Intensity impact and Drive transformative change with and for young people worldwide.

The Youth2030 Phase 2 (2025–2030) presents a comprehensive Strategic Priorities and Results Framework, charting a bold path forward to intensify impact and drive transformative change with and for young people worldwide. Launched in 2018 by the UN Secretary-General, Youth2030 — the UN Youth Strategy — is the umbrella framework guiding the UN system’s work with and for youth. Now, over six years into its implementation, acceleration is needed at all levels to meet the strategy’s goals. The report focuses on accelerating the implementation of Youth2030 at the global, regional, and national levels. The Youth2030 Phase 2 (2025–2030) has been developed to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), placing youth at the front and center of this work while addressing the gaps identified in the first phase. Building on the UN Youth Strategy’s Priority and Foundational Areas, Youth2030 Phase 2 is supported by six strategic priorities aimed at driving systemic change: 

1. Empowering and engaging youth meaningfully: fostering meaningful youth engagement by strengthening youth-led organizations, networks, and movements; enhancing advocacy and outreach with and for youth; and promoting a UN culture that champions youth empowerment and participation at all levels. 

2. Boosting SDG implementation with and for youth: accelerating SDG implementation with and for youth by strengthening UN support for inclusive policymaking in collaboration with youth; scaling multi-stakeholder and joint initiatives for national impact; and partnering with a range of stakeholders to incubate and scale youth-led solutions. 

3. Advancing knowledge and enhancing capacities for working with and for youth: strengthening institutional and stakeholder capacities by enhancing access to data, evidence, tools, and knowledge to advance evidence-based and youth-responsive policies, cross-sectoral programming, and SDG acceleration with and for youth. 4. Unlocking resources for the youth agenda: unlocking diverse and sustainable financing for youth policy-programming and engagement by strengthening advocacy, increasing resource mobilization efforts, and expanding direct funding for youth-led projects and initiatives. 

5. Transforming the UN workforce and organizational culture: transforming the UN workforce by scaling policies, initiatives, and innovations that attract, recruit, and retain young talent (35 years or younger) and expanding fair, equitable, high-quality internship opportunities for young people at all levels, including those from developing countries.

 6. Strengthening accountability systems for working with and for youth: strengthening UN system-wide accountability for working with and for youth by integrating the youth agenda into coordination and leadership mechanisms, and improving the tracking of investments and results, while continuing to implement and support ongoing efforts

These efforts will continue to be advanced by the High-Level Steering Committee (HLSC), which provides strategic direction, supported by the Joint Working Group, serving as the technical leadership body, and time-bound Task Teams that address specific areas requiring transformative action. Coordination across the UN system is managed by the UN System Coordination and Accountability Section within the United Nations Youth Office, which functions as the Secretariat for the strategy. At the core of Phase 2 is a well-defined Results Framework that translates the strategic priorities into measurable outputs, outcomes, and impacts. This framework builds on the Youth2030 Scorecards developed in Phase 1, incorporating advanced data collection, trend analyses, and thematic reviews to provide a comprehensive overview of progress. By integrating quantitative metrics with qualitative insights, the framework enables targeted interventions, identifies best practices, and ensures that the strategy remains responsive to evolving global challenges. Building on the foundations established in the first phase (2018–2024) and aligning with the UN Youth Strategy’s Foundational and Priority Areas, Youth2030 Phase 2 provides a framework for accelerating the collective commitment to place young people at the heart of transformative change. By reinforcing strategic priorities and operationalizing them through a robust Results Framework, Phase 2 sets the stage for a sustainable, equitable, and inclusive future, ensuring that all young people are empowered to shape the policies and decisions that affect their lives and the world around them.