European Youth Mobilise for an “Era of Justice”

Launched ahead of the UN Financing for Development summit in Sevilla, Spain in June last year, the “Era of Justice” campaign highlights how today’s biggest challenges are deeply connected. It shows that economic, climate and gender justice cannot be separated, and the role we can play as European citizens in holding our governments accountable for advancing justice worldwide.  

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The campaign was launched by DEAR project "Connecting the dots”. It calls on young people across Europe to reflect and take action on the inter-connected challenges of economic, climate, and gender justice. It was launched 50 days ahead of the Fourth UN Financing for Development conference (FfD4), which took place in Sevilla, Spain in June/ July – the first FfD summit to take place on European soil. 

The first part of the campaign drew attention to recent reductions in development funding, global economic inequalities, the limited participation of Global South actors in international decision-making, and the challenges posed by unsustainable debt levels. 

Two campaign petitions were launched: 

• The Jubilee Debt petition, led by faith-based organisations, which advocates for debt relief and fairer financial systems
• A petition calling for the restoration of commitments of our governments to provide official development assistance, or aid, and broader reform of the mechanisms governing international cooperation.

These came at a time when the UN, World Bank and others were warning of the dramatic impacts of the debt crisis in the Global South and rich countries slashed aid budgets. The highly covered announcement of the closure of USAID, in particular, accentuated the urgency of the petitions' calls.

The campaign also called for stronger international cooperation on fair and transparent taxation, including through the ongoing UN Tax Convention process.

A dedicated campaign portal featuring video explainers, social media carousels, and communication templates attracted over 100,000 visitors during the first three months. In the same period, the new TikTok account “Era of Justice” reached around 8,000 likes.

As the conference approached, young social media influencers from across Europe – from Spain and Germany to Belgium and Poland – joined the movement. Among them were Polish filmmaker Bartosz Staszewski, Italian author and influencer Marianna Kalonda Okassaka, and Moroccan activist Chaimaa Boukharsa.

 Julia Ravenscroft, Communications Manager at the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) said: 

“The creativity and clarity with which these influencers communicated complex financial issues through Instagram and TikTok was remarkable. They brought energy and accessibility to a space that can often feel closed-off to young people and the wider public, helping to drive awareness and participation in the campaign.”

From screens to streets

When the FfD4 conference began, the campaign moved from the digital space to the streets of Seville, bringing its messages to life with Era of Justice stickers and flags. Young activists and NGO representatives from around the world joined a march for justice. They also participated in a series of interviews, sharing what justice means to them and adding diverse, personal voices to the movement.

Seville and beyond

When world leaders gathered for FfD4, the issues raised – particularly by the Global South – were echoed by young people through the Era of Justice campaign. The adopted Sevilla Commitment reaffirmed support for multilateral cooperation and helped set the stage to continue to work on reforming the international financial system to make it more inclusive and effective.

This year the campaign will centre around the issue of tax and climate justice. It will call for the big polluters to pay their fair share of taxes and for our governments to support an ambitious UN Tax Convention. 

*Anyone whose project is connected to topics Connecting the Dots are working on is invited to get in touch, and support each other in the fight for justice! Reach out to eraofjustice@eurodad.org and follow #eraofjustice and #makepolluterspay.