UNCTAD 2021 Youth Forum for Young Leaders

Pull up: Change Di Riddim

The world stands at a critical point, with its inequalities in sharp focus as the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic impact continues to increase unresolved challenges. Global leaders are now tasked with deciding whether the global agenda will focus on the resumption of business as usual or a redefined collaborative mission that translates the hopes and aspirations of people around the world into new and lasting prosperity for all.

From 16 to 18 September 2021, the UNCTAD Youth Forum will offer a dynamic platform to young men and women around the world to engage in critical and interactive dialogues in the form of discussion and career building sessions, projects presented by youth, Youth o’Clocks, and networking at the Youth Café; all with the aim to prepare a Youth Declaration that will be officially submitted to governments at the UNCTAD15 ministerial Conference.

With the theme “Pull up: Change Di Riddim“, the forum will be focusing on innovation, inclusion and youth empowerment for developmental transformation.

The forum will continue during UNCTAD15 from 3 to 7 October 2021 where forum participants will be offered the opportunity to share their views with global leaders and present their Youth Declaration.

This year’s forum is open for students and young professionals between the ages of 18 and 30 who speak English, are interested in trade and development-related issues and want to contribute to shaping the world that their generation will be at the helm of in 2030.

Objectives of the Forum

• Facilitate the exchange of experiences among the youth and strengthen a network of future leaders from around the world.
• Foster an interactive dialogue between the youth and global players working towards the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, offering the youth a platform to express their views on issues of concern and areas where they wish to see greater action, including through a Youth Declaration.
• Raise greater awareness on youth-led projects and how to enhance youth involvement in sustainable development programmes.

• Table of Content
• About United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
• UNCTAD Youth Forum
• Requirements for UNCTAD Youth Forum Qualification
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

The 15th session of the UNCTAD quadrennial ministerial conference (UNCTAD15) will be held virtually between Barbados and Geneva from 3 to 7 October 2021, with pre-conference events running online throughout the year, starting from April 2021. The conference is the highest decision-making body of UNCTAD at which member states assess current trade and development issues and formulate global policy responses. It also sets the organization’s work priorities for the next four years. UNCTAD15 comes at a time when there is a need to reignite a spirit of optimism and collaboration glo... continue reading

UNCTAD Youth Forum

Requirements for UNCTAD Youth Forum Qualification

UNCTAD will pre-select forum participants, who should meet the following criteria:

• Be between the ages of 18 and 30.
• Be able to speak and understand English.
• Have experience (from their studies or work) in the areas of UNCTAD’s work/focus.

Evidence of projects related to trade and development (academic and professional) will be considered as experience in the field. Participants will then be invited to describe their experiences in a video (please see the application process section below).

Selection Criteria

The UNCTAD15 Youth Forum is designed for youth participants from around the world. The selection criteria will be based on principles of equitable geographical representation, balanced gender distribution, diversity of backgrounds (e.g., age, areas of studies and additional experience), and the quality of the supporting materials submitted with applications (e.g., the originality in the video).

An UNCTAD committee will select the forum participants. If you are not selected to attend the forum online, you can still participate through its preparatory discussions and follow the event via social media (Facebook and Twitter @UNCTADYouth and Instagram @UNCTADYouthForum).

Successful applicants will be notified no later than 10 September 2021. An announcement will be made on social media once the selection process is completed.

Application Deadline

How to Apply

Click here and fill in the online application form. Please ensure that you:

• Create a short video (of maximum duration of two minutes and in mp4 format only) explaining your motivation for wanting to participate in the UNCTAD15 Youth Forum.
Creativity and originality are encouraged. Upload the video to either YouTube or Vimeo as explained below:

o To YouTube:

1. Sign into your YouTube account.
2. Click on Upload at the top of the page.
3. Select the video you would like to upload.
4. Click Publish to finish uploading. Set the video privacy setting to Unlisted.

1. Click Done to finish the upload and click Share to privately share your video.
   For more guidance, please click here.
2. o To Vimeo :
3. Sign into your Vimeo account.
4. Click the Upload video button located on the home page of the site.
5. Once you click the Upload link, you will be taken to the upload page.
6. Click the Choose a File to Upload button, which will launch an upload dialog box. Choose the file that you want to upload and then click on Select.
   For more guidance, please click here.
   • Fully complete the online application form, including the URL of your video and send it.

For more details, visit UNCTAD website.