UN adopts groundbreaking Pact for the Future

The United Nations has adopted a groundbreaking Pact for the Future following its recent Summit of the Future, a once-in-a-generation event held from 20 to 23 September 2024.

Designed to accelerate the implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, this international agreement covers issues including peace and security, sustainable development, climate change, digital cooperation, human rights, gender, youth and future generations.

Many elements of the UN Pact for the Future align with the opportunities and concerns voiced at WorldSkills Conference 2024, held just weeks earlier from 11 to 12 September in Lyon, France.

Here we share those most relevant to WorldSkills Members.

Amplifying youth voices

Speaking onstage at WorldSkills Conference 2024, Yousra Assali, WorldSkills Champions Trust representative for MENA, explained how the systems that created our current problems will not be the same systems that solve them. This sentiment mirrored that of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said, “we cannot create a future fit for our grandchildren with a system built by our grandparents.”

Yousra’s call for youth inclusion in decision-making processes finds a powerful ally in the UN Pact’s first-ever Declaration on Future Generations. The declaration commits to providing more meaningful opportunities for young people to participate in the decisions that shape their lives, especially at the global level.

Accelerating ethical digital skills

The Pact’s Global Digital Compact outlines ambitious goals for global digital cooperation, echoing WorldSkills call to prioritize the development of digital skills in response to the rapid digital transformation or industry. Key commitments from the UN include connecting all people, schools, and hospitals to the internet, and making data more open and accessible by 2030.

The Global Digital Compact also emphasizes anchoring digital cooperation in human rights and international law, resonating with WorldSkills commitment to support ethical and inclusive skills development. By setting these global standards, the UN elevates digital skills that are not only technical but also grounded in responsible and equitable use of technology. It is supported by a roadmap for an International Scientific Panel and a Global Policy Dialogue on AI to help govern the global use of Artificial Intelligence.

Inclusive, sustainable growth

The entire Pact is designed to turbo-charge the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Significantly, the agreement outlines the need for reform of the international financial architecture, so it better represents and serves developing countries, and gives them a greater say in how decisions are taken at international financial institutions.

Appreciating this difference and building more inclusive systems was an idea shared at WorldSkills Conference 2024, when Mohamad Maliki Osman, Second Minister for Education in Singapore, emphasized, “We need to ensure the ecosystem recognizes the diversity of talent that exists and the different pathways that are possible.”

The Pact also restates commitments to keep global temperature rise to 1.5°C and transition away from fossil fuels to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, reinforcing the need for more green skills, more sustainable practices in industry, and the importance of preparing the next generation of talent to know how to apply their skills to a more sustainable future.

The alignment between the UN Summit’s outcomes and WorldSkills mission underscores the critical importance of skills development in addressing global challenges. As we move forward, WorldSkills is uniquely positioned to play a crucial role in translating these high-level commitments into tangible skills development outcomes across the world.

Read more about the Summit, and catch up on everything you might have missed at WorldSkills Conference 2024 – including recordings of select sessions and in-depth articles.