On the Occasion of International Youth Day, the Conference on Disarmament Discusses Youth and Disarmament

The Conference on Disarmament today discussed youth and disarmament on the occasion of International Youth Day.

Ambassador Leslie E. Norton of Canada, President of the Conference on Disarmament, said that this plenary would be dedicated to a discussion on youth and disarmament. Canada firmly believed that a diversity of views, including those of younger generations, was key to finding effective ways to move forward on common goals of disarmament.

Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations Under-Secretary General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, said today, 40 per cent of the world’s population was under the age of 25. Recognising the importance of young people to bring about change, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs had launched its youth outreach initiative, “#Youth4Disarmament” in 2019 to engage, educate and empower young people with the aim of facilitating their meaningful participation in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation. Ms. Nakamitsu said that these efforts were already showing positive outcomes. A key programme carried out by her office was the United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament, its flagship youth training programme.

Jayathma Wickramanayake, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, called on all Member States to create enabling and safe platforms and spaces that provided equal opportunities for all young people to participate in shaping the common future. She encouraged Member States to invest in youth-led initiatives. As the Secretary-General noted in his Agenda for Disarmament, young people continuously found new ways to organise and advance bolder solutions. Innovation and imagination had and would continue to pave the way for strengthening collective peace and security. Therefore, it was essential that all also nurtured the creativity and unique potential of young people.

The following four United Nations Youth Disarmament Champions gave presentations: Patrick Karekezi (Rwanda/ Uganda); Kirsten Mosey (Canada); Linh Trang Phung (Viet Nam); and Christelle Barakat (Lebanon).

In the discussion, speakers said that youth were the lighthouse. They spoke of the General Assembly resolution dedicated to youth engagement, empowerment and education. They also spoke of national initiatives in this sphere, promising to continue championing the youth and disarmament agenda. Speakers thanked the Canadian Presidency for organising this discussion in a formal session. Part of the lack of progress in the Conference on Disarmament had to do with its inward-looking nature that for decades had isolated it from external voices. Speakers supported the involvement of young people in disarmament sessions, urging the Council to open up and hear new voices, amongst them young people. In Africa, young people constituted nearly two-thirds of the population, so the youth and disarmament issue was of great interest and relevance. Some speakers said that youth must be encouraged to recreate a new world, invent other new fields of antagonism, particularly those that put humans at the centre, and rid of any ideas of violence. Young diplomats, scientists, analysts and activists could play an important role and make a signification contribution. However, some speakers said that unblinkered views and new ideas must be based on professional knowledge and expertise. Training new experts was crucial ensuring continuity and transparent maintenance of institutional memory.

Youth representatives spoke of major landmarks in youth empowerment and disarmament, hoping that events could take place more frequently so that their voices could be heard more clearly and loudly. Disarmament education was a significant stepping stone to maintain peace and security globally. Only an educated population could make the right decisions about peace and security. One youth representative said she was from Hiroshima, which had suffered atomic bombing. Her grandmother was an atomic bomb victim when she was four years old. This year marked the seventy-sixth anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bomb victims were ageing and a baton for peace was being handed down to the young generation. Some speakers said that disarmament education needed to be enhanced and barriers to youth engagement needed to be addressed. Incorporating youth perspectives in the field of disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation was essential to achieving more sustainable outcomes.

Speaking were the Republic of Korea (Ambassador and youth representative), Czech Republic (youth representatives), France (youth representative), Japan (Ambassador and youth representative), Belgium (youth representatives),

Mexico (delegate), Australia (youth representative), Cameroon (Ambassador), United States (delegate), Algeria (Ambassador), Switzerland (delegate), Pakistan (delegate), India (delegate), Sri Lanka (delegate), China (delegate), Kazakhstan (delegate), Germany (delegate), Russia (delegate), and Austria (delegate).

In concluding remarks, Ambassador Norton said that this was the final plenary meeting under the Presidency of Canada. To all youth representatives who spoke today, she said the international community needed their energy, passion, ideas, innovations, solutions, and their hope and optimism. It had been a pleasure and honour to serve as President. She hoped that all, together, had taken a few steps forward in their shared goals for disarmament, including through the thematic discussions on agenda items six and seven, as well as on the issues of gender equality, strengthening the Conference on Disarmament as an institution, and on youth and disarmament. While agreement had not been reached on some of these key issues, they had started a conversation that had been respectful and would hopefully continue. The Conference could not wait for the next generation, or until disaster struck. The Conference must do its part now or get out of the way.

Ambassador Frank Tressler of Chile, incoming President of the Conference on Disarmament, said it was a great honour for Chile to assume once again the role of President of the Conference. The Chilean Presidency was charged with negotiating the annual report that was passed on to the General Assembly. That would be the key task of the Presidency of Chile and it would do all it could to advance the discussion on the annual report. There would be an official plenary session on the participation and role of women in international security on 26 August from 3 to 5 p.m. The first plenary under Chile would be on Tuesday, 17 August at 10 a.m.

