YouSaid · the spoken record

Wickramanayake

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31
first
2018-04-23
most recent
2019-07-17
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2
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un-security-council

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  1. “Lastly, the report of the Secretary-General on youth, peace and security will be presented to the Security Council by May 2020. The successful implementation of resolutions 2250 (2015) and 2419 (2018) requires further support, including political will and ownership from Member States, funding for programming, institutional support for capacity-building and prioritization. Achieving lasting peace is not an elitist cause that Governments, politicians, the United Nations and other institutions can or should undertake alone. Sustainable peace cannot be achieved at the cost of social inclusion. Our efforts to build and sustain peace need to be democratized to include the communities most affected. Young people are our best chance for succeeding at that.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  2. “Last weekend, 30 young Libyans representing minorities from Amazigh, Tabu and Tuareg communities, including young people with disabilities from all regions of the country, gathered to discuss topics pertaining to peace, people, prosperity, planet and partnerships. I hope that this is the beginning of a process that will continue to inspire their leaders with regard to concrete actions to bring lasting peace. I am also pleased to note that the State of Qatar has already committed to hosting a second symposium in 2020 in Doha, focusing especially on young women's participation in peace processes. I hope that this will be a good opportunity to further explore the interlinkages between resolutions 2250 (2015) and 1325 (2000).”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  3. “However, there are still massive gaps in meaningfully including young people in peace processes at all levels and documenting young people's roles in peace negotiations and mediation efforts. The symposium concluded with a set of recommendations to address those gaps and will serve as a useful tool to all stakeholders, especially mediators on the ground. It is encouraging to note that, at the country level, youth groups are already testing and validating some of those recommendations. In Cameroon, under the leadership of young peacebuilders, over 600 young mediators are being trained to step up and support community level negotiations.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  4. “I am therefore pleased to use this opportunity to officially announce the launch of a key outcome of the Symposium: the global policy paper entitled We Are Here: An integrated approach to youth-inclusive peace processes, which includes a foreword by the Secretary-General. The paper evaluates young people's participation and inclusion in peace processes that have taken place over the past 20 years from young people's own points of view. It highlights that their roles in peace processes often build relationships between the formal and informal realms of peace negotiations, making mediation efforts that otherwise take place behind closed doors more open, inclusive and, thereby, sustainable.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  5. “As a first step in that process, the first International Symposium on Youth Participation in Peace Processes was held in March in Helsinki and co-hosted by the Governments of Finland, Qatar and Colombia. The Symposium analysed how young people have influenced peace processes and mediation efforts using diverse and innovative approaches. From participating in peace negotiations as delegates of the parties of conflict to monitoring ceasefire agreements to addressing local-level disputes, from drafting and shaping peace deals to using technology and social media to reach broader constituencies, young people have shaped peace processes in countries such as Colombia, South Sudan and the Philippines.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  6. “The United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, through its Prevention Academy project, is building linkages with youth throughout Central Asia as a means of creating a culture of prevention among young people. Inspired by the impressive work done by the youth focal points in our missions in Colombia, Kosovo and Somalia, I encourage all United Nations political and peacekeeping missions to appoint and allocate youth focal points to effectively implement youth, peace and security agendas within their respective mandates. Fourthly, since the adoption of resolution 2419 (2018), the importance of young people's participation in peace processes has garnered increased international attention.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  7. “To promote peaceful coexistence and support youth participation in peacebuilding and stability in Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq engages youth across the country on issues relating to tribal conflicts, unemployment, State control of arms and youth inclusion in decision-making and political processes. Across the African continent, from West Africa and the Sahel to Somalia, United Nations missions are stepping up their efforts to engage young people and youth organizations in consultative processes and dialogues aimed at preventing conflict and advancing peace, while supporting efforts to build the capacities of youth organizations and networks to participate in decision-making processes.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  8. “For instance, the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia organized dialogues with youth representatives from different political parties in various regions, focusing on discussing the implementation of the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace. As a result, there are new inter-party youth pacts to reject violence in the context of the upcoming local elections. I commend the Mission for establishing a network of youth focal points across its field offices to support the implementation of the Mission's youth engagement strategy.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  9. “Furthermore, we are seeing a surge in programming and funding in United Nations entities. For instance, $37 million have been allocated by the Peacebuilding Fund since 2016 through its Youth Promotion Initiative, a special fund dedicated to supporting projects fostering youth inclusion and participation. Nonetheless, we continue to fall far short of meeting the needs of youth organizations and networks on the ground, which often operate on minimal financial and other resources. Thirdly, the United Nations peace and security pillar is increasingly engaged in implementing resolutions 2250 (2015) and 2419 (2018) with special political missions and peace operations involved in numerous activities.