Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, has issued a rallying call for increased international co-operation among young people and for regional organisations to place a greater emphasis on facilitating such opportunities.

Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission
to the United Nations

During his address at the UN Security Council’s videoconference on the Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Youth, Peace and Security on April 27, the Vietnamese diplomat outlined the importance of the Youth, Peace and Security agenda, stating that the country is fully behind its implementation.

Ambassador Quy called for greater efforts to be made to promote the role of youths, especially females, whilst also comprehensively undertaking the UN Youth Strategy with a major focus being place on promoting peace, kindness, and tolerance as a means of creating a firm foundation for success initiatives related to conflict prevention and national reconciliation.

Moreover, the Ambassador also outlined the need to ramp up international co-operation to share in ASEAN’s experience to develop co-operation mechanisms based around young people, in addition to organising annual dialogues between leaders of ASEAN member states and youth representatives.

The videoconference also provided a space for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterrres to review the five-year implementation of the UN Agenda on Youth, Peace and Security, especially in terms of promoting the role of young people in preventing and resolving conflicts, building peace, and tackling global issues such as climate change and the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic. 

The UN chief pointed out that there are many barriers in the way that hamper the engagement of young people, with one in every four youths being affected by violence or conflict, adding that one in every five is currently not in education, training, or employment.

It is therefore essential to invest in young people’s futures, organisation, and initiatives, whilst also increasing their ability to implement Sustainable Development Goals, along with calls for greater contributions to be made to the Peacebuilding Fund.

Participants suggested that countries should facilitate a greater role for young people in peace processes along with boosting co-ordination between youths, government agencies, and social organisations to carry out the UN Agenda.