The Conference on Disarmament will hold its next plenary at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 17 August.

Opening Remarks by the President of the Conference

Ambassador LESLIE E. NORTON of Canada, President of the Conference on Disarmament, said that on the occasion of International Youth Day, this plenary would be dedicated to a discussion on youth and disarmament. Canada firmly believed that a diversity of views, including those of younger generations, was key to finding effective ways to move forward on common goals of disarmament. The importance of involving youth in peace and security matters had been recognised.

Keynote Statements

IZUMI NAKAMITSU, United Nations Under-Secretary General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, said the international community bore a special responsibility in ensuring that the perspectives of youth – their aspirations for their future, as well as their concerns about existential threats to current and future generations – were taken into account by facilitating the conditions that allowed them to express their viewpoints and reach their full potential. Today’s event was such an example. As in all other multilateral domains, inclusiveness was necessary to achieve the ultimate objectives of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control, and for the effectiveness and sustainability of the agreements that were reached and the work that was done. Today, 40 per cent of the world’s population was under the age of 25. The Youth, Peace and Security Agenda had gained momentum in recent years, marking a paradigm shift in the understanding of the important role young people could and should play in peace and security.

Recognising the importance of young people to bring about change, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs had launched its youth outreach initiative, “#Youth4Disarmament” in 2019 to engage, educate and empower young people with the aim of facilitating their meaningful participation in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation. Ms. Nakamitsu said that these efforts were already showing positive outcomes. A key programme carried out by her office was the United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament, its flagship youth training programme.

In 2019, 10 Youth Champions were chosen and over the past year, they had participated in interactive webinars with her office’s staff members; exchanged ideas with disarmament experts from think tanks, civil society organizations and the diplomatic corps; and completed self-paced online courses on various issues related to disarmament and non-proliferation. Many had taken part in speaking engagements, raising awareness and imparting knowledge on issues related to disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control within their local communities and among fellow young leaders.

JAYATHMA WICKRAMANAYAKE, the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, said that today’s dedicated session on youth signified a tremendous step towards engaging and empowering the leaders of tomorrow. In today’s world, there were over 1.8 billion young people - the largest-ever generation of youth in history, with 90 per cent of them living in developing countries. With such numbers, it was clear that sustainable development and peace could not be achieved unless young people were involved and included in discussions and decision-making. The international community must facilitate the conditions that allowed youth to reach and unleash their full potential. This session formed an exemplary platform in highlighting the significance and necessity to provide space for young people to actively participate. Young people played a significant role in shaping and securing our common future. As the Secretary-General António Guterres said, they were “ultimate for change”.

Ms. Wickramanayake called on all Member States to create enabling and safe platforms and spaces that provided equal opportunities for all young people to participate in shaping the common future. She encouraged Member States to invest in youth-led initiatives while continuing to strengthen the trust between the institutions and young people. As the Secretary-General noted in his Agenda for Disarmament, young people continuously found new ways to organise and advance bolder solutions. Innovation and imagination had and would continue to pave the way for strengthening collective peace and security. Therefore, it was essential that all also nurtured the creativity and unique potential of young people. She looked forward to hearing from youth leaders, including the United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament on their valuable insight and perspectives during today’s discussion.

Statements by United Nations Youth Disarmament Champions

KIRSTEN MOSEY, Canada, United Nations Youth Disarmament Champion, said that as representatives of this generation, youth had an important role to play in deciding the future. Youth voices were contributing to the crucial fight for climate action, education, racial equality, gender equity, and more. Youth had an active role in shaping the present. One field that could benefit from further youth involvement was the field of disarmament. Youth were deeply connected to the need for disarmament as their futures depended on it. Connecting disarmament to the Sustainable Development Goals was a great start, but encouraging youth to find their own touchpoint, their own raison d’etre, was key. She and her colleagues would share specific features of the outreach approach for the Youth4Disarmament campaign.

LINH TRANG PHUNG, Viet Nam, United Nations Youth Disarmament Champion, said the first topic of today’s discussion was youth participation, especially inclusive participation. Youth contribution to disarmament affairs was of great significance as today’s world was home to 1.8 billion young people - the largest generation of youth in history. Across the globe, all could see youth participation in disarmament in creative ways and diverse aspects of life. She said that youth needed more diverse and far-reaching platforms. Young women's involvement in arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament measures were somehow still considered as a stereotype. It was imperative to call on changing mindsets and prioritising female-led projects to get the benefit of diverse and inclusive youth participation. Finally, to pave the way for better mutual understanding, respect and cooperation in the future, she suggested enhancing interaction and cooperation among youth from all countries.

