The best and the worst of times to be Young, says Lankan UN Youth Envoy
UNITED NATIONS-- The United Nations (UN) will be hosting one of the biggest gathering of youth delegates next week, with the primary aim of engaging them in some of the key socio-economic issues on the UN agenda, including poverty and hunger eradication, unemployment, climate change, economic inequalities, gender empowerment and safer cities.
The participants at the Youth Forum will include more than 500 youth advocates, along with government and civil society representatives, to discuss critical issues affecting young people.
Currently, there are an estimated 1.2 billion (15-24 years-old) young people in the world, the largest generation of youth the world has ever had, according to the UN. Many of them are living in developing countries, with more than half of them in Asia and the Pacific.
“It is really the best of times to be a young person, but also the worst of times,” said Jayathma Wickramanayake, the SecretaryGeneral’s Envoy on Youth, at a press conference Friday, ahead of the UN Economic & Social Council Youth Forum (Jan.30, 31).
“We are the most connected generation ever – we have access to technology and have every opportunity to be innovative and creative, yet, some 600 million young people live in conflict-affected and fragile States, and some 71 million of them are unemployed,” she noted.
With young people across the world facing a future of uncertainties due to conflicts, economic variability, climate change, and rising inequalities, she stressed the importance of seeing them as agents of change and placing them at the centre of the global development process, including leading the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development- the world’s plan of action for a more sustainable future.
“This is a time in history that we can really make a change because, ultimately, it is the youth who will lead the implementation of the 2030 Agenda,” added Wickramanayake.
At 26, she became the UN’s youngest senior official when Secretary-General António Guterres appointed her in June 2017, “to bring the UN closer to young people and bring young people closer to the UN.”
After participating in her first Youth Forum in her current capacity later this month, Wickramanayake will travel to several countries in Africa, a continent with the world’s fastest growing youth population.
While in Senegal, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa, from Feb.1-16, she will meet young people from diverse communities and learn about the issues they face, in efforts to ensure youth voices are heard and valued at all levels of government, and at the UN.
The 7th ECOSOC Youth Forum will take place under the theme, “The role of youth in building sustainable and resilient urban and rural communities,” to address the challenges that today’s generation of young people is facing.
The Forum, the largest official annual gathering on Youth issues at the UN, offers an opportunity for young people to engage with Member States, to discuss policy frameworks as well as promote innovative approaches and initiatives for advancing Youth Development.