Nifasha Adelaide, a 24-year-old youth leader from Tongogara Refugee Camp in Zimbabwe, stood before diplomats and UN officials in New York and spoke of how young refugees are not waiting for handouts — they’re growing tree nurseries, installing solar lamps, and teaching climate resilience in their communities. Her voice carried the weight of thousands when she addressed the ECOSOC Youth Forum 2026, where around 70 participants — from Member States to youth-led organizations — gathered to demand stronger investment in skills and decent work for refugee youth. With over 100 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, and half under the age of 18, the urgency is undeniable: without access to education and employment, a generation risks being locked out of opportunity.
The forum’s side event, “Link, Learn, Localize,” spotlighted a new beacon of hope — the PROSPECTS4Youth Intergenerational Network (IGN), a joint initiative by the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNHCR, and UNICEF. This network will unite governments, UN agencies, civil society, academia, and the private sector to advance self-reliance for young people in displacement through coordinated action across humanitarian, development, and peace efforts. Co-organized with the Global Refugee Youth Network (GRYN) and supported by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action, and the United Nations Volunteers programme, the event underscored that solutions must be led by youth, not just for them.
Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, ILO’s Special Representative to the UN, called for long-term strategies that place young people at the heart of displacement responses. Kenya’s Ambassador Erastus Ekitela Lokaale pointed to his country’s Shirika Plan as a model — a national framework integrating refugees into education, health, and economic systems. Meanwhile, Jurriaan Middelhoff of the Netherlands reflected on five years of their Youth at Heart Strategy, emphasizing partnerships like the PROSPECTS Programme that have already expanded education and job access for refugee youth across Africa and the Middle East.
But it was the grassroots energy of youth-led organizations that electrified the room. In Tongogara, the Refugee Coalition for Climate Action (RCCA), co-founded by Nifasha, runs agroforestry projects and sustainable energy initiatives that double as livelihoods. “Our environmental education, nursery management, agroforestry and sustainable energy activities are not only climate action projects — they are practical responses to the economic challenges facing refugee families,” she said. These are not just survival tactics; they are blueprints for resilience.
The message was clear: when refugee youth are resourced and trusted, they don’t just rebuild their lives — they lead communities forward. As global displacement reaches record highs, the PROSPECTS4Youth IGN offers a roadmap to inclusion, dignity, and shared prosperity. The tools are here. The leaders are ready. Now is the time to invest.