Nutrition for Growth Summit 2025: The Youth Takeover!

SUN CSN Youth Coordinators amplifying grassroots voices in every space and every conversation

Let’s be honest—global summits haven’t always been conducive to meaningful youth participation. Too often, we’ve seen young people reduced to side-show speakers, offering a “youth perspective” before being politely ushered off the stage and out of the room.

But at the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit in Paris in March 2025, it felt different…

The 16 SUN CSN Youth Coordinators gathered in the N4G Civil Society Pavilion alongside SUN Civil Society Alliance Coordinators who shared their wisdom and experience with this next generation of Youth Leaders for Nutrition.

The 16 SUN Civil Society Network Youth Coordinators we brought to Paris were not just passive participants — they were visible and vocal everywhere. On stage. In breakout groups. Holding bilateral meetings. Co-leading sessions. Shaping strategies. And issuing bold, brave calls to action. Their presence was loud, clear, and backed by two years of real grassroots work.

*The SUN CSN Youth Coordinators on Day 1 of the in-person youth retreat*.

Why did we bring the Youth Coordinators to Paris?

Since we launched the latest phase of the Youth Leaders for Nutrition program in 2023, we have only met face-to-face once when the Youth Coordinators were first recruited. Two years down the road, it was important to come together and take stock of progress so far, share lessons learned, and begin shaping a path forward for scaling up the program to reach every SUN Civil Society Alliance across the network.

With most of the SUN CSN Secretariat team already travelling to Paris for the N4G Summit, and with so many advocacy opportunities associated with the summit, it made sense for us to streamline our efforts and resources by scheduling our in-person youth retreat at the start of the week of the N4G Summit. Not all Youth Coordinators stayed for the full week, with the conclusion of the in-person retreat, most of them flew home to continue carrying out their mission on the ground, while a small group stayed on to participate in the official summit and Solutions Village.

Youth Leaders for Nutrition Program – The Groundwork leading up to Paris

The SUN CSN Youth Coordinators certainly weren’t tokenistic faces parachuted in for a “youth panel.” They’ve spent the last two years working with their national SUN Civil Society Alliances to deliver community dialogues and listening campaigns—reaching thousands of people in communities often excluded from traditional policymaking.

Their experiences, insights, and stories from the grassroots helped shaped a powerful narrative in Paris: that nutrition policies must be rooted in community voices, and that young people are uniquely positioned to help bridge that gap.

Nutrition Dialogues: A Natural Partnership

“Finian’s leadership on Nutrition Dialogues in Nigeria has been incredible. I call it the Finian Cascade, and we need to see it happening everywhere!”

David Nabarro, Strategic Director, 4SD Foundation

Over the past year, SUN CSN has been a mobilising partner with “Nutrition Dialogues”, an initiative led by the 4SD Foundation and World Vision International, to deliver thousands of dialogues with diverse communities to better understand the challenges around access to nutrition, and the solutions needed for them.

Given the Youth Leaders for Nutrition program’s strong alignment with this initiative, the Youth Coordinators stood out as some of the most successful conveners of Nutrition Dialogues in 2024.

As N4G approached, we successfully bid together for a joint stand in the N4G Solutions Village to showcase the impact of the Nutrition Dialogues initiative and encourage stakeholders to get behind this approach and help scale it up.

**Nana Yohari** (Democratic Republic of Congo) and **Messeny Bafouro Camara** (Guinea-Conakry) speak to an N4G Solutions Village participant about their community dialogue mission in their countries.

**Messeny Bafouro Camara** (Guinea-Conakry), **Jane Napais Lankisa** (Kenya), and **Finian Ali** (Nigeria), met with UK Parliamentarians **Jonny Oakes**, **Steve Race**, and **David Mundell** (from left to right), members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Nutrition ‘Nutrition for Development‘.

On this exhibition stand, the Youth Coordinators made a huge impact inspiring everyone they spoke to about their grassroots dialogues, and the learnings from them. And you could see a similar effect on audience faces when the youth coordinators demonstrated their impact in Solutions Village panel discussions.

*“Some children are watching others eat at school while they have nothing to eat themselves. This is unacceptable. Young people are not waiting for change, they are **calling** for it.”* – **Shanerisse Tamondong, Youth Coordinator, Philippines**

Young people making waves elsewhere in Paris

SUN Movement Coordinator, **Afshan Khan**, met with the Youth Coordinators to understand their successes and challenges within their national SUN Multistakeholder Platform

**Anna Mbabazi**, Uganda, *(third from left)* spoke on a panel in the Civil Society Pavilion about local solutions to preventing and treating malnutrition. She shared her reflections from delivering listening campaigns with refugee communities in Western Uganda.

