The first-ever Youth Survey on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was released during a ceremony in Hanoi on February 2. 

The event was co-hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI)’s Sustainable Development Office and the Centre for Sustainable Development Studies.

Speaking at the event, UNDP Country Director in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen said the Vietnamese young people play a central role in the achievement of the SDGs and the Agenda 2030, adding that “it is time to shift the notion of partnering with young people from engaging youth as beneficiaries to partnering with youth as agents of change, driving the SDGs and the future they want.” 

Dao Dinh Tan, Chief of the MoPI’s Sustainable Development Office, said sustainable development is incorporated into the 2011-2020 socio-economic development strategy and the socio-economic development plan for 2016-2020.

On May 10, 2017, the PM issued Decision No.622/QDTTCP on the promulgation of the national action plan on the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. 

Vietnam is in the golden population period with 27.7 percent of its population aged 16-30, making youth become an important force in the fulfillment of the SDGs by 2030, he said. 

The survey was made to “better understand the concerns, perceptions and interests of young people and the SDG priorities they see as vital for their future,” Wiesen said.

More than 7,000 young people from all 63 provinces responded to the survey, which offered 18 questions and lasted 37 days, nearly 75 percent of them are female and 65 percent live in urban areas. It is noted that three-fourths of the respondents said they had not heard about the SDGs before.

Regarding fields that respondents feel closer and ready to act for, 51 percent chose Quality Education (SDG4); 33.54 percent, Good Health and Well-Being (SDG3); 31.85 percent, Gender equality (SDG5); 25.76 percent, No poverty (SDG1); 25.35 percent, Zero Hunger (SDG2); and 19.73 percent, Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions (SDG16).

The survey offered some key recommendations, including coordination and support mechanisms, and actors; gender-sensitive approaches; awareness campaigns and public engagement activities, as next steps to empower young people to take action in achieving the SDGs.-VNA