Young Peacemakers for Sustaining Peace 

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President of the 72^nd Session of the UN General Assembly, at Side-eVent on “Young Peacemakers for Sustaining Peace”

Good afternoon, everyone.

Welcome to the United Nations. I am pleased to see so many young people at the UN. This does not happen every day.

I want to start by thanking Ambassador Sauer, of Finland, for hosting this event. My thanks also go to the International Peace Institute, the Crisis Management Initiative, and the Secretary-General’s Envoy for Youth and her team, for helping to organise this event today.

Look….it is very simple.

We need to prevent conflicts.

There is a very strong moral case for that – it needs no explanation. We do not have to look beyond the pictures coming out of Syria to see it.

And, there is also a financial one. A World Bank-United Nations says that, for every one US dollar spent on prevention, up to seven dollars could be saved in conflict response – over the long term.

But, as simple as it is, we have not been doing it enough. We have spent more time, responding, instead of preventing.

But, if we want a new approach to peace – and this has been my priority – if we want Sustaining Peace to be a reality – we need to be inclusive.

And that means that we need to stop wasting the potential and letting the valuable resource, of young peacemakers and peacebuilders, slip through our fingers.

And, I want to make two brief points on this.

First, I want to focus on young people as peacemakers because young people are here for peace – not war.

We failed to understand this simple truth, for too long.

We focused on the youth mobs… young extremists… young rebels.

But, they are not representative. Actually, the overwhelming majority of young people are out there, working for peace.

This came through clearly, from the recent Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security. This was the first such study of its kind. It came from a direct mandate from the United Nations Security Council. And it contains many inspiring stories.

From young people in Yemen, who are using Whatsapp to run tutorials on peacebuilding…….To young professionals and activists in Nigeria, who created a coalition against extremism and terrorism.

And, we heard similar, inspiring stories at the High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace, which I convened, here, last month.

For example, Ilwad Elman, who left Canada, to return to her native Somalia when she was just 20 years old. She is now leading an organisation that is working for peace and gender justice.

Or, Ishmael Beah. He saw war in a way that no one ever should: as a child solider, forced to kill, in Sierra Leone. And he has gone on to be a vocal advocate for the protection of children in armed conflict.

Young people are out there: mediating to prevent conflict…. speaking out against violent extremism…or working to avoid the next generations suffering what they did.

So, if we want to do more to prevent conflict – young people are key.

As my second point to acknowledge that much has been done but that there is more left to do. I want to ask the question: how can we do more, to tap into this resource?

Well, the Progress Study gives us some tangible guidelines.

First, we should invest more, in young people. This means through capacity building programs – but also through cold, hard funding.

Second, we should take a good, hard look at our existing peace and security systems. And to identify the barriers to young people’s participation.

And third, we should treat young people as equal partners for peace.

And, the report also stressed that we must do more, to adapt to the particular needs of young women, as mediators and peacebuilders.

But, finally, a few words about next steps. The good news is: change is in the air.

The United Nations Security Council has put youth firmly on its agenda.

The number of youth-focused events and initiatives, in the area of peace and prevention, is increasing. Last year, 11 million dollars of the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund was used for youth-focused programs.

And, we are about to learn about another, important initiative.

Not only do the Lennons carry on the legacy of Nobel peace laureate, a person that I highly respect, Martti Ahtisaari. But they also provide a platform to turn the ideas, innovation and agency of young people, into action – for peace.

And….tomorrow, we begin the Youth Dialogue, here at the United Nations.

Its aim is very simple: to give the stage – and the microphone – over to young people. Unlike here, I want to have some old people in the room to listen… to learn… to understand… and to engage – hopefully in a way that has not been done before.

I hope to see and hear many of you there!

Thank you all again.