New York, Sep 30 (IANS) Youth champions and advocates of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India shared their perspectives during high-level dialogues, conversations with global leaders, climate advocacy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals Action Awards held during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
UNDP India youth champion Sanjana Sanghi, youth climate champion Prajakta Koli and advocate for the SDGs Bhumi Pednekar used their platforms to draw attention to the role people, especially youngsters, can play in shaping a more sustainable and inclusive future, the UNDP highlighted.
During the UNGA session, Sanghi called for moving beyond seeing young people only as beneficiaries of development, and instead recognising them as partners and decision makers. On September 16, Sanghi, UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo, UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Kanni Wignaraja and Permanent Representatives from across Asia and the Pacific participated in a high-level dialogue ‘A Generation at the Crossroads: Dynamics Facing Youth in Asia and the Pacific’.
Drawing on her engagement with young changemakers through Youth Co:Lab, Sanghi stressed the need to give young people greater access and a genuine role in decisions that impact their lives. She also participated in a conversation with Alexander De Croo during the UNGA session and shared her viewpoint on the question of what young people need to build their future, UNDP India stated.
She also shared her message on youth agency at the UN Peace Circle held at UN Headquarters to mark the International Day of Peace on September 21. Sanghi participated alongside UN Under-Secretary-General Melissa Fleming, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Diene Keita, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador Mary Maker, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador Muzoon Almellehan and youth representatives in the UN’s ‘Hear Us. Act Now for a Peaceful World’ campaign. She spoke about the importance of investing in young people, including in education and health, and reiterated that young people should be involved in decisions instead of simply being beneficiaries of them.
Sanghi joined the session ‘Powering the Transition: India’s Climate Economy and What it Means for the Global South ‘, where discussions were held on green growth, decarbonisation, mobilising capital and the need for an equitable transition, including what India’s experience could mean for countries across the Global South.
She also held a meeting with UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, where they discussed climate action and the role young people can play in shaping a more sustainable future.
UNDP India Youth Climate Champion Prajakta Koli was a member of the high-level judging panel for the 2026 UN SDG Action Awards. She became the first Indian to serve on the awards jury and was part of the panel which recognised people and initiatives translating the SDGs into action. The awards celebrate changemakers using creativity, innovation and collective action to advance the 2030 Agenda.
Through her engagement at the 81st session of the UNGA, UNDP India Advocate for the SDGs Bhumi Pednekar highlighted the urgency of climate action and the role people can play in protecting the planet.
“Together, the engagements of Sanjana, Prajakta and Bhumi around UNGA81 reflected different ways in which public voices can help bring development issues closer to people. From youth agency and participation to climate action and the SDGs, their engagements carried a common message: achieving sustainable development will require more people, especially young people, to have the opportunity, platforms and agency to help shape the decisions that determine their future,” UNDP India mentioned in a statement.
–IANS
akl/as
