Salsalina Larasati, mahasiswi Fakultas Hukum Universitas Gadjah Mada angkatan 2023, menjadi delegasi di ECOSOC Youth Forum 2025. Forum ini diselenggarakan oleh Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa (PBB) di United Nations Headquarters, New York, pada Selasa (15/4/2025) hingga Kamis (17/4/2025). Forum ini tak hanya menjadi forum dengan pemilihan delegasi yang bergengsi, namun menjadi langkah utama agar suara anak muda dapat didengar di proses legislasi PBB, terutama High-Level Political Forum di mana review terhadap Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) oleh perwakilan bangsa-bangsa, termasuk para menteri, akan dilakukan.
This forum focused on SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). During the forum’s plenary session, Laras herself delivered remarks during the SDG 17 session as well as the Asia-Pacific regional session. In her remarks, Laras advocated for a green economic transition through climate literacy with cross-sectoral support involving the government, the private sector, and educators. Furthermore, Laras also advocated for the need to involve indigenous communities in socio-economic decision-making so that their cultural identities can be recognized and integrated into environmental sustainability actions.
In addition to attending the plenary session, Laras had the opportunity to represent the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) constituency at a meeting with the UN Climate Action Team, which operates under the UN Secretariat. During this rare occasion, Laras not only met with the founders of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) accredited by the UN, but also with Selwin Hart, the Assistant to the UN Secretary-General for Climate Action. The discussion concluded that climate literacy, as well as the localization and domestication of the SDGs, are necessary so that young people can accelerate the implementation of the SDGs through a community-based approach. This is because knowledge about the SDGs must be tailored to the cultural understanding of diverse communities.
For Laras, serving as a delegate at the ECOSOC Youth Forum not only brought her closer to participating in the international legislative process for climate change mitigation—which encompasses human rights within sustainability—but also brought the name of Indonesia and the Faculty of Law at UGM to the international stage. Laras’s success as a delegate at the ECOSOC Youth Forum was made possible through the guidance and support of International Law lecturer Fajri Matahati Muhammadin, S.H., LL.M., Ph.D.
Author: Salsalina Larasati (Delegation)
