As a young Christian, having the opportunity to attend the Summit of the Future was an immense privilege. I was fortunate to be in spaces with global leaders and influential civil society actors. I listened to them address the key issues of our world: peace, security, sustainable development, youth, future generations, and emerging technologies. For the last year to 18 months the WCC, alongside governments and civil societies, has been working to provide input into the Pact for the Future. This is a document that details the focus areas moving towards the future.
I heard a phrase repeated numerous times throughout my week at the Summit…“the future starts today.” It is easy to look at the future and think it starts tomorrow, but if we want to change tomorrow, we must start today. With the climate crisis worsening at a rapid rate, and peace and security threats rising daily, now is the time to act. We must keep these issues at the forefront of our minds and work at all times with governments, activists, local actors, civil society, and the faith-based community to put our words into action.
For many young people across the world, including myself, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of challenges and issues we face. Every day we see news of the worsening effects of climate change, increased conflict and violence, innocent people being unlawfully persecuted, increasing presence of disease and illness with limited access to services, and so much more. Since attending the summit and seeing many people from many faiths come together to discuss these issues, it has given me a new sense of hope. We must stand proud in our identity as faith actors and faith-based organisations, to continue to advocate for peace and justice at all levels of governance.
Faith-based actors and faith communities are uniquely placed to comment on the issues our world is facing. We are present in communities where the brunt of these issues are being experienced. We often understand the true needs and experiences of communities. We, as faith actors and as faith-based organisations, have valuable insights which we can share with governments at local, national, regional, and international levels. However, the vote of civil society, especially the faith community, at times felt very quiet during the summit. This left me feeling challenged on how can we increase the faith presence within international governance spaces.
Throughout the summit, I reflected on the importance of interfaith dialogue. As faith-based actors and organisations, we must recognise and embrace the diversity of beliefs and cultures across the world. Engaging with individuals and organisations from other faith backgrounds, I believe, is an essential tool to enhancing our collaborative efforts to address the global challenges we face today. Our common beliefs of caring for our creation and protecting the peace should unite us, and we must work together to amplify the importance of the faith-based community within the UN system and beyond.
For me, one of the key areas of focus during the summit was youth and young persons engagement. I was inspired to see thousands of young people from diverse backgrounds and cultures uniting to advocate for meaningful participation within decision-making and change-making spaces. We are not just the leaders of tomorrow but the change-makers of today. My generation has a deep-rooted desire to create a positive impact on the world. We deserve to have our voices heard on key issues which affect our today and our tomorrow including climate and sustainable development, inequality, and social justice. These areas are not only pressing in the global political context, but are also deeply intertwined with our values as Christians.
I was challenged by the participation of youth and young people this week. I was delighted to be present in the general assembly hall at the UNHQ where thousands of passionate young people advocated for a space for them to be heard. And in that space, that call felt heard. However, moving beyond the “youth-focused” afternoon of the week, the emphasis on youth participation dwindled. I was challenged because as a society we must do better integrating youth participation into all areas of work. Our voices must be heard not just in allocated spaces, but in governments, policy spaces, at local and national level, within the government, and civil society sectors. We must do all that we can to ensure that young people not only have a seat at the table, but have space to actively and meaningfully participate in decision-making spaces. Young people are not just spectators; we have a valuable voice. We may not have years of experience and qualifications, but we have things to say, and we deserve to be listened to.
In these uncertain times where it seems as though the multilateral systems are less and less effective, attending the summit reminded me of the importance of multilateralism. As crises like global pandemic and climate change have shown, no country can tackle these in isolation. We must work collectively to support one another and set aside our differences, and work towards peace and justice. The UN was founded after two world wars, a time of great tragedy and unrest. Countries were able to set their differences aside and work together to serve the people of the world. I truly believe that despite our differences, we can work to achieve unity again, working towards peace and justice for all. I believe that young people, especially young Christians, must take an active role in the global community to foster peace, compassion, and unity. This seems like a mighty task, but I believe that if we come together we can indeed make peace.