PATRICK KAREKEZI, Rwanda/Uganda, United Nations Youth Disarmament Champion, said guns had become common items in society and massacres happened in broad daylight. In Uganda, the acquisition of guns by youth in the ethnic Karamojong North-Eastern region had fostered violence in these communities. Communities acquired guns and ventured into the trade of raiding neighbours. Attempts to disarm could also fuel the appetite to further armament. Disarmament, when not done properly, could, instead of ending the war, propagate it further. The young population did not seem to be concerned, consequently, they remained unengaged. Youth when mobilised could create an indelible and enduring change. Incorporating disarmament literature and rhetoric in all youth activities and breaking them down into the various stages would also help improve comprehension and efforts to seek active and meaningful engagement.

CHRISTELLE BARAKAT, Lebanon, United Nations Youth Disarmament Champion, said disarmament was the foundation underlying the creation and realisation of all Sustainable Development Goals. Without arms, the scale of wars would be diminished. Moreover, when positive peace was achieved, a development that was sustainable could be built. Disarmament could thus be linked to varied themes ranging from climate action to poverty alleviation, food security, human rights, access to education, sustainability, and more. It was estimated that States spent around 3 trillion dollars on arms per year. According to the United Nations Secretary-General’s 2019-2021 Roadmap for Financing the Goals, 2.5 to 3 trillion dollars were needed to achieve all 17 Goals. Youth could bring about change, particularly at local and communal levels. The United Nations Disarmament Youth Champions had been doing so through varied initiatives.

KIRSTEN MOSEY, Canada, United Nations Youth Disarmament Champion, in conclusion, said that in the fight to get disarmament into the mainstream, there were many battles, and one of them was to engage, educate and empower youth. Youth needed to be involved in disarmament, and the efforts that initiatives like Youth4Disarmament were making had had a considerable effect. The reality of the current disarmament landscape was that the global community was currently spending more on weapons than ever before. This historic inclusion of youth in today’s session represented the passionate voices who deserved a seat at the table. She invited the Conference to consider making International Youth Day involvement in the Conference on Disarmament an annual event. She also invited States to reflect on their own position as members of this body. They were well positioned, and well informed to be that a beacon of hope and guide her generation, and her future, into the world that youth wanted for themselves.

Discussion

Speakers said that youth were the lighthouse. They spoke of the General Assembly resolution dedicated to youth engagement, empowerment and education. They also spoke of national initiatives in this sphere, promising to continue championing the youth and disarmament agenda. One delegate spoke of his country’s

responsibility to all mankind to pass down experiences of the devastation and humanitarian consequences of using nuclear weapons to the international community and future generations. Speakers thanked the Canadian Presidency for organising this discussion in a formal session. Part of the lack of progress in the Conference on Disarmament had to do with its inward-looking nature that for decades had isolated it from external voices. The Conference was paralysed and was in an unsustainable situation. Speakers supported the involvement of young people in disarmament sessions, urging the Council to open up and hear new voices, amongst them young people. In Africa, young people constituted nearly two-thirds of the population, so the youth and disarmament issue was of great interest and relevance.

Some speakers said that youth must be encouraged to recreate a new world, invent other new fields of antagonism, particularly those that put humans at the centre, and rid of any ideas of violence. They underlined the importance of empowering youth and undertaking educational and other efforts to that end. They also stressed the importance of youth participation as they were the motor for social change, technological inventions, and the search for permanent peace and security. Speakers said that new weapons categories brought new challenges. Youth were not only concerned about disarmament issues but made up an important force for progress. Youth participation in disarmament processes was of extreme importance. They had been in the front lines in fruitful campaigns to ban landmines, the campaign against cluster munitions, as well as the nuclear disarmament campaign.

One speaker hoped that the youth of today and the leaders of tomorrow could bring in new ideas and solutions to long-standing challenges, to regulate and reduce various categories of arms. Nuclear disarmament, the raison d’être of the Conference, remained an elusive goal after several decades. Outer space continued to be militarised. There were millions of fissile material stocks that were yet to be eliminated. These were just some of the issues that the Conference was obliged to consider, but it had been unable to deliver instruments. Maybe youth champions and leaders would bring in new perspectives and ideas and proposals that the Conference could benefit from. Another speaker accorded high priority to promoting arms control disarmament and international security education. She spoke of new national initiatives in the framework of disarmament and youth, including a series of seminars on various contemporary issues on the global disarmament and international security agenda.

