Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocate Leymah Gbowee spoke with Ariel Alexovich on the SDG Live during the ECOSOC Youth Forum in New York about the role youth play in building peace.
Ms. Gbowee, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her work to bring peace to Liberia, commented on the recent Liberian election, saying that she is proud that there was “not a single rock thrown, and not a single bullet fired.” She credited widespread mobilisation of young people around non-violence as a major factor in the peaceful election. She also mentioned the Gbowee Peace Foundation’s Sustain the Peace campaign, which used the success of female peacemakers in the country to teach young people how far Liberia has come since the civil war. Ms. Gbowee said that showing young Liberians where their country has come from, and asking “Do we want to go back there?” was effective in mobilising young people around the importance of peaceful elections; no mean feat in a country with, as Ms. Gbowee noted, a “generation of former child soldiers.”
Ms. Gbowee recounted how impressed she has been by the extent to which young people have taken up the SDGs as their own. In particular, she was impressed by a group of young people in Colombia who gave a presentation on the SDGs, and how they explained the goals in a way that made them a real part of everyday life. Ms. Gbowee said that the level of engagement with young people belies the perception of them as lazy and entitled, and that she is inspired to see a whole new generation of activists emerging around peace and the SDGs.
Speaking about helping young people to find their passion, Ms. Gbowee encouraged them to think of something that keeps them awake at night, and dig deeper. Referring to the 17 SDGs, she asked young people who want to be involved to look at the goals, and identify one aspect within one of the 17 that makes you angry enough to generate ideas on how to solve that issue, saying that when you find that, then “that is your passion.” Ms. Gbowee encouraged young people to find their passion and run with it, without worrying about money, position, recognition or wealth. After all, Ms. Gbowee said, things that are trending do not last, but crazy ideas do, and they can change the world.