In May 2025, more than 70 youth leaders from 30 countries gathered in Bangkok, Thailand, for a week-long United Nations Sustainable Development Goals event—the 2025 UN-SDGs Bootcamp & Forum—held at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) headquarters. Together, they explored innovative and actionable strategies to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The forum culminated in the release of the 2025 Bangkok Youth Sustainability Declaration, presented with great significance at the UN’s Asia-Pacific headquarters. This moment marked a powerful surge in youth-driven engagement in global policy agendas.
One of the forum’s key invited speakers—brought together through the collaboration of cross-border civil society organisations—was Jack Huang, Consultant to the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) and the forum’s Youth Impact Chair. In an exclusive interview with《The Icons》Bangkok team, he shared:“I’m grateful to the organisers for inviting me to serve as the Youth Impact Chair of this international forum. From the perspective of a volunteer, our role isn’t just to inspire—it’s to help youth leaders turn their ideals into real, community-based solutions.”
Jack Huang: Supporting the Scale of the Declaration through Regional Action with a Global Vision
This forum—jointly organised by the Chinese Youth Growth Foundation, the STUF United Fund Asia Pacific Center, and Southeast Bangkok University—was far more than a symbolic gathering. From early-stage policy simulations and local field research to transnational design workshops, every element was rooted in the insights and creativity of the youth leaders themselves. The process culminated in a substantial United Nations advocacy document: the 2025 Bangkok Sustainability Book.
“The declaration and the sustainability book are not just slogans—they represent more than four months of preparation and intercontinental collaboration,” said Jack Huang in an interview. “This marks the first time that youth from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas have co-created an SDGs action blueprint that is both locally grounded and globally impactful.” He stressed that the real value of this achievement lies in its ability to integrate policy design, community needs, and sustainable practice—an intersection too often overlooked in global advocacy work.
Youth Leaders Are Not Supporting Roles — They Are the Backbone of the Future
In addition to his role as a consultant to the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT), Jack Huang also serves as Programme Director at the UNITAR Global SDGs Leadership Centre. He has long championed multilateral youth training, sustainable leadership, and diplomatic capacity building. He is also an ESG strategy advisor to several green energy and infrastructure enterprises across Southeast Asia, actively bridging industry, community, and public governance while linking environmental finance with grassroots innovation.
“Talking about policy or theory alone is never enough,” he told《The Icons》Bangkok team. “We need to help young people understand how global frameworks are applied in community innovation, investment strategies, and cross-sector collaboration. The design of this forum was meant to show them that they are not observers of the future—they are participants and drivers of change in the present.”
International Forums and Advocacy Should Not Remain Only on Paper
This forum broke away from the conventional format of international conferences that often remain on paper. Instead of passively listening to speeches, participants engaged directly with local communities—conducting interviews, assessing needs, and forming multinational teams to co-design solution prototypes. Each step, from data consolidation to community dialogue and final presentations, was guided through structured training and mentorship.
One of the most acclaimed highlights, according to Jack Huang, was the SDGs Strategic Simulation Workshop led by Dr. Martin Venzky-Stalling, Chair of the Sustainability Development Committee of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand (JFCCT). This immersive exercise gave youth a hands-on understanding of the pivotal role foreign-invested enterprises play in Thailand’s sustainable transformation. The interactive format received highly positive feedback and enthusiastic participation from the attending youth.
Turning Advocacy into Action: The Integrated Impact of Institutional Recognition and International Visibility
“When a young person can stand inside the United Nations headquarters and present their sustainability action plan—backed by research data and guided by expert mentors—that’s the moment when advocacy truly becomes action,” said Jack Huang. He emphasised that the most valuable aspect of this forum lies in its integration of fieldwork, international visibility, and institutional support, creating a genuinely empowered testing ground for youth leadership.
This youth-led, expert-guided hybrid model is set to continue expanding. Huang shared that the organisers plan to hold regional follow-up forums in both Taipei and Nairobi this July, followed by a special youth dialogue session during the UN General Assembly in New York this September. By the end of the year, the movement will culminate at COP30 in Brazil, with a youth-led showcase of climate solutions from Global South nations—officially bringing this youth-driven sustainability wave onto the global stage.
“We need more of these spaces,” Huang concluded, “and more governments, companies, and institutions genuinely willing to stand behind young people.”
“The future is already here—it’s just a matter of deciding who we want to build it with.”
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