平和構築委員会（PBC）「若者・平和・安全保障」に関する会合における大菅大使ステートメント

(As delivered)

Madam Chair,

Thank you for convening this important meeting. I also thank all the young briefers, including those who have contributed to the PBC meetings in the past year.

I would like to make three quick points.

As stressed by Jayathma (UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth) and echoed by many speakers before me, youth peace and security (YPS) agenda, including PBC’s task of supporting young peacebuilders, is an important element of the broad agenda of “Solidarity with younger generations” proposed by the Secretary- General in his Our Common Agenda (OCA) report. YPS is an integral part of mainstreaming youth in the work of the UN. So, let us be mindful of the broader picture across the peace-development-human rights and humanitarian nexus and not fall into silos, especially when we discuss the issue of financing. This is my first point.

Second, since the key is mainstreaming youth across the sectors, and since peacebuilding and sustaining peace require a holistic approach, the UN’s support to youth in vulnerable situations would be more effective when delivered under multi-agency engagement. For example, the Human Security Trust Fund supported a few years ago a pilot project targeting the youth in Central African Republic for social cohesion, conflict prevention and violence reduction. This project, implemented by UNDP, FAO, UNICEF, UNFPA, IOM, UN Women, UNESCO and MINUSCA, was instrumental in mainstreaming youth in inter-agency cooperation. RC offices on the ground should play an important role in coordinating country teams on this important cross-cutting agenda.

Third, the OCA report says that learning opportunities and quality education are “prerequisite for young people to be equipped to exercise their voice and contribute to the social contract.” We fully agree. In particular, in relation to the third pillar “prevention” and the fifth pillar “disengagement and reintegration” of the YPS agenda, building solid institutions in the education sector is critical for peacebuilding and sustaining peace.

To conclude, as stressed in the OCA, our priority is transforming education systems so that young people reach their full potential. As the Co-chair of the Group of Friends for Education and Lifelong Learning, Japan is fully engaged in the preparation process of the Transforming Education Summit to be held in September.

Thank you.