UNESCO has reaffirmed young people as a priority group at the end of the 225th session of its Executive Board, according to an article the organisation published on 22 October. Member States welcomed a youth-authored text, the Call by Young People for a New Culture of Peace in the Minds of Women and Men for the 21st Century, and asked that its recommendations feed into the organisation’s strategic thinking.
Where the Call Came From
UNESCO says 145 young leaders from 135 countries contributed to the Call through a youth-led consultation that ran from July to September 2026. The text was presented at events in Paris on 3 and 4 September, which UNESCO says were attended by Director-General Khaled El-Enany and by France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot. According to UNESCO’s summary, the Call stresses that young people should take part in decision-making and action across education, the sciences, culture, climate and digital technologies in building a more peaceful future. UNESCO adds that the outcome reaffirms its commitment to working with young people as “active partners and agents of change”.
What the Executive Board Decided
UNESCO reports that Member States placed the Call within the UNESCO80 reform process and the organisation’s future strategic direction. The Executive Board asked that the Call’s recommendations be considered as the UNESCO80 Roadmap is developed and put into practice. States were also encouraged to share the document widely, particularly among young people, through their National Commissions for UNESCO and related networks.
The Board also decided to convene an extraordinary session of the General Conference in January 2027. Its purpose, according to UNESCO, is to consider whether to proceed with preparing an international standard-setting instrument on young people and digital environments in the age of artificial intelligence. The organisation’s account mentions 29 January 2027 in connection with a further extraordinary session. UNESCO’s article does not report individual remarks from Board members, so the extent of support among delegations is not detailed in the source.
Why It Matters
Youth participation is often welcomed in principle but is harder to build into the formal machinery of intergovernmental bodies. Here, a consultation involving young leaders from 135 countries has been referred to the governing body of a UN agency and linked to a reform roadmap, which gives it a procedural route to influence. The planned January discussion is the clearest test: a standard-setting instrument on young people and AI would, if member states chose to pursue it, move the conversation from statements of intent towards shared rules. Whether that happens depends on decisions yet to be taken, and the Call itself is a set of recommendations rather than a binding commitment. For those who follow youth leadership and education policy, the next signals will be how National Commissions circulate the text and what the General Conference decides early next year.
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