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  10. “To support the implementation of the peace and resilience-building priority of the United Nations Youth Strategy, a joint United Nations action plan is being developed under the leadership of the joint United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)/Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) secretariat on youth, peace and security, bringing together other United Nations system partners. This joint action plan focuses specifically on strengthening policy support, implementation, monitoring and review at the local, national and regional levels. PBSO, UNFPA and the United Nations Development Programme are furthermore developing a joint global programme to support field and regional-level implementation of the youth, peace and security agenda in the five geographic regions.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  11. “With this first ever United Nations Youth Strategy, we have set out on a new path and will support young people in all their diversity in accessing education, decent work, social protection and health care, while we will stand with young people when they oppose injustice and will work with them to prevent conflict and build peace. In doing so, the United Nations system will promote an enabling environment that recognizes young people's important and positive contributions to peace and security, while creating safe spaces and expanding opportunities for young people.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  12. “I would like to recall and remind us all with great emphasis that protection is an integral part of resolution 2250 (2015). I call on Governments and all parties to uphold and protect the fundamental rights of young people, including their freedom of expression both online and offline. Secondly, the youth, peace and security agenda is being recognized and institutionalized within the United Nations as core to the United Nations priorities on youth. The United Nations Youth Strategy, Youth 2030, which was launched by the Secretary-General in September 2018, identifies peace and resilience-building as one of its five core priorities for the United Nations system's work with and for young people.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  13. “Despite myths, misconceptions, fake news, stereotypes and claims that presume them to be and portray them as troublemakers, young people are resisting, protesting, organizing and implementing youth-led peacebuilding initiatives in their communities and countries to bring back democratic values, good governance and transparency in institutions in the places they live. They are not waiting to be invited to join decision-making tables; they are bringing alternative, innovative solutions to solve those global problems. However, in the past months, I have noticed with grave concern incidents of young peacebuilders and young human rights defenders being subjected to threats, intimidation, violence, arbitrary arrest and retaliation by State and non-State actors.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  14. “It must be clear therefore that we need to engage young people not only as beneficiaries, but as equal partners in our efforts, especially in our efforts to prevent conflict and build peace. Since the release ofTheMissingPeace: Independent Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security last September, the agenda has entered a new phase, increasingly shifting the focus towards implementation at multiple levels while also expanding stakeholder support. Let me focus on a few key issues. First, young people are reclaiming the narrative on youth, peace and security.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  15. “Some 90 per cent of them live in developing countries, where they make up a large proportion of the population. With a global median age of 29.7 years, it is estimated that 408 million young people today live in contexts affected by armed conflict. Moreover, around the world, today's young generation faces enormous challenges. One in five young people is not in employment, education or training; every year millions of girls become mothers while they are still children themselves; and mental health issues among young people are on the rise. Without action to address inequality, intolerance and the climate emergency that faces us all, this generation of young people could face devastating repercussions.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  16. “That is all the more reason why we need to keep going back and referencing resolutions 2250 (2015) and 2419 (2018), so that in this increasingly globalized world shaped by pervasive concerns about terrorism, organized crime and extremist violence, we can make sure that perspectives on youth are not distorted by contagious stereotypes that associate young people with violence. Allow me to thank the Government of Peru for its leadership in convening this important Security Council briefing on youth, peace and security. I am pleased to be joined by two young women peacebuilders - Ms. Wevyn Muganda from Kenya and Ms. Sofia Ramyar from Afghanistan - as we take stock of the progress made in the youth, peace and security agenda. Today, there are 1.8 billion people in the world- the largest generation of young people ever.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  17. “Unfortunately, contrary to reality, the narrative is still dominated by a focus on the small minority of young people attracted to extremism and violence and fuelled by the victimization of young people, especially young women. The overarching consequence of these negative stereotypes is that they contribute to the marginalization and stigmatization of youth by framing young people as a problem to be solved and a threat to be contained. This detrimentally skews youth, peace and security programmatic responses towards hard security approaches and away from prevention - ignoring the fact that most young people, in fact, are not involved in violence.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  18. “Ms. Wickramanayake: Since my last briefing to the Security Council in April 2018 (see S/PV.824I), I have had the opportunity to travel to many parts of the world and meet young people from all walks of life. From the refugee camps in Jordan, to schools of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in Gaza in the Gaza Strip, to municipalities in Kosovo, to youth councils in Denmark, I have seen and heard one thing - young people care about peace. However, young women and men still suffer from stereotypes, myths and policy panics that diminish their agency and prevent them from realizing their full potential for peace.”

