With as much as 90 percent of young people living in developing countries, many of which are embroiled in long lasting conflicts, youth involvement in the United Nations grows in importance, not only in the lens of equitable representation, but for achieving peace which transcends our time.
As grassroots initiatives become increasingly regarded as a more effective method than the existing traditional peacebuilding modus operandi, in tandem rises the importance of youth inclusion. Demonstrated by the Youth, Peace, and Security agenda, given young people’s status as the most conflict affected demographic across the world, the input of youth leaders on both the international and local scale has dramatically shifted from a want to a must. However, many obstacles remain on the path to inclusion.
To further explore the future of UN Youth engagement, KAS New York invited Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, Dr. Felipe Paullier, young professionals from the United Nations, Permanent Missions of Member States as well as youth leaders from other UN branches to discuss the barriers, strides, and ambitions needed to strengthen youth involvement in the UN.
Discussion primarily focused on three points:
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Accountability within youth inclusion. A point to which participants paid particular attention as it is often the gripe of youth involvement in decision making circles, with the target group oftentimes remaining tokenized.
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Youth should be seen as a partner in particular with regard to peace and security
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Although strides have been made, the UN and its structure will not be a trusted partner for the youth if the youth is not fully engaged and involved in the United Nations.
