The Baha’i International Community (BIC) partnered with the NGO Committee on Ageing yesterday to host an online event entitled “A Future that Works: Consulting Across Generations to Build Prosperity.”

Diplomats, policy makers, entrepreneurs, and civil society actors gathered for the panel discussion on the sidelines of the United Nations’ 60th session of the Commission for Social Development, which focused on inclusive and resilient recovery from the covid pandemic. Reevaluating the nature of work—in particular, creating meaningful future work opportunities for young people—is a central dimension of this recovery.

“We can begin this exploration by rethinking the purpose of work, which over the last few years has clearly been shown to fall beyond solely acquiring material means or maximizing profits,” opened BIC representative Liliane Nkunzimana, who moderated the event.

Highlighting the role of youth as vital protagonists contributing to social change through their own careers, Mr. Stefano Guerra, Attaché to the Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations, said in his remarks: “It is almost a cliche, but young persons are indeed the ones that can best change our world towards sustainable development and realizing human rights.” 

Mr. Guerra also said that quality education was necessary for youth to develop “the knowledge, understanding, skills, behaviors, and values that enable [them] to plan an active role in the community, and to know their rights, responsibilities, and duties, and thus become aware of their role in society.”

Ms. Erica Dhar, Director of Global AARP and member of the NGO Committee on Ageing, said in her remarks that younger generations would benefit from learning alongside those who are older: “We live in an intergenerational world—in our societies, in our families. So why not embrace the topic of inter-generation?” she said. “It should not be a situation where we are just talking about youth, or just talking about older persons. … It is so important that we focus on the life course approach.”

The nature of work, a point of consensus and concern to all ages, was highlighted by Mr. José Soto—an employer and entrepreneur working to apply principles such as integrity, responsibility, honesty, transparency, justice, and fairness in the agricultural industry in Costa Rica. “Regarding business …we need to change a model based on profit to one based on sustainability that should promote sharing, collaborating, learning, capacity building, environmental awareness, and innovation,” he said.

And in looking to the future, Ms. Ashley Yong, DGC Youth Representative to the United Nations of Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, said: “I always wonder, how would my life look like after 20 years? How do we adapt with the changing environment with such impermanence, and how do we contribute to the well being of the society and environment? It is very important for all the generations, especially the young generation now, to learn to have empathy towards other people and the planet, so that they can not only improve their own lives, but also to help those in need.”

The BIC plans to build on this conversation through a series of monthly dialogues on the subject of how youth can meaningfully engage in various discourse areas, beginning 22 April 2022. More information about the series will be made available in due course.