Nowadays, youth as active, energetic, creative and enthusiastic members of modern society, play an important role in solving global problems. It’s easier for young people to communicate, to share their ideas openly and to accept new things. This is one of the reasons why the United Nations attaches great attention to young generation, giving them opportunities for the contribution towards solutions for global problems. On addressing the African Youth Development Summit, Amina J. Mohammed, the United Nations Deputy Secretary General said that Young people are the leaders and torchbearers the world ‘desperately needs’, but they also face serious challenges when it comes to realizing their potential.  “The youth know that for the sake of their future, we need to transform our economies and embrace new, sustainable patterns of production and consumption,” she added, noting that perhaps most damaging of all, “young people are witnessing the manmade destruction of our natural environment.”

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed (foreign policy)

‘A world in which the human rights of every young person are realized; that ensures every young person is empowered to achieve their full potential; and that recognizes young people’s agency, resilience and their positive contributions as agents of change’ states the UN Youth Strategy.

The Secretary General - Antonio Gutteres tasked his Envoy on Youth, in conjunction with the UN system and youth themselves, to lead development of a UN Youth Strategy. Its aim: scale up global, regional and national actions to meet young people’s needs, realize their rights and tap their possibilities as agents of change. The strategy is ambitious. It will guide the UN system in stepping up support for the empowerment of young people, while ensuring that the Organization’s work fully benefits from their insights and ideas. The strategy’s thematic priority areas reflect all three pillars of the UN system: sustainable development, peace and security, and human rights.

Young people today want the sustainable, peaceful world envisioned in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Realizing their aspirations depends on realizing their rights - to empowerment and development, participation and choice. They offer 1.8 billion reasons for the United Nations to stand by their side. On regard to the specifics of Youth2030, Ms. Mohammed spoke of programmes focusing on climate action; education and health; as well as campaigns promoting better sexual and reproductive health, and menstrual health; noting that the latter had “been a taboo subject for far too long.” She feels that menstrual hygiene keeps girls and women out of box every time when there is nothing to be ashamed of. “Educating both girls and boys about menstruation as a normal biological process is the first step towards addressing these issues,” she highlighted.

Ms. Mohammed personally feels that it is youth who could change this stereotype. “The dignity that we want for our young women and men begins with each and every one of us. It will be a journey, the outcome of which will depend on how you travel that road to 2030,” she said. She gives a message for the youth everywhere that she is “counting” on them to be the change agents and torchbearers “that we so desperately need.”