Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. Mar¨ªa Fernanda Espinosa Garc¨¦s, President of the 73^rd Session of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly

22 June 2019

Your Excellency, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Portuguese Republic,

Your Excellency, Tiago Brand?o Rodrigues, Minister of Education of Portugal,

Secretary of State Joao Paulo Rebelo,

Honorable Ministers responsible for youth,

Excellencies,

Mr Hugo Carvalho, President of the Portuguese National Youth Council,

Dear Friend, Ms Jayathma Wickramanayake, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Secretary-General¡¯s Envoy on Youth,

Representatives of youth organizations,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Bom dia,

I am delighted to be in beautiful Lisbon for the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth and Youth Forum 2019.

21 years ago, the first World Conference, here in Lisbon, broke new ground with a Declaration that set out concrete actions on youth participation and development. At that time, young people from over 150 countries met to produce recommendations ahead of the Ministers¡¯ Conference. It is surely a mark of progress that today both tracks are joined together.

I wish to commend Portugal¡¯s hospitality and strong leadership on the crucial role that young leaders play in crafting our present, and our future.

Dear friends,

This generation of young people is the largest in the history of the world. A staggering 1.8 billion people are aged 10 to 24. Between now and 2030, half the global population will be under 30.

These demographic changes are not without challenges.

Young people already account for a third of those unemployed globally. Over the next decade, we will need to create roughly 40 million jobs per year just to keep pace with the growing population.

Fifteen million girls give birth each year, often due to barriers in accessing education and health services. Between 90 and 150 million young people have disabilities. Many of them face severe social and economic disparities, in both developing and developed countries. Furthermore, six hundred million ¨C a third of the total youth population ¨C live in fragile and conflict-affected states.

These numbers alone make it crystal clear that we cannot achieve sustainable development or peace without harnessing the full potential of young people.

But more than that, as I say to every government: young people are the greatest opportunity we have. And these are not just warm words.

They are based on hard evidence gathered by several think tanks and international organizations, which have shown that young people play a crucial role in promoting social cohesion and tolerance. They are based on the inspiring work I have seen by youth advocates, innovators, entrepreneurs and peace-makers.

So my message to all Youth Forum participants is:

We need you. We do need you. You were born as global citizens of an increasingly interconnected world. You understand, better than some policy-makers, that the problems we face cannot be solved by one government ¨C or indeed by governments ¨C alone. You are instinctively multilateral. Multilateralism is about collective action, shared responsibilities, global leadership. And that is why we are here.

We cannot afford to exclude you from decision-making. That is why youth has been at the heart of my work as President of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly.

On youth, peace and security ¨C one of my priorities ¨C I have called all 193 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Member States to actively engage in this agenda. I stand fully behind the efforts of Member States to include this matter in the regular agenda of the General Assembly.

On youth and decent work, I have placed emphasis on the so-called ¡°fourth industrial revolution¡±. An estimated two-thirds of jobs in the developing world could be lost due to automation. It is essential we put in place adequate education, labour and social protection frameworks. My call has been on the need to connect quantity with quality of jobs for young people.

And on gender equality, I have focused on women¡¯s leadership ¨C including by issuing a global ¡°call to action¡± to remove gender-based barriers. As we embark on the preparations for the 25^th anniversary of the World Conference on Women and Development (Beijing Plus 25), it is important that we recommit to the full enjoyment of the human rights of women and girls, including ending all harmful cultural practices and gender and sexual based violence. We must also commit to making all the required investments in young people, especially girls, and enable their full participation in decision making.

Excellencies and Friends,

I took the lead from young people calling for an end to single-use plastics in determining my priority on environmental action.

And I am proud that the campaign I launched has led to a ban on these plastics at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Headquarters in New York? and hopefully soon in all Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ venues. We had to do this and we are on the right track.

The high level event I organized on climate change last March had a specific focus on intergenerational responsibilities, and the critical role of young advocates and leaders in addressing the climate crisis.

And I have given a central space to youth voices in all my priorities for this session of the General Assembly. Indeed, every high-level event and dialogue has had an intergenerational perspective. And I want to share some key messages from these meetings with you today:

First, we must change the narrative and practices on youth. Policy-makers need to see young people as part of the solution, not as problems to be solved. ?Young people are key actors. Their voices, creativity, contributions should not be an afterthought or a politically correct concession but an integral part of political dialogue and decision-making at the national and international levels.

Second, we must mainstream national youth policies. They should not be siloed but integrated into broader development strategies and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Youth 2030. ?

And third, we need better data. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ has identified 90 youth-relevant indicators for the 2030 Agenda, but data is lacking for many of them. Policymakers need reliable, up-to-date figures to establish policies, laws and programs that reflect needs and realities on the ground, and truly touch and transform their lives.

Excellencies, colleagues, youth representatives,

I wish you every success as you begin your deliberations. I am confident that together, you can produce an action-focused, forward-looking declaration on building a truly intergenerational partnership for a safer, fairer and more sustainable world ¨C for young and old, and everyone in between.

Once again, thank you, Portugal, for this Lisboa+21.

Muito obrigada.