Closing of the First International Symposium on Youth Participation in Peace Processes

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73^rd Session of the UN General Assembly

6 March 2019

I have learned so much in just one day! The issue of Youth, Peace and Security must go beyond the Security Council to the General Assembly.

Excellency, Mr. Timo Soini, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Thank you also to the Government of Colombia and the State of Qatar for sponsoring this Symposium,

Ms. Laura Londén, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA,

Ms. Lama Drebati of Mobaderoon, Syria

Mr. Saji Prelis, Director of Children and Youth Programmes, Search for Common Ground,

Mr. Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, ASG of DPPA,

Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake, SG’s Envoy on Youth, 

Excellencies,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today has been a truly invigorating day. I hope the Minister of Foreign Affairs will not be too offended if I say that while our bilateral meeting was immensely productive, the highlight of my day was meeting the inspiring Finnish and international youth representatives at lunch.

This plenary session brings to an end the first-ever International Symposium on Youth Participation in Peace Processes. The fact that states, UN agencies and civil society are working together and collaborating on this high-profile initiative shows that – finally – there is momentum on youth, peace and security issues.

It has been a long journey. You have been here two full days.  After years of campaigning, organizations – including the UN Office for Youth, Search for Common Ground and the UN Peacebuilding Support Office – began work in 2012 on the Guiding Principles for Young People’s Participation in Peacebuilding. This paved the way for the Global Forum on youth, peace and security held in Jordan in 2015, and eventually to the ground-breaking UN Security Council Resolution 2250 adopted later that year.

Friends,

I don’t need to tell you the story, you know it very well, this resolution affirmed, for the first time, what is obvious to everybody in this room: that young people can – and must – play a central role in preventing and resolving conflict, in countering violent extremism and in building a sustainable peace. Last year, the Security Council adopted another resolution, reaffirming the importance of youth participation. It is essential that we work together to build on these achievements, to walk the talk.

Over the past two days, a great number of proposals and recommendations have been generated. So, I am delighted that this session will seek to capture them and focus on next steps.

For my part, I commit to sharing the outcomes of this Symposium when I return to New York. I commit to continuing to find opportunities for young voices to be heard at the United Nations. And I commit to working with Member States on opportunities for youth to be active participants in our work.

Dear friends,

When I travel around the world and meet with governments, I often find myself having to make the case for multilateralism and of the added value of the UN. But I don’t need to convince you, With young people, there is no need. You get it.

We don’t need to convince young people of the need for global solutions. They know the problems we face do not respect borders, that they cannot be solved by one government, or indeed by governments alone. What they need is the space to act.

So often, we speak about young people as “the future”, as we did over lunch. Yes, they are the future, but they are also here now. We need their involvement and innovative thinking now to help us shape the roadmap to the future.

But to walk on that roadmap there are priorities we need to address:

–       We simply cannot continue to accept that young people are less likely to be employed than adults: the global youth unemployment rate is at 13%, three times higher than the adult rate. This means losing their potential for innovation and advancement of global society as a whole.

– We simply cannot continue to exclude young people from decision-making. Less than 6% of parliamentarians worldwide are under 35. Most states do not involve young people in policy-making in a meaningful way. This has to change.

We are privileged today to have the largest generation of young people in history. Between now and 2030 – the deadline we have set ourselves for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals – half the world’s population will be under 30.

We must do all we can to seize on the energy, potential and promise of that moment before it is too late.

I thank you.