Be messengers of hope: Pope Francis to youth

For the summit, around 130 students from 60 countries will take part in a series of workshops, debates and discussions. Participants are aged between 12 and 18 and include a delegation from Ukraine. The global youth tourism summit celebrates and promotes the role that young people will play in shaping tourism sector in the years to come

Pope Francis has sent an historic message of support to UNWTO's first global youth tourism summit. As the summit gets underway in Sorrento, Italy, he called on young participants to make the most of the unique opportunity to develop the knowledge and the skills they will need to build a better future for tourism and for their home communities.

"The experiences that you will make [in Sorrento] will be enshrined in your memories," Pope Francis said. "This is how you will grow and will be prepared to assume more important roles. I wish that you will be messengers of hope and of rebirth for the future. I send you my blessings and my greetings," he added.

He also welcomed the young participants' commitment to peace and solidarity. For the summit, a landmark first for the sector and for UNWTO as it prioritizes youth empowerment and education and training, around 130 students from 60 countries, will take part in a series of workshops, debates and discussions. Participants are aged between 12 and 18 and include a delegation from Ukraine. The global youth tourism summit celebrates and promotes the role that young people will play in shaping our sector in the years to come

Empowering global youth

Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General, UNWTO, said: "The global youth tourism summit celebrates and promotes the role that young people will play in shaping our sector in the years to come. By giving them the knowledge and the tools they need to lead the sector forwards, participants can act on Pope Francis's welcome words and become ambassadors of tourism for peace and solidarity."

UNWTO has enjoyed a long and productive relationship with the Holy See, which has held observer status to the organization since 1975. In 2019, Secretary-General Pololikashvili enjoyed an official visit to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis, using the occasion to highlight tourism's essential role in eradicating poverty and promoting peace.

The first global youth tourism summit will also feature the support and participation of a number of UNWTO ambassadors as well as leading figures from across the sector, including Ministers from every global region. The week-long event will also feature a mock UNWTO general assembly to allow the youngsters to debate the theme of tourism and discuss the innovative proposals for the future of the sector within the global framework of the UN 2030 agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Today, the Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) provides substantive support and capacity-building for the SDGs and their related thematic issues, including water, energy, climate, oceans, urbanization, transport, science and technology, the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR), partnerships and Small Island Developing States. DSDG plays a key role in the evaluation of UN system wide implementation of the 2030 agenda and on advocacy and outreach activities relating to the SDGs. In order to make the 2030 Agenda a reality, broad ownership of the SDGs must translate into a strong commitment by all stakeholders to implement the global goals. DSDG aims to help facilitate this engagement.

Despite continued data gaps at national and sub-national levels, the present report shows that years, or even decades, of development progress have been halted or reversed. As of end of 2021, more than 5.4 million people worldwide had died directly due to Covid-19 with estimates suggesting that excess deaths were nearly 15 million. Global health systems were overwhelmed, and many essential health services were disrupted, posing major health threats and undermining years of progress fighting other deadly diseases. Furthermore, an additional 75 million to 95 million people will live in extreme poverty in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic level. Billions of children significantly missed out on schooling and over 100 million more children fell below the minimum reading proficiency level and other areas of academic learning. This generation of children could lose a combined total of $17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value. Women have also been disproportionately affected by the socioeconomic fallout of the pandemic, struggling with lost jobs, increased burdens of unpaid care work and domestic violence. In 2021, the global economy started to rebound, with the global output expanding by 5.5 per cent. However, new Covid-19 variants and continued vaccine inequity, together with rising inflation, major supply-chain disruptions, policy uncertainties, and unsustainable debt in developing countries, caused the global economy to slow down again at the end of 2021.