Fortaleza, Brazil, 16 June 2025 – The Organisation of Southern Cooperation (OSC) has called for new youth indicators for a digital age so that there can be better assessments of their participation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. OSC made the call during the “Triple International Forum on Governance of the Global South – New Indicators and Strategic Topics for Development and Sustainability in the Digital Age” conference held in Fortaleza, Brazil. This was a major event hosted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and organized in cooperation with the Government of the State of Ceará, Brazil and supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Forum was attended by delegations from more than 30 countries, gathered into three events: BRICS, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) and Mercosur.
Representing OSC Secretary-General Manssour Bin Mussallam, Dr. Shumete Gizaw, Under-Secretary-General for Technological Innovation and Digitalisation Enhancement (TIDE), presented a paper on the “Current and New Youth Indicators from the Perspective of the Global South in the Digital Age.” The discussion was a collaborative effort by Brazil’s National Youth Secretariat, IBGE and UNDP and initiated by the Forum of Young Researchers of the Global South.
In his speech, the Under-Secretary-General highlighted the urgent need to redefine youth indicators from a contextual and digitally aware Global South perspective, recognising the complex realities of Southern youth — from informal economies and unconventional learning to meaningful digital participation. He also proposed new indicators focused on meaningful connectivity, digital financial inclusion, future-ready skills, and online well-being. Finally, he put forward the creation of a Forum of Young Researchers from the Global South as an act of narrative sovereignty, South-South collaboration, and investment in locally grounded governance.
Dr. Shumete shared the panel with Prof. Dr. Artemisa Odila Candé Monteiro, Pro-Rector of Institutional Relations at University for International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony; Euênia Godoy, Director of the National Youth Institute of Uruguay; Jing Jiayi, Secretary-General of the World Communication Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Ronald Luiz dos Santos, National Secretary of Youth of the General, Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic and President of the BRICS Youth Council.
