The theme of International Youth Day 2017 is Youth Building Peace.
The United Nations
adopted the resolution in 1999 to declare 12 August as International Youth Day.
There is a growing
recognition that as agents of change, young people’s inclusion in the peace and
security agenda is key to building and sustaining peace. Another Security
Council Resolution in 2015 reaffirmed the important role youth can play in
deterring and resolving conflicts, and said that youth are key constituents in
ensuring the success of both peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts.
International
Youth Day 2017 is dedicated to celebrating young people’s contributions to
conflict prevention and transformation as well as inclusion, social justice,
and sustainable peace.
The United
Nations World Program of Action for Youth ,
which provides a policy framework and practical guidelines to improve the
situation of young people, also encourages “promoting the active involvement of
youth in maintaining peace and security”.
The current
generation of youth are the largest in history and young people often comprise
the majority in countries marked by armed conflict or unrest, therefore
considering the needs and aspirations of youth in matters of peace and security
is a demographic imperative.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different
in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament
(2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a
Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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