The Radicalization of UN Youth Forum

By | April 24, 2025

NEW YORK, April 24 (C-Fam) The recently concluded UN Youth Forum platformed young voices advocating for some of the most controversial UN policies and programs, promoting young people as key agents for the achievement of the abortion and gender ideology agendas. Panelists asked for the development of technologies that promote abortion access, AI systems that normalize non-conventional gender roles and sexual identities, and apps that offer widespread access to sexuality education.

Hosted by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the three-day event represented the largest gathering of young people at the UN. It featured several thematic panel discussions and breakout sessions under the wider umbrella theme of “[a]dvancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions” for the UN 2030 Agenda.

During one of the breakout sessions, the Youth Representative of Iceland said that “we must showcase non-conventional gender and parental roles as not only a possibility but as a norm,” and advocated for diverse family structures and a ”wider, more inclusive understanding of parenthood” which “allows equal recognition of the equal nonconventional role of parents that belong to the LGBTQI+ community and single parents.”

Roman Gojayev, a gender activist from Azerbaijan and UNFPA Youth Representative to ICPD30, attributed episodes of gender-based violence and lack of paternal involvement in children’s lives to “toxic masculinity, compulsory heterosexuality, and patriarchy mode of colonialism” which he calls “a disease of society” that dates back to a “deep cultural and historical denial of sexuality and intimacy.”

Gojayev went on to say that “this is the same mindset that assumed that the female Algerian boxer was a trans. This is the same mindset that refused to elect Kamala Harris as President […] This is a disease […] that belongs everywhere. It is a collective trauma rooted in our colonial legacies.”

The forum also featured an interactive dialogue on the intersection of youth leadership, technology, and health, where young panelists advocated for the inclusion of youth in the development of AI and other technological tools.

Rehman Hassan, a member of the WHO Youth Council and a former advisor for Biden’s AI Global policy, talked about AI algorithms that “repeatedly misclassify experiences of distress from female, trans and non-binary youth” and said the answer is to “fundamentally redesign the system, to reclaim the tools.”

Diene Keita from UNFPA talked about UNFPA’s investment in a digital app in Palestine that provides “a private and inclusive space for young people to access sexuality education, helping break down social and cultural barriers.”

Keita said that in Tunisia, UNFPA “supported the creation of a podcast, radio, and TikTok breaking taboos and becoming the first regular program on FM radio to openly discuss sexuality-related topics.”

A Youth representative from the Digital Transformation for Health Lab said that based on a study they carried out, “Youth believe top health priorities that the digital system should address […] are mental health and sexual and reproductive health.”

Several other youth representatives from Angola, Suriname, Family Planning 2030, and Digital Transformation for Health Lab talked about young people’s need for sexual and reproductive health services, while others, including a youth representative from Mexico, talked specifically about access to abortion.

Platforming young people to promote the sexual and abortion rights agenda is not unique to the UN Youth Forum. This year’s UN Commission on Population and Development (CPD) and UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) featured similar remarks delivered by youth representatives from Western countries and groups like Plan International Denmark and UN Women.

It should be pointed out that these young people were all recruited by leftwing UN agencies and foundations that reject the pro-life and pro-family stance.

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