Skip to content
  • About
  • Partner with Us
  • Indonesia
  • Subscribe
  • Log In
Primary Menu
  • Home
  • Latest
  • Topics
  • News
  • Brief
  • Interview
  • Opinion
  • Figure
  • Infographic
  • Video
  • Community
  • Partner
  • Press Release
  • Youth
  • Global
  • Featured
  • Soft News

Becoming Young Leaders for a Better Future

The UN Envoy on Youth is looking for young people who are finding scalable, impactful, and inspiring solutions to the world’s greatest challenges to be named the Young Leaders for Sustainable Development Goals.
by Nazalea Kusuma March 18, 2022
a poster of UN young leaders application with an image of six diverse young people young leaders sustainable development goals an initiative of UN envoy of youth applications now open

Photo by the UN

Young people have always been at the forefront of change. With their future at stake, it is unsurprising that they are active and invested in sustainable development. Young leaders all over the world are contributing to their communities today and even leading them to a better and fairer world tomorrow. The United Nations sees that, too.

Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) began in 2015. A year later, the UN Envoy on Youth revealed the inaugural class of the Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals – 17 young changemakers recognized for their leadership and contribution to a more sustainable world.

Every two years, the UN look for 17 young people from all sectors and backgrounds to be in the program. Throughout the term, these Young Leaders will engage young people in realizing the SDGs through their existing initiatives, platforms, and networks and collaborations with the UN and its partners. 

Class of 2016, 2018, and 2020

So far, there have been three periods of the Young Leaders program: 2016, 2018, and 2020. Let’s meet some of the outstanding youth from the program.

  • Lutfi Fadil Lokman from Malaysia, 2016

Photo by The UN

Lutfi is the founder and CEO of Hospitals Beyond Boundaries (HBB), a youth-led organization with a mission to build healthcare facilities serving underprivileged communities. The healthcare facilities are uniquely run as social enterprises by the local youth population. These youth are trained and employed as community health workers alongside doctors, nurses, and health professionals. From its establishment to 2016, HBB had trained and served more than 3,000 people.

  • Kriti Sharma from India, 2018

Photo by The UN

Kriti is an Artificial Intelligence expert and a leading global voice on ethical technology and its impact on society. She builds innovative AI technologies to solve global issues, from productivity to inequality to domestic abuse. In 2017, she spearheaded the launch of the Sage Future Makers Lab. This forum will equip young people worldwide with hands-on learning for entering a career in Artificial Intelligence. Her main drive is: What happens if disadvantaged groups don’t have a say in the technology we’re creating?

  • Hadiqa Bashir from Pakistan, 2020

Photo by The UN

Hadiqa is a feminist and visionary. She was born into a patriarchal society, which motivated her to work against Early & Forced marriages in Pakistan’s tribal regions. She worked to sensitize her community to the negative effects of child marriages by canvassing and lobbying legislators and religious leaders against child marriages. She is the founder of Girls United for Human Rights. She is also working to protect and promote Girls Rights in the Tribal Regions of Pakistan, especially in Khyber Pakhtun Khwa, Pakistan. 

Young Leaders 2022

Applications are now open for young changemakers worldwide to be the Young Leaders for Sustainable Development Goals 2022. This application phase runs from March 7 to March 31, 2022. 

The UN Envoy on Youth is looking for young people with leadership, innovation, achievement, influence, and integrity who are finding scalable, impactful, and inspiring solutions to the world’s greatest challenges.

Source: UN Envoy on Youth

Read more of our stories on youth issues here.  


Subscribe to Green Network Asia
Strengthen your personal and professional development with cross-sectoral insights on sustainability-related issues and sustainable development across the Asia Pacific and beyond.
Select Your Subscription Plan
Nazalea Kusuma
Editor at Green Network Asia | Website |  + postsBio

Naz is the Manager for International Digital Publications at Green Network Asia. She once studied Urban and Regional Planning and has lived in multiple cities across Southeast Asia. This personal experience has exposed her to diverse peoples & cultures and enriched her perspectives. Naz is an experienced and passionate writer, editor, translator, and creative designer with a decade worth of portfolio.

  • Nazalea Kusuma
    https://greennetwork.asia/author/nazalea/
    Living with Less: Does TikTok’s Underconsumption Core promote sustainable living?
  • Nazalea Kusuma
    https://greennetwork.asia/author/nazalea/
    Brain Rot and Its Impacts on Mental Health and Cognitive Abilities
  • Nazalea Kusuma
    https://greennetwork.asia/author/nazalea/
    Addressing the Challenges in Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Implementation
  • Nazalea Kusuma
    https://greennetwork.asia/author/nazalea/
    Dark Side of the Light: How light pollution affects people and the planet

Continue Reading

Previous: Leading with ESG: Why Executives & Boards Need Sustainability Education
Next: Call a Spade a Spade: Why the Term “Revenge Porn” is Misleading

Related Stories

Charcoal chip and charcoal ashes. Looking into Biochar as a Bioremediation Agent
  • Featured
  • Soft News

Looking into Biochar as a Bioremediation Agent

by Ayu Nabilah July 2, 2025
a tuvalu flag Australian Climate Visa for Citizens of Tuvalu: Showcasing cross-border partnership in light of the climate crisis
  • Featured
  • Soft News

Australian Climate Visa for Citizens of Tuvalu: Showcasing cross-border partnership in light of the climate crisis

by Kresentia Madina July 1, 2025
Small Islands in the middle of Raja Ampat seas Nickel Mining in Raja Ampat and the Widespread Cost of Natural Resource Exploitation
  • Featured
  • Soft News

Nickel Mining in Raja Ampat and the Widespread Cost of Natural Resource Exploitation

by Andi Batara June 30, 2025
blue refugee tent Lumbung Sosial: Challenges and Opportunities of Indonesia’s Social Barn Program
  • Exclusive
  • Featured
  • Soft News

Lumbung Sosial: Challenges and Opportunities of Indonesia’s Social Barn Program

by Kesya Arla June 27, 2025
a ladybug perched on a flower A Worrying State of Insect Decline
  • Featured
  • Soft News

A Worrying State of Insect Decline

by Kresentia Madina June 26, 2025
an orangutan sitting on a tree branch GEF Approves Funding for Biodiversity Conservation Projects in Indonesia
  • Exclusive
  • Featured
  • Soft News

GEF Approves Funding for Biodiversity Conservation Projects in Indonesia

by Abul Muamar June 25, 2025

About Us

  • GNA CEO’s Letter
  • GNA In-House Team
  • GNA Author Network
  • GNA Press Release Guidelines
  • GNA Op-ed Article Guidelines
  • GNA Community Content Guidelines
  • GNA Internship
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
© 2021-2025 Green Network Asia