The UN Summit of 2015 was indeed a historic one; the world leaders adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, the goals didn't come into force until 2016. With the aim of achieving these goals, member countries of UN will deploy efforts to put an end to poverty, eliminate inequalities, and curb climate change.
Furthermore, the world population is on rise like ever, but a surprising fact is that the youth population is the largest ever as per the stats from United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This also means that there's a lot of potential in today's youth population to tackle the problems of the world. Today, there are many young leaders, innovators, and pathfinders who are constantly striving to make this world a better place.
Though the government is presumed to build a national framework towards the achievement of the global goals, these young leaders and innovators are taking it as their primary responsibility to implement these goals.
MohithAgadi, a social media influencer, is one such leader who is committed to this cause. Agadi, the founder of the 'Initiative 17' framework, has been chosen to represent India at the 20th session of the Youth Assembly at the United Nations, New York. The fundamental focus of this framework is to encourage and inspire students, academic institutions, and youth to help implement the global goals.
Working as a digital marketing consultant, Agadi has been a worldwide proponent for human rights and climate change. "Empowering women is empowering humanity," says Agadi. Supported by more than 200K followers on Social media, he has augmented the reach of UN sustainable development goals mission by inspiring youth to act.
When asked what inspired him to create Initiative 17, Agadi says he was inspired by the statement given by H.E. Peter Thomson, President of the 71st session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, "Young people must be empowered with the education, knowledge, skills and opportunity to participate as contributors, innovators, and pacesetters in sustainable development efforts for the betterment of this world." To support these efforts, Thomson had written to government heads urging them to include the SDGs in the education curricula of all schools, so that youth understands the 2030 Agenda's raison d'etre and understand SDGs in the light of both rights and responsibilities.
Agadi had also been working toward The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' (FAO) "#ZeroHunger" campaign and has been successful in driving huge attention towards the cause of the campaign. His contribution has been appreciated by FAO.
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Agadi stresses how the youth all over the globe need to take prompt constructive measures to reverse the damage that has been done to the environment. "One must leave an inheritance to their next generation in form of safer environment," says Agadi.
His Initiative 17 gives a way to the young leaders, students, and innovators to voice their concerns regarding environment, suggest solutions for sustainable development, and seek support while bringing about a change in their communities concurrently. "Initiative 17 online campaign has been a huge success with more than 125K youth engaged on social media from across the world. We are now working on a framework to appeal to youth, especially students who can voluntarily add to their curriculum at least one sustainable development goal," said Agadi.
Every year the Youth Assembly at the United Nations is organized to stimulate and encourage youth participation in building a sustainable future that includes everyone and leaves no one behind. The conference will be held from 9th - 12th August, 2017. The three Permanent Missions to UN have been chosen to co-organize the conference as Youth Assembly's lead endorsers - Republic of Kenya, Portugal, and Sri Lanka. This edition of the conference will focus on creating sustainable solutions for social, economic, and environmental facets of today's world.