The Youth Forum (ECOSOC Youth Forum 2023), held between April 25 and 27 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Vice President for Global Engagement, YOKOI Atsufumi from Okayama University, a UNESCO Chairholder, appointed Ms. Sofía Bermúdez (enrolled at the University of El Salvador, Argentina), who participated in the forum as a representative as the Youth Ambassador of Okayama University UNESCO Chair. This conferment was the first attempt by Okayama University to give the title of Youth Ambassador of a UNESCO Chair to any student or member of society who is active internationally as a frontrunner of the UN Youth Network for collaboration.

Ms. Sofía Bermúdez is one of the Executive Committee representatives of the “SDG4 Youth Network,” the first youth network in the history of UNESCO. It cooperates directly with the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, and the representative handed over the “Youth Declaration” to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, at the “Transforming Education Summit” held at the UN General Assembly in September 2022. Ms. Bermúdez expressed her intention to “continue to proactively participate in the UN and international youth high-level meetings as a stakeholder, to talk about the importance of SDG4 (Quality Education for All) that is the key to all other SDGs as a Youth Ambassador of Okayama University UNESCO Chair, and to work together at all levels to facilitate the participation of youth in the education policies of each country.”

Okayama University will promote the well-being of the whole earth, together with its diverse stakeholders, as a university that makes a global contribution from its region through the initiatives and activities of the Okayama University UNESCO Chair.

■Okayama University UNESCO Chair
■Related news on the UN Transforming Education Summit
■[External website] Youth Declaration of the United Nations