Joint Nordic Statement at Security Council Arria Formula Meeting on Youth Peace and Security

Check Against Delivery

Your Excellencies,

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and my own country, Denmark.

We thank the Republic of Ghana for facilitating this timely exchange.

Since the UN Security Council unanimously adopted the landmark resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security (YPS), we have celebrated some important gains, often generated by youths’ own actions and demands.

Today, the Nordics would like to highlight three points relating to the implementation of the youth, peace and security agenda.

Firstly, youth participation should not be an afterthought; the meaningful engagement of young people is key to sustaining peace. Young people are working for peace across the world: from bridging divides within communities to bringing relief to those in need during crises. Only through meaningful engagement of young people will our efforts on conflict prevention and peaceful resolution of conflicts be effective and sustainable. Key to achieving this is to make funding accessible to youth-led initiatives and always strive for a transformative approach to gender, youth with disabilities, indigenous youth and other young persons too often subject to exclusion.

Secondly, we commend the African Union and the African Union Special Envoy on Youth, Ms. Chido Mpemba, for the significant efforts in implementing the YPS Agenda on the continent. Noteworthy achievements include the Continental Framework on Youth, Peace and Security and its Ten-Year Implementation Plan.

Regional efforts carve a path for strengthened efforts at the national and local levels where the task of implementing the YPS Agenda is the most critical. We underline the importance of national and regional strategies, frameworks, and action plans on YPS for a long-term and comprehensive approach to achieving peaceful and inclusive societies. There are ongoing efforts in this regard, including those by civil society. The Nordics reiterate our commitment to partnerships on supporting young people’s participation in peacebuilding here and throughout Africa.

Thirdly, when young people participate, institutions become more accountable and decision-making more inclusive and relevant. This is key for preventing instability, resolving conflicts and fostering trust. We therefore encourage further efforts to mainstream youth in all matters relating to peace and security. This includes meaningful, inclusive and effective engagement of young people, in particular young women, in policy discussions and programming, and a strengthened focus on protection of young mediators, peacebuilders and human rights defenders. It includes applying a youth lens and mainstreaming a youth perspective in all analyses, policies, resolutions and programming. In this regard, training and capacity building of public servants and practitioners are essential to further the institutionalisation of the youth, peace and security agenda.

Finally, in order to show commitment to this Agenda and take stock of progress, we propose that the Security Council consider making the Secretary-General’s upcoming third report on youth, peace and security the subject of an open debate. This would also be an important contribution to the preparation for the Summit of the Future, a cornerstone of which should be the participation and wellbeing of youth.

Your Excellencies,

Our young compatriots continue to prove themselves willing and capable of taking on their share of the work. We owe it to them to accelerate inclusive approaches to peacebuilding and sustaining peace and support young people’s critical role as agents of positive change in preventing, mitigating, and resolving conflict in Africa and across the world. The Nordic countries renew our commitment to this crucial task.

Thank you.