and organised networking activities may also be proposed by IOPD members; academic, political and municipal bodies, as well as the social networks and movements, which will then be selected by the programming committee on the basis of criteria of quality and diversity, and also depending on the availability of spaces.

Local actions will also be promoted in different cities throughout the year leading up to the 19th IOPD Conference, based on the different thematic areas to be dealt with at the Conference, cycles of conferences, cine-debates, workshops, seminars, etc. that reflect the plurality of the social and political actors involved. Likewise, at a worldwide level, the systematisation of experiences will be promoted, along with the contribution of theoretical inputs and remote interactive dialogues centred on the different thematic areas, concepts and approaches that are key to the stimulation of the debate. We invite all interested cities and local governments to promote and run workshops and seminars, or any other kind of events, throughout the world to debate these contents and, in this way, to enrich both the 2019 Conference and the Assembly.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, where 179 governments adopted a landmark Programme of Action which set out to empower women and girls for their sake, and for the benefit of their families, communities and nations.

We have made incredible gains since then, but too many people are still being left behind. And too many nations have not been able to fully reap the demographic dividend because young people and other groups still lack agency, education and access to critical health services.

Increasing the pressure is the deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. We cannot do that if we don’t also reach the goals laid out in the ICPD Programme of Action.

The World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders, convened by United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), is the largest gathering of mayors, presidents of associations, councillors, and local and regional practitioners from around the world. It also gathers the most influential local and regional leaders, councillors, local governments, partners, and actors implicated in the decision making of city and community life.

This year's edition, that will be held on 11-15 November in Durban, South Africa, will count on a renewed format and enhanced collaboration between members and partners.

Building on the centenary-old international movement of municipalities, the World Summit experience will include interactive and innovative formats built on four tracks that will guide participants, together with dedicated sessions for UCLG membership.

The International Day of Democracy provides an opportunity to review the state of democracy in the world. Democracy is as much a process as a goal, and only with the full participation of and support by the international community, national governing bodies, civil society and individuals, can the ideal of democracy be made into a reality to be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere.

The values of freedom, respect for human rights and the principle of holding periodic and genuine elections by universal suffrage are essential elements of democracy.  In turn, democracy provides the natural environment for the protection and effective realization of human rights. These values are embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and further developed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rightswhich enshrines a host of political rights and civil liberties underpinning meaningful democracies.

The link between democracy and human rights is captured in article 21(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states:

“The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.”

The rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and subsequent human rights instruments covering group rights (e.g.indigenous peoples, minorities, people with disabilities) are equally essential for democracy as they ensure an equitable distribution of wealth, and equality and equity in respect of access to civil and political rights.

The Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) is a multilateral leaders’ forum on Africa’s development, first convened in 1993 in Japan. The spirit of international partnership is reflected in the composition of TICAD’s co-organizers: the United Nations (UN), UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, and the Government of Japan since TICAD’s inauguration, with the African Union Commission (AUC) joining since 2010. Over the quarter of a century, TICAD has maintained its uniqueness as a pioneering, open, inclusive and multilateral forum to mobilize global support for African development. At the same time, it has continued to evolve to address both opportunities and challenges affecting Africa in alignment with both pan-African and international visions, such as African Union’s Agenda 2063 and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, respectively.

Committed to delivering tangible results on the ground, TICAD is also proud of its follow-up process. As part of it, this report reviews the progress made during the three-year period (2016-2018) since TICAD VI1.

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The theme of International Youth Day 2019, “Transforming education”, highlights efforts to make education more relevant, equitable and inclusive for all youth, including efforts by youth themselves. Rooted in Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” –  International Youth Day 2019 will examine how Governments, young people and youth-led and youth-focused organizations, as well as other stakeholders, are transforming education and how these efforts are contributing to the achievement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Statistics remind us that significant transformations are still required to make education systems more inclusive and accessible: (1) Only 10% of people have completed upper secondary education in low income countries; (2) 40 % of the global population is not taught in a language they speak or fully understand; and (3) over 75 % of secondary school age refugees are out of school. In addition, indigenous youth, young people with disabilities, young women, young people belonging to vulnerable groups or in vulnerable situations, etc. are facing additional challenges to access education that respects their diverse needs and abilities as well as reflects and embraces their unique realities and identities.

Making education more relevant, equitable and inclusive is crucial to achieving sustainable development. Education is a ‘development multiplier’ in that it plays a pivotal role in accelerating progress across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals, be it poverty eradication, good health, gender equality, decent work and growth, reduced inequalities, action on climate or building peaceful societies. Education should lead to effective learning outcomes, with the content of school curricula and pedagogy being fit for purpose, not only for the 4th industrial revolution and the future of work and life, but also for the opportunities and challenges that rapidly changing social contexts bring.

Today, there are 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 years, accounting for 16 per cent of the global population. The active engagement of youth in sustainable development efforts is central to achieving sustainable, inclusive and stable societies by the target date, and to averting the worst threats and challenges to sustainable development, including the impacts of climate change, unemployment, poverty, gender inequality, conflict, and migration. However, young people are almost three times more likely to be unemployed than adults and continuously exposed to lower quality of jobs, greater labor market inequalities, and longer and more insecure school-to-work transitions. In addition, women are more likely to be underemployed and under-paid, and to undertake part-time jobs or work under temporary contracts.

Traditionally organized by the Permanent Missions of Portugal and Sri Lanka, together with UNESCO, ILO and the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, this year the UN’s observance of the WYSD will shed light on the mechanisms needed to operationalize lifelong learning.

The Youth Cafe and its members has hosted a range of events and taken part in the photo competition and story series to celebrate World Youth Skills Day.

The High-level Political Forum, United Nations central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, provides for the full and effective participation of all States Members of the United Nations and States members of specialized agencies.

Under the theme "Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality", the meeting of the high-level political forum on sustainable development in 2019 convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council.

Organised by the European Commission, the European Development Days (EDD) bring the development community together each year to share ideas and experiences in ways that inspire new partnerships and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. The EDD is a participatory programme.EDD 2019's overarching title is "Addressing inequalities: building a world which leaves no one behind".

The Women Deliver 2019 Conference will take place 3-6 June 2019 in Vancouver, Canada and will be the world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights, and wellbeing of girls and women in the 21st century. It will serve as a catalyst for advocates working to achieve a more gender equal world.

More than 6,000 world leaders, influencers, advocates, academics, activists, and journalists will flock to Vancouver with the drive to accelerate progress for girls and women everywhere.

The conference will present new knowledge, promote world-class solutions, and engage a broad spectrum of voices. It will focus on several issues from health, nutrition, education, economic and political empowerment to human rights, good governance, and girls’ and women’s agency and equality.

The Youth Cafe is taking part in the first session of the UN-Habitat Assembly will be held from 27-31 May 2019, at the headquarters of UN-Habitat in Nairobi. The special theme for the UN-Habitat Assembly, as discussed during the twenty-first meeting of the Subcommittee on Policy and Programme of Work of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) held on 30 November 2018 and endorsed during the 71stRegular meeting of the CPR on 4 December 2018 is: “Innovation for Better Quality of Life in Cities and Communities”.  The CPR also endorsed the Sub theme as: “Accelerated implementation of the New Urban Agenda towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals”.