In the context of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Darius Maleki, Vice-Chairman of INGLOSUS Foundation, once again represented Germany and the City of Frankfurt upon the personal invitation of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus and Dominique V. Dauster, FRSA, Executive Board of Yunus + You – The YY Foundation.
Under the guiding theme “A world is built by vision – not chosen off a menu,” Muhammad Yunus opened the high-level dialogue on the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year, Darius Maleki placed a clear emphasis on two key priorities: Health and Partnerships — SDG 3 Good Health and Well-Being and SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals.
The INGLOSUS Team asked Darius Maleki to share his reflections on the conference, addressing the pressing challenges of Europe’s aging population, the declining health standards, and the urgent need for cross-sector collaboration. Darius Maleki also highlights the critical importance of mental health among younger generations, warning that neglecting it would carry not only financial but profound social consequences.
Darius, how did it feel to be back at the United Nations 80th General Assembly in New York?
To be really honest, even though I had only been there once before with the foundation, it felt like meeting old and new friends again. It was incredible. The connections I made last year at the 79th UN General Assembly have proven to be so strong and lasting. Every single person I met last year recognized me again. We had great conversations, and it truly felt like coming back to a familiar, welcoming, and warm-hearted environment.
What stood out to me this time was attending the 80th UNGA under different circumstances, with a new president in place. It was interesting to see how much more organized and stricter the security and logistics were compared to last year. The changes between the two administrations were quite visible and fascinating to observe.
Overall, it was again a very special, successful, and rewarding experience to be back.Darius Maleki, delivering his insights next to senior delegatesDarius Maleki, delivering his insights next to senior delegatesDarius Maleki, delivering his insights next to senior delegates
In your speech, why did you focus on health and partnerships this year?
Each year, the foundation highlights different topics within the 17 SDGs, and often several SDGs play a leading role throughout the year. This time, SDG 3 — Good Health and Well-Being — took center stage because in Germany we’re facing a dramatic increase in hospital-acquired infections.
Hospital-acquired infections are contracted during a stay in the hospital. For example, someone might be admitted with a lung condition and leave with another infection-related disease. These infections are particularly alarming because they are 12 times more likely to be fatal than car accidents — a striking comparison in a country as car-enthusiastic and health-conscious as Germany.
Given this situation, the foundation aims to strengthen its presence in the German health and insurance sphere in the coming year. My speech therefore focused on promoting long-lasting cooperation. Health is not just a national issue; in our globalized world, diseases and infections in one region can quickly have direct impacts elsewhere. This also stresses socio-economic factors long-term.
That’s why SDG 17 — Partnerships for the Goals — was also an essential part of my speech. Achieving SDG 3 requires strong collaboration between medicine, politics, finance, and technology to figure out how we can bring healthcare in 2025 to a truly modern standard. Addressing health challenges effectively is only possible through these partnerships — and that’s why I felt it was so important to focus on SDG 3 and SDG 17 this year in New York.
Muhammad Yunus chose the main theme of opened the conference with the following words: “A world is built by vision – not chosen off a menu.” What does that mean to you personally?
To me personally, it shows that over the past decades we’ve relied heavily on rules and regulations, and in doing so, we’ve somehow lost touch with our human side — with the part of us that should guide decisions beyond bureaucracy.
Let me give you an example: when we talk about supporting one country, helping to save another, and at the same time ignoring a third — often for reasons shaped by political or economic interests — we tend to justify these choices by pointing to rules and regulations. We focus on what we cannot do, because it’s not on the “regulation menu,” rather than on what we should do from a human perspective.
This is exactly what Professor Muhammad Yunus described so powerfully: that we need to think and act with our emotions, with our hearts, and with a true sense of humanity. That message struck me deeply. Even more striking is that Professor Yunus is over 80 years old — older than the United Nations General Assembly itself — which makes him uniquely placed to judge the progress of the past 80 years.
And yet, looking at the world today, we still face wars, famine, and around 600 million people without access to electricity. For us in Germany, it’s almost unimaginable that nearly a billion people around the world still live without electricity. This stark reality shows that we haven’t done as well as we might think; we simply haven’t done enough.