Some speakers noted that the role of the Conference had been largely been relegated to a deliberative forum since the drafting of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996. The year 2021 had marked another difficult year for the Conference as it yet again failed to adopt a programme of work. The international arms control and security regime in the meantime continued to deteriorate rapidly with the erosion of trust among the military powers, technological advancements in the absence of international limitations, and increased reliance on nuclear deterrence. It was in these worrying circumstances that the Conference considered the topic of youth and disarmament as a matter of timely importance. Youth had to be encouraged and facilitated into the disarmament discourse so that they were equipped enough to take informed decisions at the right time. One speaker said that multilateralism was like a beacon that guided the way forward for humankind. In this context, the international arms control process had made significant progress. Meanwhile, the Cold War legacy and mentality had not been eliminated and continued to emerge. The younger generations should seriously think about how to get rid of the shadow of the Cold War. How to deal with the threats of emerging technologies had become important issues. Young people had to continue to keep learning in order to play a role in improving global security governance in new and emerging fields.

Speakers spoke about the #StepupforDisarmament youth campaign which aimed to raise awareness of the devastating health consequences of nuclear testing. It encouraged youth to utilise sport – running or walking - to raise awareness of the International Day against Nuclear Testing on 29 August. They also spoke of their support for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization youth group that aimed at revitalising the discussion around the treaty among former, current and emerging decision makers, scientists, academics, experts and the media.

It was necessary to adapt older and to develop new approaches to key issues of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. Young diplomats, scientists, analysts and activists could play an important role and make a signification contribution. However, unblinkered views and new ideas must be based on professional knowledge and expertise. Training new experts was crucial to ensure continuity and transparent maintenance of institutional memory.

Global youth was on the forefront of many issues and was a force of progress on disarmament, and it was very positive to hear their voices. Speakers said that beyond the most urgent health response needs to COVID-19, the pandemic entailed much broader economic, social, generational and security challenges which in their impact were likely to far outlast the pandemic itself. Multilateral disarmament efforts had substantially been impacted by this crisis.

Youth representatives spoke of major landmarks in youth empowerment and disarmament, hoping that events could take place more frequently so that their voices could be heard more clearly and loudly. Some said that in order to maintain peace all around the world, it was necessary to educate the younger generations about the dangers posed to humankind by various types of weapons. Therefore, disarmament education was a significant stepping stone to maintain peace and security globally. Only an educated population could make the right decisions about peace and security. Hence, disarmament education should become an obligatory part of school curricula. It was also essential to raise awareness among young generations about the challenges ahead. One youth representative said she was from Hiroshima, which had suffered atomic bombing. Her grandmother was an atomic bomb victim when she was four years old. This year marked the seventy-sixth anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bomb victims were ageing and a baton for peace was being handed down to the young generation.

Youth representatives said that over the past three years, efforts had definitely been made to facilitate the sustainable entry of youth into the field of disarmament and non-proliferation. Young people were working tirelessly to ensure national and human security and to foster a culture of peace and non-violence. Young people must be empowered to contribute meaningfully to the field of disarmament and to the creation of a culture of peace and non-violence. Disarmament education needed to be enhanced and barriers to youth engagement needed to be addressed. Incorporating youth perspectives in the field of disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation was essential to achieving more sustainable outcomes. Diversity and inclusion were directly relevant to the capacity of the Conference on Disarmament to fulfil its mandate and to its strength as an institution.

Concluding Remarks by the President of the Conference on Disarmament and Remarks by the Incoming President of the Conference

Ambassador LESLIE E. NORTON of Canada, Outgoing President of the Conference on Disarmament, said that this was the final plenary meeting under the Presidency of Canada. To all youth representatives who spoke today, she said the international community needed their energy, passion, ideas, innovations, solutions, and their hope and optimism. It had been a pleasure and honour to serve as President. She hoped that all, together, had taken a few steps forward in their shared goals for disarmament, including through the thematic discussions on agenda items six and seven, as well as on the issues of gender equality, strengthening the Conference on Disarmament as an institution, and on youth and disarmament. While agreement had not been reached on some of these key issues, they had started a conversation that had been respectful and would hopefully continue. The Conference could not wait for the next generation, or until disaster struck. The Conference must do its part now or get out of the way. She handed over the Presidency to her colleague from Chile.

Ambassador FRANK TRESSLER of Chile, Incoming President of the Conference on Disarmament, said he had appreciated the leadership of Ambassador Norton during the last four weeks, and paid tribute to the previous Presidencies of Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria and Cameroon. It was a great honour for Chile to assume once again the role of President of the Conference. The efforts in the Conference should not take place in a vacuum. They have to favour the multilateral process in strengthening international legal regimes. The Chilean Presidency was charged with negotiating the annual report that was passed on to the General Assembly. That would be the key task of the Presidency of Chile and it would do all it could to advance the discussion on the annual report. Once negotiations were concluded on that, he would start with consultations on the resolution via which this was passed on to the General Assembly. There would be an official plenary session on the participation and role of women in international security on 26 August from 3 to 5 p.m. The first plenary under Chile would be on Tuesday, 17 August at 10 a.m.

Ambassador LESLIE E. NORTON of Canada, Outgoing President of the Conference on Disarmament, said the secretariat would be in touch regarding the timing and logistical arrangements for the next meeting.

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