Towards an AusNZPac Youth SDG Index: A youth-led pilot to measure progress towards the SDGs
A youth-led report that is the first in the world to measure youth progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has found that young people in the Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region are falling behind on achieving the United Nations 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.
Prepared with the input and support of close to 40 young people across the region, Towards an AusNZPac Youth SDG Index: A youth-led pilot to measure progress towards the SDGs shows that in their current form, the SDGs do not entirely encapsulate the concerns of youth, despite youth being disproportionately impacted by many sustainable development challenges compared to the general population.
Released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Youth AusNZPac – a UN initiative which is hosted by the Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI) in the region – the report sought to analyse national data for both youth (ages 15-24) and the general population across 19 SDG targets prioritised by young people. During the consultation process, young people collectively highlighted the pressures of a post pandemic world, where higher levels of unemployment, poverty and psychological distress were being experienced.
The report found that challenges young people were more impacted by included:
- Psychological distress
- Suicide mortality rate
- Unemployment
- Rent overburden
- Homelessness
In identifying these gaps, the report calls for a more robust measurement tool which can be used internationally and offers the framework developed as a starting point to build on.
Read the full report.
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