**Jane Napais Lankisa**, Kenya, (third from left) spoke on an official N4G Summit roundtable discussion on gender and nutrition. She highlighted the priorities of adolescents around gender, nutrition and health outcomes, and role young people can play in advancing this agenda.

**Nana Yohari**, DRC, spoke during the official summit opening ceremony. She passionately highlighted the challenges faced by communities living in the South Kivu region where she is from, and called on all summit stakeholders to prioritise the needs of the most marginalised groups affected by conflict and instability.

**Finian Ali**, Nigeria, talked on our panel about the SUN multi-stakeholder support that has underpinned his successes in Nigeria.

Alongside him was **Paul Troy**, from **Irish Aid**, who reaffirmed the Irish Government’s commitment to supporting Youth Leadership and community engagement through the SUN CSN.

Finally we heard from **Afshan Khan**, who celebrated the leadership of the Youth Coordinators and the multi-stakeholder support seen in some countries, while acknowledging the need for more support in other countries.

Though she couldn’t be with us in-person, our resident poet and ‘*artivist*‘, **Vanessa Chisakula** (Zambia) recorded a powerful poem about the importance of N4G Commitments responding to the needs of young people and the most marginalised communities.

This was played during the launch ceremony of the **Nutrition Integration Compact and Coalition,** hosted by the British Ambassador to France. You can watch Vanessa’s poetry recital here.

After meeting with young people in the N4G Solutions Village to gather final feedback on the N4G Youth Declaration, **Finian Ali** and **Messeny Bafouro Camara** (Guinea-Conakry) travelled to UNESCO to meet with other youth delegates to finalise the draft of the declaration to be issued on the last day of the summit.

On the final day of the summit, the N4G Youth Declaration was jointly issued by young people including **Shanerisse Tamondong** in a global press conference. Here she is joined by other young people from France and around the world, as well as **Brieuc Pont**, the Government of France’s Special Envoy to N4G.

Before the summit closing ceremony, **Messeny Bafouro Camara** (pictured left), **Shanerisse Tamondong**, and **Finian Ali** met with **Thani Mohamed-Soilihi**, Minister of State for Francophonie and International Partnerships, to discuss the specific challenges faced by communities that they had identified from their dialogues, and the specific demands in the youth-led N4G Call to Action.

After the press conference, **Finian Ali** stood up during the closing ceremony to issue the youth declaration to all the N4G Summit participants. This, along with the Civil Society declaration, was one of the memorable moments of the summit, and reminded everyone that this summit is about real people who must not be forgotten in nutrition commitment-making. Of course, the whole room was in rapturous applause after hearing this powerful call to action.

Our Key Takeaways

🧭 Youth leadership is not a side activity—it’s a central pillar of our mission to end malnutrition. When trusted and supported, young people can shift mindsets, spotlight community realities, and mobilise for change.

🙌 Good practice is contagious. Stakeholders are already reaching out to replicate success stories like Nigeria and the Philippines.

📰 We need to talk more to the news media. Strategic media engagement elevated our youth voices—and raised the global profile of SUN CSN’s work.

🌍 Global Partnerships can deliver real impact at the local level – Working with World Vision International and 4SD Foundation to deliver Nutrition Dialogues provided Youth Coordinators with vital tools and resources

📸 Young voices drive online engagement – Social Media engagement around youth voices generated a 265% spike in our LinkedIn impact. When we spotlight youth, the world listens.

🤝 Multi-Stakeholder collaboration is key. Youth Coordinators have worked hand-in-hand with civil society, donors, and government partners before and during the N4G Summit. This cross-sector approach is what gives the Youth Leaders for Nutrition programme its tremendous value, and what should be replicated as we move to scale-up the program around the world.

What’s Next? – Accountability beyond the summit, and scaling up this effective youth leadership model

The SUN CSN Youth Coordinators have returned home with renewed energy—and with serious momentum. With some bold N4G Commitments made in Paris by so many stakeholders, the Youth Coordinators and their SUN Civil Society Alliances will begin the crucial work of upholding accountability together with the most marginalised communities. Where commitments are not being upheld, we can all work together with commitment makers and duty-bearers to course-correct.

Beyond this, we’re now looking ahead at the next Strategy period for SUN, and SUN CSN, and considering how we can apply the learnings from the program to deliver a scaled-up model which is open and accessible to all SUN CSN members.

Find out more

If you’re feeling inspired by the brilliant work of the SUN CSN Youth Coordinators and want to learn more about what they’ve been doing and how you can engage, you can reach out to Sean Counihan, Senior Advocacy & Youth Advisor, SUN CSN Secretariat: [email protected].

You can also check out the following links and resources: