A panel of experts talked about how targeting poverty and education can help advance peace. The panel consisted of Mitchell Toomey, Director of SDG Action Campaign at the UNDP; Pilar Harris, an NYU Student and Urban Practice Fellow; Austin Schiano,
Partnerships Director for the Give Me 5 Campaign; andUmazi Mvurya, a Development Fellow for the African
Leadership Foundation.
Many of the panelists, speakers, and moderators featured in the event were young people.
Before the briefing, the DPI Non-Governmental
Organizations polled the internet to find out which of the
SDG’s were most important for youth. As a result, SDG 1 (No
Poverty), 4 (Quality Education), and 16 (Peace, Justice and
Strong Institutions) were selected. The Sustainable Development Goals requires advocates to
raise awareness for the targeted areas of change.
Panelist
Sering Falu Njie discussed how if 1 in 1000 people across the
world can become an advocate for the SDG’s, achieving the
goals will become much easier.
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon recently noted that, “Until
now, young people were generally seen as good enough to
fight wars – but not to negotiate peace.”With this in mind,
the Youth-Led Briefing aimed to inspire young delegates to
advocate for peace.
The panelists and moderators
recommended using social media as a tool to do this.
Jeffery Brez, Chief of DPI NGO Relations, Advocacy and
Special Events, in his opening remarks, emphasized the role
of youth in bringing about change.
In addition to talking about three of the seventeen SDG’s, the
panel discussed the 169 targets described in the SDG’s.
During an interactive activity, the audience was asked to
match targets to their respective SDG.
Those that answered
the questions correctly were asked to tweet their answer
sheet along with the hashtags, to be selected as one of nine
winners.
Special guest Frances Simpson Allen, from the Office of the
Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, said that “The SDG’s will
only be achieved when the youth are at the forefront.”
Juan Pablo Celis Garcia, a Youth Representative from UNA
New York closed the briefing by encouraging the delegates
to go out into their communities and take action.
He said,
“When we are unified as young people, we are being heard
because we are loud and our work will go farther than we
ever could have imagined.”
Youth delegates are encouraged to engage with their UN
Mission to have a youth representative at the United
Nations.
There are 35 countries that currently participate in
this program; however the UN is working on promoting
more youth involvement in the organization.
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