An Exciting New Office: UN Youth

The young people's advocacy for inclusion in decision-making processes has become impossible to ignore, and the United Nations has listened to their pleas. Last Thursday, on September 8th, the 76th UN General Assembly adopted Agenda Item 124, Resolution A/76/L.85, on the “Establishment of the United Nations Youth Office.” This implementation is in part due to a yearlong consultation process that the United Nations began in early 2020 as part of its 75th anniversary plans (UN75), which was aimed at directly listening to the people it serves. Through surveys and interactive dialogues with civil society, the United Nations emerged with a better understanding of common hopes and fears that people endure. This consultation resulted in a report titled “Our Common Agenda,” which summarizes the findings of this initiative and suggests ways to instigate progress. 

The United Nations concentrates on youth in this agenda, with priority number eleven being to “listen to and work with youth.” Under this category, the United Nations has mapped out numerous action items to attain this goal, with creating a United Nations Youth Office being one of the steps. Although each United Nations agency and programme (such as UNICEF, UNESCO, and UNEP) has youth activities within its sector, there has never been an autonomous youth office until now. By formally establishing an office for youth, the program will receive resources to be better equipped to support and empower youth. 

Now that the resolution to create a United Nations Youth Office has been passed, the Secretary General of the UN will create a detailed proposal and budget of the Office to present and be approved by the Fifth Committee of the 77th UN General Assembly. Considering that this is such a new office, it is unclear exactly how youth will be involved; however, the Office has identified numerous objectives for the initiative to reach. These objectives include appointing a young person, under the age of 35 years old, to lead at the senior-level position. The Office will be funded by the regular budget of the UN, lead advancement on the areas of peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights, and it will encourage greater accountability on the advancement of youth issues at UN agencies and with Member States. The UN Youth Office will identify youth focal points in the UN country teams, improve the conditions of employment for youth in the UN, and it will work with the ECOSOC on the preparations for a youth forum. 

Creating a United Nations Youth Office is just one of over 90 recommendations that “Our Common Agenda” suggests for listening to and working with youth, so stay tuned for other upcoming activities. Click here to find out more information about the Agenda and be sure to join online the upcoming #TransformingEducation Summit!