That’s why I believe that, alongside regulations — which are often becoming stricter and more complex — we must also bring our soul and our heart into the decision-making process. That, I think, was at the core of Professor Yunus’s message, and it resonated with me deeply.
Why is the mental health of the young generation so critical for you?
The first aspect is that Germany is facing a dramatically shrinking population of young people. This is the number one challenge. We now have more older people than young people — which is always a difficult issue for any country to manage, and sometimes an almost impossible one to overcome.
In the coming years, over five million more people will enter the pension system in Germany. That means five million people leaving the workforce, which will further shrink the job market. As a result, we already have many open positions that can’t be filled. Young people today have countless opportunities to choose from, which lowers competition for jobs.
So why do I mention all this when talking about mental health? Because young people want three things: prosperity, safety, and a sense of belonging. These three pillars are eroding in Germany — and in Europe more broadly.
We face rising prices and growing competition everywhere. We live in a digital world where even 20 minutes offline can feel like you’re falling behind. That pressure is enormous. Given the small number of young people we have, we need to ensure they feel secure, prosperous, and supported — both for their own well-being and for the stability of our economy and industries.
Without a young and mentally healthy population, our future prosperity is at risk. I consider myself young at 28, but here I’m talking about the 16- to 19-year-olds finishing school and deciding what to do next. If they lack mental stability and have increased fear of the future, how can we expect our economy to remain strong in the future? Their fears and doubts can slow down innovation and progress, which impacts us all.
Eighty years ago, during WWII, nobody talked about the children. Also from 1945 to 2025, the young generation has often been the biggest loser in conflicts, as adults focused on their own struggles while neglecting the youth.
If young people don’t wake up with a sense of purpose — feeling safe, valued, and motivated to contribute positively to society and the economy — how can we hope to build a better future? Our future relies on them.
With the added pressures of social media, bias, racism, AI-driven competition, wars, and global crises, mental health among the youth is already at risk. That’s why we must invest more energy and resources in this area. Only a young and healthy generation can create an older and healthier world — something we should never forget.
What’s INGLOSUS Foundation’s vision for 2026 when it comes to health and prevention?
The vision for 2026 is to place much greater focus on understanding the SDGs and making that understanding accessible to people everywhere.
In the past, we concentrated on raising awareness about the SDGs — letting people know they exist. But that phase is long behind us. Today, almost everyone knows about the SDGs, understands their importance, and over 150 countries (we should confirm the exact number) have committed to them as the way forward.
Now that awareness is established, the next step is action: turning these goals into tangible, scalable solutions. This means building viable business models, developing scientific and mathematical frameworks, and creating strong social models that can move society in a positive direction.
For example, as I mentioned with health, we need technology, finance, and medicine working together at the highest level so that sectors like insurance and healthcare can move into the future with safer, more efficient systems.
Let’s take another example: industry. In Germany and across Europe, we need to scale our global presence, expand our networks, and strengthen partnerships with international players. We must recognize that sustainable development is not charity work — it’s a key driver of future economic prosperity.
That’s why the Inglosos Foundation will continue to focus particularly on:
· SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being
· SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
· SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
· SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
We believe these are the essential pillars of a secure and healthy world. If we ensure high health standards, support our industries, and build strong international cooperation — even with countries we may not yet be engaging with — we’ll be on the right path.
One of the most inspiring aspects of the UNGA is the reminder it offers: when you’re there, you realize you live on a planet, not just in a country, city, or street. That global perspective is exactly what we want to bring into our work moving forward.
What do you envision for Germany and Frankfurt in the next year?
We’re having very promising conversations about scaling Frankfurt’s and Germany’s presence at the UN General Assembly. We’re already in discussions with several universities on this topic.
The INGLOSUS Foundation would very much like to build a true Transatlantic Bridge — creating opportunities for the public and private sectors to engage in meaningful dialogue about real-world challenges. Too often, we find ourselves speaking to the same groups, while many other important stakeholders are left out of the conversation.
That’s why I believe it makes perfect sense to focus on this initiative next year. We’re excited about the possibilities and look forward to seeing how this vision takes shape in the near future.