Ministerial Meeting of Group of Friends of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President of the 72^nd Session of the UN General Assembly, at the Ministerial Meeting of Group of Friends of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations

Mr. Secretary General, Excellencies,

It is my great pleasure to join you at this meeting. The Alliance is an important platform for building peaceful and inclusive societies with a focus on youth.

Allow me to share with you some thoughts.

A focus on people means building inclusive societies.

A focus on people necessarily entails building inclusive societies with youth fully engaged.
There can be no solution to conflict without young people. Youth involvement is critical to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. And a decent life for all, includes a decent life for all young people.

Worldwide, 73 million young people are unemployed. Creating opportunities for young people will prevent them from succumbing to radicalization. Idle hands means trouble.

My 2nd point: the role of youth in sustaining peace and preventing conflict
Youth involvement is the key to achieving lasting peace. If we want to change the way we approach peace, if we want to put prevention at the center of our efforts, we cannot succeed without youth.

Young men and women are disproportionately affected by armed conflict. We need a special focus on their protection – but, importantly, also on their participation in conflict prevention and mediation.

The Sustaining Peace resolutions make a clear call for increased participation of youth in peacebuilding efforts. Let this not be just words on paper.

Young voices must be heard. I will give them a platform to speak their minds at the landmark High-Level Event on Sustaining Peace in April.

I will launch a roadmap for Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace, which will include a series of activities where youth can show how they are true peacebuilders and agents for change.

Make no mistake: there are far more young people working for peace than fuelling conflict.

And the involvement of young people in peace and prevention is gaining traction across the board. In this regard, I welcome the appointment of the Secretary General’s Youth Envoy.

We must mobilize youth for Sustainable Development, including to achieve Goal 16 – peaceful, just and inclusive societies.

There are over 20 youth specific targets. We need to work to translate these Goals into a language that young people understand. If young people cannot see themselves in every word of the Agenda, we have failed them.

And my fourth point: Youth dimension of migration
A high number of migrants and refugees are young people.

However, we must not see young people through the binary lens of victim or perpetrator. Rather, they are the innovators and leaders of today and tomorrow.

They are the ones creating apps linking newcomers with host communities. They are community activists. They are the true bridge-builders.

In conclusion, let me reiterate my readiness to cooperate with you in promoting youth throughout the 72nd session. In the coming months I will highlight youth, education, inclusion and prevention of radicalization. Let us together build bridges to the future.

I thank you.