UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥� They were sharing the world stage to discuss a plan to give young people more input in decisions that shape lives. And 26-year-old Daphne Frias, talking to the head of the United Nations, had thoughts.
鈥淭ruly, it鈥檚 time for the people who do so much of the talking to do less of the talking," the disability and climate activist told Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres. 鈥淎nd to have the voices of my generation ... lead."
Their exchange this month, at a leadup event to the , was a measure of diplomacy's generation gap.
A big young cohort is coming of age in a , and it's coming with ideas about inclusion, participation and authority. Those ideas are nudging the hierarchical, bureaucratic ways of an international order set up when their grandparents were kids or not even born.
鈥淢y generation messed up when it comes to the world today," the 75-year-old U.N. chief told Frias and an audience of activists and others in the vast, coolly elegant assembly hall.
The world needs a new generation that understands 鈥渨e are living to disaster" and can turn it around, Guterres said, adding emphatically: 鈥淲e cannot do that if your generation is not part of the decision-making process that is still controlled by my generation that messed up."
Passing the torch can be difficult
But how to make that change in a global system and governments largely run by older people, and a United Nations that has tried to engage the young but still has some procedures, protocol 鈥� and even architecture 鈥� reflecting what was 鈥渕odern鈥� more than seven decades ago? Does the U.N. matter, anyway, to a social-network-native generation with its own means of connecting and organizing across borders, and with a sense of urgency that chafes at the pace of intergovernmental accords?
Marinel Sumook Ubaldo, a 27-year-old Filipina climate activist, has been involved in U.N. conferences and believes the world body can be a valuable platform for advocacy. But so can grassroots organizing and building public pressure outside big organizations, Ubaldo says.
鈥淚f the U.N. can shift from symbolic inclusion to truly empowering youth with decision-making authority and accountability mechanisms, I would say it would remain relevant,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut if not, young people will continue to forge new paths.鈥�
Over 1.9 billion people 鈥� nearly 鈥� are between ages 10 and 24. But young people are sparse in the corridors of power. Under 3% of members of national legislatures are under 30, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a global group of such bodies.
Of course, today's young activists aren't the first to worry about the world they're inheriting, to yearn to be heard or to feel they can't wait patiently for the creaky wheels of change to turn.
But this generation has been steeped in a particular brew of risks and crises: post-9/11 wars and security culture, a financial meltdown, a pandemic, , a planet that's ever measured. And, with the rise of social media, the generation's ideas about solutions to such challenges move around faster than ever before.
As Frias puts it, 鈥渨e don鈥檛 have time for dues to be paid" to try to influence things.
鈥淲e constantly get told that we are inspirational, that we鈥檙e doing a great job, that we are the future,鈥� Frias, an American-born daughter of Dominican immigrants, said in an interview. 鈥淏ut inspiration doesn鈥檛 change the world. Action does."
There's growing momentum 鈥� to a point
Over the years, the U.N. has made various overtures to young people. An assistant secretary-general for youth affairs, Dr. Felipe Paullier, was tapped last year. There had previously been a lower-level youth envoy.
A roster of youth delegates, advisory groups and more have taken part in U.N. activities over the decades. Some have attracted considerable attention, including speeches by Afghan girls' education advocate and , and .
A 2018 initiative called 鈥淵outh 2030鈥� is meant to make young people 鈥渇ull-fledged partners鈥� in the U.N.鈥檚 work. A recent update said progress has been 鈥渟teady but slower than desired.鈥�
Now comes the 鈥� ,鈥� a wide-ranging document approved Sunday at a summit that kicked off this year鈥檚 big General Assembly gathering. The pact includes pledges to spend more on youth services, to create jobs and to promote 鈥渕eaningful youth participation" in national policymaking and U.N. processes.
That might sound bland to the casual observer. But through a U.N. lens, devoting a chapter to youth and future generations in a global blueprint 鈥� and getting 鈥� elevates and enshrines youths as a priority.
鈥淭en or 15 years ago, you know, young people were just seen as beneficiaries of policies,鈥� Paullier, 33, said in an interview. 鈥淭here are many things changing that are showing institutions, decision-makers, are saying, 'OK, we need to engage with them as partners.'"
There's still far to go, he notes.
Participation must actually be meaningful
Nudhara Yusuf, who co-chaired a civil society conference that helped prepare for the recent summit, says the U.N. has made "a real turn" toward engaging young people. Now it's a question of making promises of 鈥渕eaningful鈥� participation ... meaningful.
鈥淗ow do you go beyond just putting someone on a panel? How do you ensure that they鈥檙e part of the dialogue offstage, as well?鈥� asks Yusuf, 25. Born in Britain and raised in India, she's a researcher at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington.
Young activists also may lack the resources to move in international circles when it entails far-flung travel. While many have started organizations and done fundraising, some say it's hard getting past a 鈥測outh organization鈥� rubric to tap bigger pools of grants, despite working on broader issues.
Amani Joel Mafigi, who co-founded an entrepreneurship organization in Uganda, thinks the U.N. should establish a youth empowerment fund to back climate, social justice and innovation initiatives. The 27-year-old offered that suggestion to the secretary-general at the same event with Frias.
In an interview, Mafigi added that he'd want young 鈥渃hangemakers鈥� to be central to structuring such a fund and steering its work.
鈥淚 have seen how much young people with little resources can do and can achieve within a minimum period of time, with less bureaucratic processes," said Mafigi, who fled Congo as a refugee in 2008.
Guterres told him, Frias and others in the assembly hall that the U.N. aims to add more young staffers and to give youths a voice 鈥渨hen things are being decided, not when things have been decided.鈥�
鈥淏ut, I mean, let鈥檚 be clear: Power is never given. Power is taken,鈥� Guterres said. 鈥淪o I encourage young people not to be afraid to fight for their rights.鈥�
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Jennifer Peltz, The Associated Press
