Delegates: Mr. Daniel Overskott, Ms. Maria Moe (23 years)
56. Mr. Overskott (Norway), speaking as a youth delegate, said that the inclusion of young people was instrumental to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly because Member States had committed to leave no one behind. Special measures needed to be taken to achieve Goal 4, since marginalized children, such as those from poor families, children with disabilities, girls and children from cultural or linguistic minorities, continued to be disproportionately left behind. Given the importance of safe learning environments for children living in conflict zones or exposed to violence, sexual abuse or prostitution, he urged Member States to protect schools in conflict areas and to join the Safe Schools Declaration.
57. Young people were a unique demographic group that could contribute significantly to peace and reconciliation provided that appropriate policies were in place to enable their participation. Recalling Security Council resolution 2250 (2015) on youth, peace and security, he called on Member States to [*9*] include young people in peace negotiations, policymaking and decision making.
58. Ms. Moe (Norway), speaking as a youth delegate, urged Member States to gather in depth knowledge of children in order to tailor policies to those who lived without parental care or were at risk of losing such care. Broad initiatives relating to children in general did not improve the conditions of that target group sufficiently.
59. In their efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, Member States should heed the voices of all persons who had historically been excluded because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. National and religious particularities did not exempt Governments from their responsibilities to promote and protect their citizens’ human rights and fundamental freedoms. Member States should also report regularly on the human rights situation of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community and ensure that the concerns of those groups were incorporated into programmes related to the Sustainable Development Goals.
UN Doc.: A/C.3/72/SR.2
Cite as:
UN Doc.: A/C.3/72/SR.2, 2 October 2017, p. 8-9, Youth Delegate Search: https://youthdelegatesearch.org/norway-2017/, doi: 10.17176/20221018-192740-0.