Delegate: Ms. Sahar Afzal
71. Ms. Afzal (Netherlands), speaking as a youth delegate, said that, 25 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, more than 200 million children were still being denied their rights. Each Member State should reassess the situation of children’s rights within its own borders. Even in the Netherlands, children in emergency refugee centres were denied an education.
72. Many people wrongly thought that implementing the Sustainable Development Goals was solely a government and business matter. Much could be accomplished by motivated individuals — especially young people, who often thought outside the box — and attention should be given to motivating them. It made no sense to ignore the young, who constituted a large proportion of the world’s population.
73. In 2015, the biggest gathering of young people globally had been organized by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Problems such as discrimination, insufficient social services and lack of education had made them susceptible to radicalization and violent extremism. Those young people’s States had failed them, and those same States must find ways to do better. Security Council resolution 2250 (2015) on youth and peace and security should encourage security stakeholders to talk with young people affected by the root causes of conflict, demystify their policy-making processes and create trusting relationships.
UN Doc.: A/C.3/71/SR.2
Cite as:
UN Doc.: A/C.3/71/SR.2, 4 October 2016, p. 11, Youth Delegate Search: https://youthdelegatesearch.org/netherlands-2016/, doi: 10.17176/20221018-193029-0.