In the past two months we have seen the first report of the Secretary General on Youth Peace and Security (YPS) and an open debate in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) celebrating the 5th anniversary of YPS. Despite the Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda paving the way for the adoption of the YPS resolutions, the two agendas too often work in silos and the intersections of youth and gender are repeatedly neglected. The open debate and report of the Secretary General are important spaces to understand the relationship between the two agendas and it was demonstrated in both that mainstream conversations around YPS still don’t regularly incorporate a gendered perspective. This blog advocates for closer synergies between WPS and YPS and mainstream conversations around YPS to integrate a gendered perspective, as a means of acknowledging the plurality of identities and experiences that make up “youth” and the different challenges they face. This will be particularly important in tackling the current crisis the world faces in light of COVID-19 which is already disproportionately affecting youth and women.
OGIP advocates for a closer relationship between WPS and YPS through an intersectional approach to policy and practice; centring diverse youth voices in peace and security spaces; and the creation of support networks and partnerships to empower young people and amplify their voices.
YPS Report of Secretary General
Last month the first YPS report of the Secretary General was published, commenting on the implementation of the two YPS resolutions: UNSCR 2250 and UNSCR 2419 adopted by the UNSC in 2015 and 2018 respectively. The report acknowledges the importance of including youth voices in peace and security conversations and recognising the specific harms and challenges faced by young people: “their potential must be harnessed and their plight addressed” (p.1, para.4).
The report concludes that despite growing recognition of the specific challenges faced by young people and the need to include them in decision-making, there is still a long way to go to break down the barriers to meaningful participation, protect their rights, and fund initiatives that seek to include and empower young people. The overarching recommendation made by the Secretary General is to accelerate the implementation of the YPS agenda in order to unlock the potential of young people and contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive peace.
United Nations Security Council Open Debate on YPS
Following the publication of the report of the Secretary General, on April 27th, the United Nations Security Council held an open debate on YPS. Remarks were made by the UN Youth Envoy, Jayathma Wickramanayake, and two youth activists, Olla Al Sakkaf and Gatwal Gatkouth. The open debate celebrated the 5th anniversary of UNSCR 2250 and the innumerous accomplishments achieved, while also acknowledging the gaps that still need to be addressed if we are to see meaningful implementation of the agenda. In her opening statement, the UN Youth Envoy emphasized the need for Member States to promote equitable partnerships with youth organizations and networks; ensure meaningful participation for young people both in formal and informal settings; and strengthen protection mechanisms to safeguard young people.
The celebration of UNSCR 2250 and UNSCR 2419 is welcome and it was encouraging to hear from different states about their efforts in promoting and implementing the YPS agenda. The open debate also shed light on the importance of the agenda during the current global crisis. The full consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are yet to be understood, but emerging studies show that youth and women are already being disproportionately impacted. It is well-known that during crises like COVID-19, solutions need to be inclusive and innovative, ensuring that different needs and voices are part of the conversation. Thus young people play a key role in overcoming the current crisis, as was evident in the open debate.
The Intersection of Gender and YPS
The Secretary General’s report on YPS does begin to incorporate an intersectional perspective, recognising the “intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalisation” (p.3, para. 15) of young women peacebuilders who are frequently discredited and not listened to. It also notes how the exclusion of women, particularly young women, from the public sphere and decision-making positions increases their vulnerability and their exposure to gender-based violence (p.8, para 36).
The open debate, however, demonstrated that the mainstream conversation around YPS lacks an intersectional approach; it falls short in acknowledging the plurality of needs and voices that compose “youth”. Marked by gender-blind statements, the overall debate constantly presented a homogeneous definition of “youth” that fails to acknowledge how young women and men are impacted differently by conflict. Little to no acknowledgement was given to the other factors that may impact young people’s experience of conflict, such as race, religion, sexuality or gender identity. It was also evident that Member States are mostly focused on the prevention and protection pillars, as the majority of statements discussed education and socio-economic safety for future generations as ways to push the agenda forward. The synergies between the WPS and YPS agendas were ignored by the majority of Member States and the connection was only drawn on a few occasions.
As referred to in OGIP’s policy paper “Exploring the Urgent Need to Further the Women, Peace and Security and the Youth Peace and Security Agendas” - there are clear synergies between the WPS and YPS agendas, not least because WPS carved a path for engagement with “non-traditional” peace and security issues at the UNSC. Both agendas also exist to fight against and raise awareness of inequality and marginalisation. However, YPS has been critiqued for lacking a gendered analysis or perspective, and the WPS agenda is shaped by older generations upon whose work we build.
The Independent Progress Study on YPS commissioned by the UN found that the WPS and YPS agendas have created a view of gender that has become synonymous with women and an interpretation of youth that is synonymous with young men. This has often played out by YPS focusing on the violent agency of young men, through the lens of countering violent extremism, and WPS focusing on the peaceful nature of women, encouraging the participation of more experienced women in peace processes to achieve a more sustainable and long-lasting peace. The lens of the peaceful man or belligerent woman is rarely analysed. Despite the incredibly important work undertaken by both the agendas to promote the needs and advance the rights of marginalised groups, they continue to reinforce gender binaries and more work still needs to be done to challenge the underlying assumptions that shape them.
OGIP’s recommendations
Recognising the ongoing gaps in the international community’s approach to inclusive peace, OGIP aims to platform the voices of diverse, young people and advocate for their meaningful inclusion in peace and security policy and practice. In response to the Secretary General’s report and the open debate on YPS, OGIP recommends:
Closer synergies between the WPS and YPS agendas, meaning an intersectional approach to the both agendas and the use of inclusive language that acknowledges multiple and intersecting identities, including race, gender and class, that go beyond stereotypes and assumptions;
The inclusion of diverse youth advocates and practitioners that represent a plurality identities and experiences in peace and security spaces, such as roundtables, conferences, working groups;
The creation and support of networks and partnerships that truly amplify the diversity of young people contributing to peace and security practice and policy, rather than entrenching exclusionary spaces, and facilitate mutual mentorship and partnerships that recognise and value the contributions of all participants.