April 25th 2025
New York, April 2025 - The ECOSOC Youth Forum is the United Nation’s central platform for youth dialogue on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, offering space for young people to engage with UN bodies, Member States, and civil society to work together in transforming the world into a safer, healthier, and more sustainable place. This year’s ECOSOC Youth Forum welcomed a strong presence of young participants, reflecting the growing recognition of the important role youth play in shaping global development. This year, the five key Sustainable Development Goals under review at the High-level Political Forum were the focus of the ECOSOC Youth Forum: SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
In this dynamic setting, Inês Costa Louro, a youth advocate from Portugal and alumna of the 2023 UNODC Youth Forum on drug use prevention, was invited to address one of today’s key global challenges: health and well-being. In the session for SDG 3, youths, Member States and other stakeholders discussed the urgent need to embrace digital modernisation to achieve health equity, the impact of the digital environment on mental health and substance use among young people, and the importance of creating formal mechanisms for youth engagement in health policymaking. During her intervention, Inês emphasized the role of youth in public health policy and the urgent need to address the digital determinants of health, particularly as they relate to substance use and mental wellbeing. "Every day, young people are targeted by industries promoting unhealthy behaviors through social media. It’s time we use these platforms to protect young people as well," she stated.
As she addressed both her youth peers and Member State representatives, she stressed the need to co-create solutions, establish formal mechanisms for youth engagement, and invest in youth-led health initiatives. “We are not just the future; we are the present, and we are here today. We are changing the world now,” she affirmed. Drawing on her experience in being involved in the development of a drug prevention programme and leading digital advocacy efforts, she spoke of the challenges posed by misinformation in online spaces. “Every day we open our phones and are targeted by the skilled marketing of big industries,” she said. “We can’t avoid being misinformed, mimicking risky behaviours or choosing to try substances that are harmful to our health—even in the smallest quantities.” She highlighted how social media, while often a space for connection, can also promote harmful behaviours – particularly among young people – by spreading unverified information and normalizing substance use.
Her message extended beyond critiquing current gaps in youth engagement, as she also indicated concrete examples of how meaningful youth participation can lead to stronger, more effective public health responses. She cited UNODC’s Friends in Focus initiative as a model of peer-to-peer drug prevention where young people were involved from the project’s creation through to its implementation. “Turn your eyes to great examples happening already all over the world, like UNODC’s project Friends in Focus, that uses peer-to-peer education to prevent substance use. Young people were actively involved in creating this project from scratch and saw it through implementation both in Italy and Serbia, all in the space of a year,” she said. And as Inês closed her remarks, she called youth to “Be bold. Be loud.(...) Be your biggest cheerleader. I believe in all of us.”
After her participation at the ECOSOC Youth Forum, she described it as “the UN’s go-to event to talk about youth engagement, and match advocacy and testimonials with real action.” She added, “Being able to share my experiences with both my young peers and Member States allowed me to wrap up the session with calls to action that I hope come to fruition soon.” Contributions of Inês illustrate how youth-led approaches can contribute meaningfully to global health and development efforts, especially in the context of prevention and well-being.
UNODC remains committed to empowering young people through its Youth Initiative and evidence-based prevention programming. By creating spaces where youth voices can shape policies and lead on issues that affect their lives directly, these efforts aim to build more resilient, healthier communities-led by the very people who know their needs best. And empowering youth to be involved and stay engaged can lead to numerous opportunities, and Inês’s journey from the UNODC Youth Forum to the ECOSOC Youth Forum exemplifies what becomes possible when young leaders are equipped with the tools and platforms to contribute meaningfully.
For more information on UNODC’s youth engagement and prevention initiatives, please click here.
