In 2025, South Africa holds the G20 presidency, with world leaders scheduled to convene later in the year to discuss priorities under the theme: ‘Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability.’ On 27-28 February 2025, UN Women South Africa Multi-Country Office and the South African Institute of International Affairs youth division (Youth@SAIIA) organized the Youth and G20 workshop titled ‘Bridging the Gap for Global Impact’ in Johannesburg.
Bringing together 150 passionate young leaders from high schools and universities, the workshop, supported by the Irish government, targeted 18–25-year-olds, providing them with tools for effectively engaging decision-makers on shaping a more inclusive future. On the first day of the workshop, the focus was on unpacking gender equality in the context of the G20 and its application to Y20. A panel discussion on gender advocacy enabled participants to identify key gender issues and develop advocacy strategies and actions for promoting gender equality.
UN Women South Africa-Multi Country Office Representative Aleta Miller delivered the keynote address, emphasizing the importance of discussing issues affecting the future. “There is a critical need for conversations around the global events that affect the future—conversations that can change the status quo and promote the inclusion of women, girls, and youth,” Miller stated, highlighting the significance of platforms like the workshop.
The workshop participants received capacity-building training during the second day. Strategic communication and digital engagement combined with drafting and presenting national action plans on policy made up the training agenda.
“A significant number of Africa’s population is youth, which means they’re going to take on how policy is developed, what the political landscape looks like, what the economic landscape looks like, and even social policies. It’s very important that when youth are in those spaces they are sufficiently capacitated to engage with such issues and not just come in sort of blindsided. Youth are not just the leaders of tomorrow, they are the leaders of today,” said Neo Mofokeng, Programme Analyst for Generation Equality, at UN Women South Africa Multi-Country office.
The Young Leaders’ Declaration emerged from this workshop as a final product which featured five fundamental recommendations. These include increased youth employment, universal healthcare access, standardized education, gender-inclusive governance, and climate justice measures. The document, delivered to the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) during the closing ceremony at the South African Institute of International Affairs, represents young leaders’ commitment to driving transformative change through concrete policy proposals.
The conference resonated deeply with attendees like Seipone Soteti (18) and Dimpho Mudika (18), first-year students at Wits University. “For a long time, I felt like I couldn’t fill the shoes of the opportunities given to me,” Seipone shared. “But sometimes, you have to do things even when you’re scared.” Dimpho echoed this sentiment, recognizing the value of exposure: “You can’t work towards something if you don’t understand the world you live in.” Both highlighted the importance of youth voices in shaping decisions, especially in education. “Older generations shouldn’t decide our future. “We should be shaping it ourselves,” Seipone said.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Women – Africa.