International Youth Day: Young people are calling to change systems and advance gender equality for all

In my opinion, the purpose of International Youth Day is, above all, an act of recognition and responsibility. It is not about ​“celebrating” young people as one would celebrate a birthday, but about restoring their central place in public discourse, leadership, and decision-making. 

En mi opinión, el objetivo del Día Internacional de la Juventud es, ante todo, un acto de reconocimiento y responsabilidad. No se trata de «celebrar» a los jóvenes como se celebraría un cumpleaños, sino de devolverles el papel central que les corresponde en el debate público, el liderazgo y la toma de decisiones.

— Lasana Diakate

This International Youth Day, the MenEngage Alliance Youth Reference Group (YRG) recognizes the shared aspirations that connect us across different contexts and lived experiences. That is why this year’s theme ​“Different Contexts, Common Aspirations” lands so well for us. The YRG brings together young people from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, North America, the Middle East and beyond, each bringing different contexts, experiences and realities. 

Our contexts are not comparable. Some of our members organise from small island states where the sea is already taking land; others from landlocked and least developed countries where your class decides whether you get to speak; and yet others from cities where speaking at all carries a cost.

Yet across these different contexts, we see a shared challenge — one that particularly concerns us as members of MenEngage Alliance: the persistence of patriarchal systems and restrictive ideas about what it means to be a man, i.e. masculinity, that shape how young people are expected to live, lead, work, care, and relate to one another.

These norms do not only limit women and gender-diverse people; they also affect men and boys, particularly as young people navigate a rapidly changing social, economic and digital world. The rise of the manosphere and other conservative online spaces that promote rigid and patriarchal ideas of manhood affect how boys and young men understand power, success, relationships, and what it means to be a man. At the same time, anti-rights and backlash movements are increasingly targeting young men and boys, seeking to channel their frustrations and uncertainties into resentment, division, and resistance to gender equality.

For many young men, pressures to be strong, self-sufficient, and emotionally resilient can make it harder to ask for help, build healthy relationships, or imagine alternatives to restrictive models of masculinity. A recent report from Argentina, for example, explores the links between precarious living conditions, debt, restrictive gender norms around manhood, and rising suicide rates among young men. These realities remind us that transforming patriarchal masculinities is about preventing harm to women and gender-diverse people and men themselves. 

After all, it is also about creating an environment for men and boys to express their emotions and be who they truly are as human beings. This is the change young people across the MenEngage Alliance are striving for: not simply to participate in existing systems, but to question and transform the norms and systems that sustain unequal power relations and inequalities. Because building a more just world is not possible while gender-based discrimination, rigid gender expectations, and unequal power continue to shape our lives.

What are young people demanding this International Youth Day?

A Call for Shared Power and Collective Action 

We are creating the change we want, questioning what we have inherited, and imagining what comes next. This International Youth Day, our message is simple: do not just make space for young people; share power with us. Trust us. Resource our leadership. Walk with us to challenge the systems and gender norms that hold inequality in place. And build the future with us, not for us.

Challenge patriarchal masculinities and advance gender justice

We, the Youth Reference Group, call on young men and boys to step forward as agents of change, to question harmful gender norms and challenge misogyny. In the face of growing anti-gender backlash and the rise of online spaces such as the manosphere, young men and boys need to realize and understand that gender equality is not against them; it is about building a more equal, caring, and just world for all of us. 

Anti-gender actors are succeeding at spreading false narratives that portray gender equality as a threat to men and boys. But in reality, this is not a struggle against men and boys; it is a struggle against the norms and unequal power relations that limit all of us. Therefore, young people, especially young men and boys, must come forward collectively to challenge these narratives, question gender stereotypes, and take responsibility for advancing gender equality. This means using our agency to question the norms we have inherited and encouraging others to do the same. This work must happen alongside feminist and gender justice movements, with accountability, to build more caring, non-violent, and equitable forms of masculinity. 

Transform institutions to ensure equal and inclusive representation 

Youth representation is intersectional. It is about race, class, religion, gender, ability, etc. It is not only about age. It is also about who among young people has access to power and whose voices remain excluded. If institutions view youth participation simply being a matter of having young people, without asking who is actually being represented, they risk reproducing the same inequalities they claim to challenge.

Half the world is under thirty. Yet when we look at youth leadership and engagement, particularly in politics where decisions about our lives are made, young people remain largely invisible. In parliaments worldwide, youth representation today stands at just 2.8%, the same figure as in 2023. For the first time in over a decade, this figure has not moved, and more than a third of parliamentary chambers have no one under thirty.

Looking more closely at the data, the disparities become even sharper. Among young women, representation did not simply stall; it fell. Young men are slowly gaining seats in political institutions, while young women are losing ground. Age and gender do not operate separately. They shape who gets heard, who gets to lead, and whose experiences are recognised. Patriarchal norms and expectations around masculinity can further reinforce these inequalities. Transforming these norms is therefore essential to making youth leadership more inclusive and equal for all.

These inequalities show why meaningful youth engagement cannot simply mean inviting young people into existing spaces. Representation alone is not enough; young people must have a genuine say in the decisions that shape our lives. We need equal participation, shared power and meaningful decision-making for all young people — including young women and girls, young men and boys, gender-diverse, and LGB+ young people.

But equal participation cannot be achieved within institutions that continue to reproduce gender bias, patriarchal norms, unequal power and weak accountability. We therefore ask for the transformation of the institutions themselves, challenging the structures and practices that determine who gets heard, who gets to lead, and whose rights and experiences are recognised.

Men in positions of power and decision-making have an important responsibility in this transformation. They must critically examine how privilege and patriarchal masculinities shape the institutions they lead, challenge discriminatory practices, and use their positions to advance more inclusive, equitable, and accountable systems.

There are examples of what this transformation can look like. Ecuador, for example, requires a quarter of electoral candidates to be young adults and has one of the highest shares of young members of parliament in the world. This is not a mystery. It is a policy choice that some institutions have made — and most have not, yet.

Invest in and stand with youth-led movements

Young people are already creating change, challenging norms, defending human rights, and advancing gender equality. As anti-rights and anti-gender actors work to roll back hard-won progress, this is not the time to retreat. It is a time for leaders and institutions to stand with young people and the movements driving change.

This means more than recognition. It means resourcing youth-led and civil society work with flexible, sustained support; protecting civic space and human rights defenders. It also means ensuring young people have a meaningful role in decisions that affect their futures. It also means critically examining how resources are distributed within the youth organisations — being cognisant of the differences that exist in access to power and resources.