    2019-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8577 (2019) · source

  19. “The diversity in the Chamber today is a testament to how multiple partners from different organizational standpoints can come together to advance progress. That is what the courageous and important work of young people engaged in peacebuilding demands and deserves. What history books will write about representatives here today, and what their children and grandchildren will read about them, will depend upon what decisions they make today. I sincerely hope that they decide that youth is no longer a subsidiary agenda, but the most important agenda for the Council and for the United Nations.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source

  20. “Countries must remove all age restrictions that limit young people's political participation. Lastly, we can partner. Today's open debate should be an important building block to continue our collective efforts to promote young peacebuilders. I have personally met young people in Iraq, Somalia and Colombia who spoke about how resolution 2250 (2015) is helping to close the trust deficit between young people and the international community. We need to build on that momentum. In that connection, I welcome the efforts of Peru and Sweden to further strengthen the youth, peace and security agenda by way of a follow-up draft resolution to this debate. I sincerely hope the members of the Council will offer support that opens a path for regular Council discussions on this critical issue.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source

  21. “Those young people deserve more investments and more news headlines. I invite all young people in the Chamber to raise their hands so that we can recognize their presence and show solidarity to those who could not be with us today in person. Secondly, we can prioritize political participation for young people to be fully engaged. That includes ensuring that young people have a space at the peace table, that their voices are heard as peace is negotiated for Syria, South Sudan, Colombia, Yemen, Myanmar and beyond. On peacebuilding strategies and action plans, young people must be key stakeholders, not mere recipients of directions. Young people should feel that their vote counts and should be engaged in electoral processes and political party structures, and not be considered too young to run for public office.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source

  22. “I will not ask delegations to let young people lead, because they are already leading, but they need inclusive, safe spaces and enabling environments to succeed. Countless young people are building and sustaining peace in their countries. We see this in the United Network of Young Peacebuilders and many other organizations. Their numbers are much bigger than that of their peers who have fallen prey to extremist groups. Yet those young peacebuilders rarely make the headlines of local and international news, and they definitely do not boast of the same level of financial resources and freedom of mobility as those on the other extreme. Many had difficulties in obtaining travel permits to be with us in the Chamber today and used innovative means, such as crowdfunding and space-sharing to get here.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source

  23. “As Secretary-General Guterres said, "If we are serious about prevention, and particularly about preventing conflict, we need to be serious about engaging with and investing in young women and men." I believe we all can agree that my generation represents promise, not peril. We should be seen as an asset, not a problem. The Security Council has a unique opportunity to redress the mistrust between young people, their Governments and the multilateral system by opening new paths for meaningful participation and contribution. The study offers many concrete, tangible recommendations that I hope the Council will take forward. As I see it, there are three main ways to do this. The first is by supporting the peacebuilding work of young people: recognize it, fund it, scale it up, protect it.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source

  24. “The progress study give us pointers that can inform Member States' ongoing thinking about the reform of the United Nations and points towards new systems of accountability, the engagement of civil society and young people. The study offers us a new narrative on the role of young people. It recognizes that only a small minority of young people ever engages in violence, and it warns against policy panic triggered by unfounded assumptions that youth are violent. This agenda is about transforming systems that lead to the exclusion of young people, shifting how they are engaged and protecting their human rights. The complex nature of peacebuilding and conflict prevention requires us to tap into the potential and creativity of young people.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source

