H.E. the USG and High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Angel Moratinos,
H.E. the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, Mons. Gabriele Caccia,
Ambassador Maritza Chan and Ambassador Daphne Le Son,
Distinguished President Franco Vaccari,
Distinguished Colleagues and Friends,
I am particularly glad and honoured to welcome and thank all of you who are joining us here today, in presence and remotely,
Together with Costa Rica, Monaco and with the support of UNAOC we are pleased to co-sponsor this event, promoted by the Italian NGO Rondine, to celebrate the contribution of the Young Leaders to the promotion of Peace and Security.
Indeed, the “Leaders for Peace” campaign was initiated by Rondine in 2018 to uphold the role of youth as agents of change, and active builders of inclusive and peaceful societies, with a call to step up investment in education for peace.
Through the years, the Permanent Mission of Italy has accompanied the work of Rondine, aimed at training young people from conflict, post-conflict and fragile areas, putting the values of peace, reconciliation and intercultural dialogue at the centre of its efforts – efforts that are in line with the core priorities of the UN, with the SDGs and with the Youth, Peace and Security agenda.
As highlighted by the Secretary General, the active participation of youth “enhances the legitimacy of peace and security initiatives”. In this spirit, it is important to work collectively at the regional and country level, with the involvement of the local communities and the civil society, and to factor in systematically the perspective of gender equality and the critical role of young women in peace building.
The voices of young men and women are catalysts for change and prosperity. Investing on youth means investing in our future, and in the future of the planet. In this vein, education makes a difference as a powerful tool of transformation and we will continue to advocate the enabling role of education in upholding social cohesion, fighting against inequality, discrimination and violence and promoting peace.
With this brief introduction, I would like to start our discussion.
As some of you may already know, UNAOC and Rondine have recently developed a strong partnership and I am honoured to give the floor to the USG and High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, H.E. Miguel Angel Moratinos, to learn more about UNAOC’s work and plans, in light of his long-standing commitment and vision on these crucial issues.
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We have come to the end of our discussion. I would like to express sincere gratitude to all the panelists who have shared with us their expertise and insights and all of you who have participated to the dialogue.
We hope that with this event today we have been able to translate from theory into practice the principle of “Meaningful Youth Engagement”, as highlighted by the Secretary General Guterres in the OCA Policy Brief of April 2023. I trust that our dialogue could be helpful to foster further discussions and preparations in view of the Summit of the Future.
Looking forward for further collaborations, I thank you.
