Remarks Dennis Zulu UN Resident Coordinator #YouthLead(ership) Roundtable

important conversation. Your leadership shows that when young people take the lead, we all move closer to the future we want. I also warmly welcome our colleagues from the EU Delegation and thank them for standing with Jamaica’s youth in this space of dialogue and action.

This year, as we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the World Programme of Action for Youth, we are reminded of how central young people are to every aspect of sustainable development. Here in Jamaica, we see this every day – in youth-led innovations, in community activism, in cultural expression, and in the bold vision that young people bring to national conversations about progress.

The theme of today’s Roundtable, “Accelerating global and national progress through intergenerational collaboration,” could not be more timely. Young people are not just beneficiaries of development – you are drivers of change, and your leadership is critical if we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The UN Youth Strategy, Youth2030, commits us to scaling up action with and for young people in all that we do. And the Pact for the Future, agreed at the Summit for the Future last year, affirms the importance of youth leadership and intergenerational solidarity as essential pillars of a more just, sustainable, and inclusive world.

With only an hour slated for this conversation, my call today is simple: let us listen deeply to the priorities coming from this Roundtable and work together – youth, government, and all other development partners – to transform these insights into concrete commitments. The ideas you share today have the potential to inspire change not only in Jamaica, but across the globe.

So, to all the young leaders here, thank you for your courage, your advocacy, and your determination. This is your moment. Let us seize it together.

Thank you.