  25. “The progress study is a critical contribution to the discussions on building and sustaining peace. This debate, on the eve of the high-level meeting on sustaining peace to be convened by the President of the General Assembly, shows that we are starting to see young people as the missing peace. That is directly related to the Secretary-General's priority of preventing conflict and violence. The youth, peace and security agenda is at the intersection of Agenda 2030 and its ambitious Goals. It is at the very nexus of peace and security, development and human rights. It also is a critical complement to the women and peace and security agenda and the children and armed conflict agenda.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source

  26. “Dedicated programmes, with young people at their heart, are being designed. Civil society partners have mobilized to support the work led by young people. United Nations country teams have experimented with ambitious programmes. Donors are rethinking their funding streams. Now we have the progress study, which gives us unique insights on how young people see and experience the world we live in, their hopes for peace and security and their demands of Governments and the multilateral system. It echoes what I have heard from young people around the world. This all points to two key issues that need immediate attention: the growing mistrust among young generations towards formal political institutions and the exclusion of young people from political, civic and economic life. Allow me to highlight a number of key takeaways.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source

  27. “Thousands of young people rallied behind that call by using their exceptional communication and networking skills to mobilize behind a common cause. They challenged and rejected the false narratives labelling them as a threat to peace and stability in society. The Security Council responded by adopting resolution 2250 (2015). That resolution offers a beacon of hope to countless young women and men risking their lives to address conflict, violent extremism and the need for peace. From Cameroon to Myanmar, from Kyrgyzstan to Guatemala, young people use the resolution to engage their Governments and support their work. A little more than two years after the adoption of resolution 2250 (2015), much has happened already. Coalitions on youth, peace and security have been formed in a number of countries.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source

  28. “It was one of the most participatory processes ever undertaken with the United Nations support. Those young people entrusted us to carry to the Security Council their hopes and unfiltered perspectives for a more peaceful world. Today we will hear directly from two of them: Kessy Ekomo- Soignet from the Central African Republic and Sophia Pierre-Antoine from Haiti. The date of 23 April marks exactly three years since the Security Council convened its second-ever meeting (see S/PV.7432) on the role of youth in promoting peace, which was presided over by the youngest-ever Council President, the then-21-year-old Crown Prince of Jordan. The meeting recognized that young people drive change but they are not in the driver's seat and called for giving them the license to help steer our common future.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source

  29. “Graeme Simpson, independent lead author of the progress study on youth, peace and security, appointed by the Secretary- General, as well as the Expert Advisory Group for its support extended to guide Mr. Simpson's work. I would also like to acknowledge the work of the United Nations Population Fund and the Peacebuilding Support Office, which acted as secretariat for that independent report, as well as the United Nations Development Programme and other United Nations agencies for co-convening regional consultations with young people and the numerous partners from civil society and others. It is not every day that the Security Council has an opportunity to gather around an independent report carrying the voices of over 4,000 young people from all regions of the world, who represented the aspirations of millions more.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source

  30. “But the difference was that some of them - without waiting to be President and without resources or institutional support - were already leading exceptional peacebuilding initiatives in their communities, schools, townships and even refugee camps. Today we celebrate those fearless young peacebuilders. Allow me to thank the Government of Peru for its leadership in convening this historic open debate. Around this table today, in addition to Government representatives, we are three young people - young women - about to brief the Security Council, which I believe is a first in the history of the Council and a fair reflection of how young people, especially young women, are turning tables and leading change on the ground. I would like to thank Mr.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source

  31. “Ms. Wickramanayake: "One day I will become President and I will bring a law that will stop people from fighting and stop using guns and bombs", my best friend told me when we were in sixth grade. Unlike most sixth graders around the world, we were not having that conversation in a classroom or a playground. Instead, we were whispering into each other's ears in a safety bunker in the corner of our school grounds. There were bombings and suicide attacks in the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, and running to the safety bunker was a regular activity during our school days. Many years later, as the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, I had an opportunity to meet and hold hands with hundreds of young people in conflict- affected areas around the world and share their heart-wrenching stories.”

    2018-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8241 (2018) · source