Ambassador Ib Petersen and OSCE PA Special Representative on Youth Engagement Farah KarimiNEW YORK, 14 November 2022 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative on Youth Engagement Farah Karimi (The Netherlands) has concluded a visit to New York where she held meetings last week with representatives of various United Nations bodies and institutions and permanent representatives to the UN. The talks, held on 9-11 November, focused on ways to enhance the youth dimension and improve co-ordination of efforts in youth empowerment between international organizations, including the co-operation in the area of the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security.
In a meeting with Assistant Secretary-General, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA, Ambassador Ib Petersen, Special Representative Karimi discussed the agency’s work in the areas of youth participation and leadership, issues of gender-based violence and the situation with young people in conflict-affected areas including in Ukraine and Afghanistan. The sides also discussed preparations for the 30th anniversary of the Cairo Declaration on Population and Development and the contributions of regional organizations, as well as parliamentarians, to its implementation.
Karimi met with UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth Jayathma Wickramanayake, who presented the priority areas of the work of her office including increasing youth participation in the UN system. Karimi welcomed the efforts of the Envoy of the Secretary-General on Youth in addressing the needs of and placing young people as a cross-cutting priority of the United Nations emphasizing the necessity for OSCE to use UN best practices in working with youth and for youth and to adopt OSCE-wide Youth Strategy in line with Youth 2030: The United Nations Youth Strategy. They also discussed the recently published Be Seen, Be Heard Global Youth Report, which unpacks the structural barriers young people face in accessing their right to political participation and discussed how parliamentarians can contribute to removing such barriers. Karimi expressed a willingness to intensify co-operation with the Office of the Envoy on Youth in the area of national implementation of the UN SCR 2250 on Youth Peace and Security, in particular through the interparliamentary diplomacy.
Special Representative Karimi also welcomed the recent UN General Assembly Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 8 September 2022 on Establishment of the United Nations Youth Office. “The decision to create the United Nations Youth Office as a dedicated office for youth affairs in the UN Secretariat is an important step forward in achievement of the meaningful, inclusive and effective engagement of youth in the work of the United Nations and will ensure proper sustainability of the work and co-ordination of advocacy for the advancement of youth issues,” said Karimi. “It is important, however, to ensure that the office is provided with sufficient financial and human resources, and I encourage member states to provide necessary support to this new and very important UN structure.”
In New York, Karimi also had an opportunity to meet with a number of permanent representatives to United Nations including Finland, Netherlands, Slovakia and Uzbekistan. Discussions with delegations featured topics of promotion of youth engagement on national and international level and implementation of Youth, Peace and Security agenda. In meetings, Special Representative Karimi supported the initiation of the intergovernmental process on the Declaration on Future Generations co-facilitated by Permanent Representatives of the Netherlands and Fiji emphasizing the role of young people as the driving force and bearers of future generations.
It was agreed that Special Representative will intensify her work within the PA in promotion of the Declaration through consultations with the PA delegations.
For more information on the work of the OSCE PA Special Representative on Youth Engagement, please click here.
