Although there is no specific SDG on youth, many of the 169 targets and indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have brought a strong youth-specific focus–every single SDG will require youth to succeed.¹

The question is why are youth so important for SDG success. One obvious reason is that there are so many young people in the world today. And if the world has to indeed move ahead to a better place, it will require harnessing the creative and entrepreneurial energy of the young.

The second is the ‘can-do attitude’ of the youth. There is no mountain high enough for them especially when it comes to the social problems staring India and the world, they are eager to lend a helping hand. At iVolunteer, we get lots of young people with questions like how can I help, what skills can I offer to someone, how can I make a better tomorrow, how can I make a difference? Youth don’t want to just question and criticise. They also want to take action and make the world a better place. And this is where our hope lies for success of the SDGs. Youth participation is our silver bullet to make some quantum leap to make this world a better place for those who have been living in very poor and disadvantageous conditions. Together we have lots to do. And we have to do it now. There might not be another opportunity.

Youth are an integral aspect of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and every goal requires youth participation to succeed. But how will the youth participate? What is it that the youth can start doing to actually make an impact under the SDGs?

Gain knowledge about the SDGs

For any young person who wants to engage with the SDGs, the first question that they need to ask is what and how much do they know about the SDGs. I guess this is the starting point. To read as much information as possible about the SDGs - what they include, how they have been formulated, which organisation is leading charge in India etc. There is a lot of material available on the internet on all these things. Once the youth know about the SDGs, then comes action. In my opinion, awareness of SDGs is number one priority. The more people know about it, the more they will demand action from their elected representatives.

I feel that every young person in India can contribute towards building awareness about SDGs. They can do it through organising offline or online chat sessions (twitter chat for instance), speaking to their local elected representatives, using social media actively to name a few. Young people can also write blogs, focusing on youth and poverty as well as youth in poverty. And to do this, they don’t need a formal volunteering opportunity with any organisation.

Youth can get involved in their communities by raising awareness about the SDGs, participating in volunteering events and helping support programmes that are linked to SDGs. There are 17 SDG goals from eliminating hunger to providing clean water and sanitation to everyone. Youth can choose a few goals, which they like and start working on them. Find volunteering opportunities through platforms like iVolunteer to start with.

Another interesting way to get engaged with the SDGs is to petition. Now a days, there are many websites like change.org that allow you to create an online petition easily. They can choose a number of causes from SDGs like reducing water pollution (SDG 6) or reducing over fishing in oceans ( SDG 14).

Climate change (SDG 13) is another goal to take action on where the youth can make a huge difference. If they were to reduce their own consumption, it will have a substantial effect on climate change. Just using a phone longer can have a ripple effect on the global supply change for metals, rare earth metals, plastics, thereby reducing the impact of climate change. Reduce energy consumption in your own home. Take public transport or car pool.

Youth can check if things are happening on the ground or not as far as the implementation of the SDGs is concerned. For instance, check the status of education in your neighbourhood government school. Share information on social media and through blogs. Be the eyes and ears on the ground and demand accountability from the local governments to ensure that no one is left behind.

A growing concern in today’s world is intolerance for others views, religions and way of life. In my opinion, the basic cause for this is inequality and poor understanding of each other’s ideas and beliefs. SDG 10 tries to address this. Youth with their natural flair for openness to other cultures and way of life can make a huge difference here. They can organise dialogue with one another and foster peace and understanding. They can collaborate on projects internationally that allow them to help build a sense of harmony between cultures and countries.

The other way to engage is to identify 1-2 SDGs that are closer to your heart and take a deep dive. Find long term volunteering opportunities with a non-profit working in these areas and see what is actually happening on the ground. For instance, every year, India Fellow (http://www.indiafellow.org) provides full time work opportunity with non-profits. This can be a starting point. May be at the end of this, you might start your own non-profit or social enterprise and make a difference to the SDGs.