My first day at the United Nations General Assembly was my “Statement-Day”. Early in the morning I attended a preparation meeting at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN.
I used the following general debate in the morning to meet youth delegates and talk about new language to be added to the Draft Resolution.
During the lunch break, the first informal session on the youth resolution commenced. Many delegations were present and Switzerland was upon the first states to propose new ideas for the Draft Resolution.
In the afternoon, many youth delegates held their speeches. I spoke on behalf of Switzerland and this is the text of my speech:
Mr. Chairman,
The International Year of Youth ended a few weeks ago. It has been a year of celebrating the commitment and potential of young people in bringing change, progress and development to our communities and societies. This belief, which goes beyond the understanding of young people as a major human resource for development but as key agents for social change, shapes the World Programme of Action for Youth.
The World Programme of Action for Youth as amended in 2007 is the basic policy framework for improving the situation of young people around the world. Its fifteen priority areas cover many issues that affect the lives of young people worldwide. Switzerland values this document highly, because it contains concrete measures and proposals for action, aimed at fostering conditions and mechanisms to promote improved well-being and livelihoods for young people.
I will address two points in my presentation: participation and empowerment.
One of the priority areas of the World Programme of Action for Youth, which is very important to all of us Youth Delegates present in this room, is: “Full and effective participation of youth in society and in decision-making”. We have, as Youth Delegates, the unique chance to speak on behalf of the young generations of our respective countries and to convey their perspectives and conceptions to you.
Full, effective and constructive youth participation is more than just political engagement. The effective engagement of youth as equal partners requires recognition of the rights of all young people to participate at all levels of decision-making and to make productive use of our knowledge, perspectives and experience. It is a process from which both youth and non-youth stakeholders benefit. It also represents a situation in which young people are no longer seen as passive recipients of resources or as the cause of society’s problems; instead, we are regarded as vital participants in society who can make an important contribution to our countries’ development and whose involvement must therefore be appropriately nurtured and cultivated.
Secondly, youth participation is, however, incomplete without adequate empowerment through access to human development opportunities such as education. Here, it is imperative to recognise the roles of both formal and non-formal education. Non-formal education is an essential part of the life- long and life-wide learning process, and youth organisations as well as youth-led organisations are a space for and main provider of this process. Both formal and non-formal education allows children and young people to make the transition from adolescence to adulthood, to integrate into social and professional life and to exercise their citizenship.
Participation in youth organisations lies at the heart of democracy: it is a dynamic force for social inclusion and active citizenship. The same holds true for volunteerism. Volunteerism and other participatory opportunities for young people are highly beneficial to society and can form part of a strategy to combat social ills such as drug abuse or juvenile delinquency.
Giving young people a chance to take part in decision-making contributes to their own development; this in turn, enables them to contribute to the development of their societies, eventually creating a better environment for youth participation – a virtuous circle! This positive momentum strengthens our resolve to contribute to the advancement of a world in which we are equal stakeholders – a world for which all different actors, including young people, are responsible for the decades to come!
In conclusion, even if the International Year of Youth has ended, our engagement and commitment to youth related issues must continue. More than ever, young people worldwide count on what the GA will agree on during the next weeks. Even if only a fraction of the world’s youth is represented today by their Youth Representatives, with nearly half of the world’s population under the age of 25, it means that almost three billion young people worldwide watch our steps.
Thank you for your attention.
Posted on October 4, 2011 by oliverfelix
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