With the world’s 1.8 billion young people, it is critical the global community interact more with you to address and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the World Bank Group’s twin goals, and peace and stability around the world.

The Global Youth Forum 2016 will gather more than 150 partners and representatives from the public and private sectors, civil society, and young people themselves, to exchange new and innovative ideas, and to support the actions of the global community. The forum is designed around open discussions, based on evidence and experience, of the most effective ways to address both opportunities and  challenges facing young people and to engage young people in development.

Participants will learn new ways to support the transition of young people to adulthood, and to involve young people in efforts to achieve sustained, peaceful, and broad-based economic development. Key themes of the Forum include (1) the necessity of cross-sectoral collaboration, (2) the vital importance of evidence to designing effective programs, and (3) the need to find innovative new solutions to achieve these objectives.

This Forum will address topics of fundamental importance to young people in the process of development, including the building blocks of education, health, and employment; the context-setting issues such as climate change, migration, and technology; and the areas where policymakers are most concerned with young people: voice, governance, peace, and violence.

The Forum will also encourage and build upon the active participation of young change agents. Each plenary session will include the voices and views of young people, and will elicit new ideas from young social entrepreneurs, global influencers and activists.