United Nations Security Council adopts ground-breaking resolution on Youth, Peace and Security

New York – The United Nations Security Council has today adopted a ground-breaking resolution on Youth, Peace and Security which recognizes that “young people play an important and positive role in the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security”. This historic acknowledgement of the critical role of young people’s role in supporting durable peace will bolster the work of young women and young men engaged in efforts to prevent violence, reconcile communities and resolve conflict. It will also significantly impact development policies and programmes on youth and peacebuilding.

Five key pillars for action are identified: participation, protection, prevention, partnerships and disengagement and reintegration. The Security Council also requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations to carry out a study on young people’s positive contribution to peace processes and conflict resolution, and urges Member States to “increase, as appropriate, their political, financial, technical and logistical support, that take account of the needs and participation of youth in peace efforts, in conflict and post-conflict situations, including those undertaken by relevant entities, funds and programmes, and other relevant bodies… and actors at regional and international levels.”

UNDP, in line with its Youth Strategy 2014-2017, sees young women and men as positive agents of change. As an active member and current co-chair of the Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD), UNDP has worked hand-in-hand with partners from the UN, civil society organizations and the Working Group on Youth and Peacebuilding to develop an ambitious roadmap for this new global agenda on Youth, Peace and Security.

UNDP will contribute to the implementation of this resolution by scaling up advocacy efforts and its support to youth engagement, global policy analysis and thought leadership, as well as youth-sensitive and policies and programmes on youth leadership, inclusive youth labour policies and youth civic engagement and political participation in peacebuilding processes and contexts. UNDP will also strengthen partnerships and coalitions around this agenda, including through a global ‘Youth4Peace’ collaborative and multi-stakeholder online platform.

“UNDP welcomes this resolution which recognizes that youth can play enormously positive roles as agents of change. We must continue to invest in young women and men as partners, and support their active leadership to achieve social cohesion, human development and sustainable peace” stated Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator.

Note to Editors

The Working Group on Youth and Peacebuilding was created in 2012 as part of the broader Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD). Co-chaired by the Peacebuilding Support Office, Search for Common Ground and the United Network of Young Peacebuilders, the Working Group brings together a wide constituency of civil society organizations, including youth-led and youth-focused organizations, UN entities, donors, academia and other partners. The Working Group developed the Guiding Principles on Young People’s Participation in Peacebuilding, which defined nine overarching principles to ensure meaningful involvement of young people in building peace. The Guiding Principles helped shift policy discussions towards the precognition of young people’s role for building peace and paved the way for the Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security and the adoption of SCR resolution S/RES/2250.