Generation Hope Goals 2027: Apply by 12 October
Apply for Generation Hope Goals 2027: Actions for the SDGs. Youth aged 14–24 from Asia-Pacific submit climate solutions. Finalists present at APFSD Bangkok.
OPPORTUNITIESCONFERENCES & FORUMS
Generation Hope Goals 2027: Apply Now to Present Your Climate Solution at the UN in Bangkok
Deadline: 12 October 2026, 11:59 PM Bangkok time.
If you're aged 14 to 24 and leading a real climate action solution somewhere in Asia or the Pacific, Generation Hope Goals 2027 is calling for your application. Selected finalists get to pitch their work at the 14th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) in Bangkok; one of the region's most significant UN-convened sustainable development platforms; in February 2027. Travel support is available for one representative from each finalist group.
This is the third cycle of a programme that has already produced two cohorts of youth-led climate innovators from across the region. The institutional backing is serious: Save the Children, UN ESCAP, Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, ChildFund International, UNDP, UNFCCC RCC Asia-Pacific, and YECAP co-organise it jointly. That's not a list of logos; it's the infrastructure that carries your solution into rooms where regional SDG commitments actually get made.
Why This Programme Exists
The Asia-Pacific region is running out of time on the 2030 Agenda. The 2026 Asia-Pacific SDG Progress Report puts 88% of measurable SDG targets off track. Progress on SDG 13 on climate action has gone backwards. The region produces the majority of the world's greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously being home to some of its most climate-exposed populations; over 700 million of them are children and young people under 24.
Those young people didn't cause this crisis. They're inheriting it. Generation Hope Goals is built on the conviction that they're also building the solutions; and that the right institutional response is to find those solutions, support them, and put them in front of the policymakers and multilateral actors who can help them scale.
What the Programme Offers
The programme runs from September 2026 through February 2027 across six phases.
Discover: Applications are reviewed and 15 projects shortlisted for the semi-final stage, based on scoring and geographic balance across the five subregions.
Develop: Shortlisted teams receive mentorship, pitch refinement workshops, and technical support from the organiser network.
Showcase: The 15 semi-finalists present online to a judging panel. Five finalists are selected for Bangkok.
Connect: Finalists engage with policymakers, UN agency representatives, civil society, the private sector, and potential partners at the 14th APFSD in Bangkok from 23 to 26 February 2027.
Recognise: Outstanding solutions receive awards and visibility through the ESCAP and partner networks.
Scale: Pathways are created to help the most promising solutions grow beyond the competition itself.
Travel costs for one representative per finalist group are supported, contingent on available resources. Visa processing sits with the representative, with supporting documents provided by the organisers. Other team members may attend as self-funded participants.
What Your Solution Needs to Qualify
This isn't a pitch competition for ideas on paper. Your solution must be a minimum viable product, service, or programme that has been operational for at least six months at the time of application.
It must address one or more of five specific SDGs currently under review at the 14th APFSD:
SDG 4: Quality Education,
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities,
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production,
SDG 15: Life on Land,
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals,
Solutions should also align with the 14th APFSD's overarching theme: scaling just transitions to achieve sustainable development, poverty eradication, and full implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
Who Can Apply
The call is open to young people aged 14 to 24 based in the Asia-Pacific region across five subregions: East and North-East Asia; North and Central Asia; the Pacific; South-East Asia; and South and South-West Asia. That last subregion includes Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan, among others.
Applications come in as groups of 3 to 5 members, all aged 14 to 24. At least one member must hold or be able to obtain a valid passport for potential travel to Bangkok in February 2027.
Groups that include children, girls, and women are strongly encouraged to apply. In cases of tied scores, the organisers will give preference to child-led, girl-led, or women-led groups; a deliberate commitment to the Leave No One Behind (LNOB) principles embedded in the 2030 Agenda.
How Applications Are Judged
The selection panel scores submissions across five criteria:
Uniqueness and innovation; does your solution bring something new to the problem?
Feasibility and implementation clarity; is it actually working, and can you demonstrate how?
Scalability and replicability; can it grow beyond its current context?
Relevance and climate-social impact; does it address the real-world consequences of climate change on communities?
Alignment to SDGs 4, 10, 12, 15, and 17; is the SDG connection substantive rather than superficial?
The semi-final panel then evaluates pitch decks and live presentations, with geographic diversity factored in; no more than two teams from the same country in the semi-final, no more than one country represented per finalist slot.
How to Apply
Fill in the application form by 12 October 2026, 11:59 PM Bangkok time (UTC+7).
Apply here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/3v5xdPPRYx
Short link: bit.ly/GHG2027Register
Programme page (ESCAP): https://www.unescap.org/events/2027/generation-hope-goals-2027-actions-sdgs
An offline application form is available on the programme page for groups without reliable internet access.
For application queries: hueyyi.lee@tzuchi.org.sg
For general programme inquiries: taskin.rahman@savethechildren.org (Mr. Taskin Rahman, Save the Children)
For more youth opportunities, climate fellowships, and SDG-aligned programmes across the humanitarian and development sector, stay with Community For Development.
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