UN chief Antonio Guterres has warned that extremist groupsare taking advantage of the COVID-19 lockdowns and intensifying efforts onsocial media to recruit youths online by exploiting their anger and despair,asserting that the world cannot afford a lost generation due to theunprecedented global health crisis.
The UN Secretary-General made the remarks on Monday during avideo conference to review the five years since its adoption of a landmarkresolution on youth, peace and security.
We can already see such groups taking advantage of theCOVID-19 lockdowns, intensifying their efforts on social media to spread hatredand to recruit young people who may be spending more time at home and online,he said.
Guterres told the Security Council that even before thecurrent crisis, young people were facing enormous challenges.
Listing startling numbers, he said one of every five youngpeople was already not in education, training or employment and one of everyfour is affected by violence or conflict. Every year, 12 million girls becomemothers while they themselves are still children.
These frustrations and, frankly, failures to address them bythose in power today, fuel declining confidence in political establishments andinstitutions. And when such a cycle takes hold, it is all too easy forextremist groups to exploit the anger and despair, and the risk ofradicalisation climbs, he said.
Issuing a call to action on youth, peace and security,Guterres said the world cannot afford a lost generation of youth, their livesset back by COVID-19 and their voices stifled by a lack of participation. Letus do far more to tap their talents as we tackle the pandemic and chart arecovery that leads to a more peaceful, sustainable and equitable future forall.
With over 1.54 billion children and youth out-of-school andyoung people acutely feeling the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, Guterres saidcountries must do more to harness the talents of young people to address thecrisis and its aftermath.
In presenting his first report on the Security Councilresolution, the UN chief said youth were already confronting numerouschallenges even before the pandemic, including in accessing education, orthrough being affected by violence and conflict. Those pressing for peace orupholding human rights have been threatened.
Despite these obstacles, young people across the world havejoined the common fight against the coronavirus disease, supporting bothfrontline workers and people in need. And they continue to push for change.
UN Youth Envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake spoke of the need formore meaningful partnerships between young people and the civil societyorganisations and government institutions that work on the youth, peace andsecurity (YPS) agenda.
To date, there are no national action plans on YPS but I’mpleased to note that in some countries, these are in the process ofdevelopment, she said.
For a national roadmap to be successful, a participatory,transparent and youth-led process with adequate resources are needed, she said.
Issuing his four-point call to action for the Council,Guterres urged members to do more to address the various challenges facingyoung people.
He also called for investment in youth participation, butalso in their organisations and initiatives.
We must strengthen human rights protections and protect thecivic space on which youth participation depends, he said. And fourth, we mustemerge from the COVID-19 crisis with a determination to recover better –massively increasing our investment in young people’s capacities as we deliverthe Sustainable Development Goals.