Establishment of the United Nations Youth Office

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Draft resolution submitted by the President of the General Assembly Establishment of the United Nations Youth Office The General Assembly, Reaffirming the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, Reaffirming also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights1 and the importance of the timely implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 2 and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development,3 the Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change4 and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, 5 and reiterating the commitment to provide youth with a nurturing environment for the full realization of their rights and capabilities and helping our countries to reap the demographic dividend, Reaffirming further the World Programme of Action for Youth, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolutions 50/81 of 14 December 1995 and 62/126 of 18 December 2007, Recalling the declaration on the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, adopted on 21 September 2020, 6 and reiterating the commitments of Heads of State and Government representing the peoples of the world in the declaration, in particular those related to listening to and working with youth, Recalling also its resolution 76/6 of 15 November 2021 on the follow-up to the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Our Common Agenda”,7 and acknowledging the proposal of the Secretary-General to establish a dedicated United Nations Youth __________________

 

1 Resolution 217 A (III). 2 Resolution 70/1. 3 Resolution 69/313, annex. 4 See FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1, decision 1/CP.21, annex. 5 Resolution 69/283, annex II. 6 Resolution 75/1. 7 A/75/982. A/76/L.85 2/3 22-13307 Office in the Secretariat to ensure that the voices of youth are more systematically integrated across the United Nations system, Underlining the important role of youth in the promotion of peace and security, sustainable development and human rights and the importance of the full, effective, constructive and inclusive participation of youth in decision-making, Reaffirming the importance of involving youth and youth-led and youth-focused organizations in the work of the United Nations at the national, regional and international levels, including in the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth and the 2030 Agenda, Recognizing the importance of a balanced composition of the United Nations workforce from an age perspective and the need to ensure youth representation with due regard to geographical distribution and gender balance, Recognizing also the work of the Envoys of the Secretary-General on Youth in addressing the needs of and placing young people as a cross-cutting priority of the United Nations, ensuring that their perspectives are reflected across the United Nations work, as well as, inter alia, as a harmonizer with different United Nations entities, Governments and their youth delegates, civil society, youth organizations, academia and media towards enhancing, empowering and strengthening young people within and outside the United Nations system,

1. Decides to establish the United Nations Youth Office as a dedicated office for youth affairs in the Secretariat, integrating the Office of the Envoy of the Secretary-General on Youth, following a submission of a detailed proposal on the operational functions, structure, resources and staffing of the new Youth Office, based on a thorough analysis of the resource needs of the Office and funding from the regular budget of the United Nations, and in this regard requests the Secretary - General to submit this proposal to the General Assembly, through its Fifth Committee, during the seventy-seventh session;

2. Emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the United Nations Youth Office is provided with sufficient financial and human resources, and decides that the Office shall be led by a suitably qualified person, preferably under the age of 35 years, with a demonstrated commitment to youth issues, who shall be appointed by the Secretary-General at a senior-level position, in accordance with Article 101 of the Charter of the United Nations, with due regard to gender balance and geographical representation;

3. Decides that the United Nations Youth Office will: (a) Lead engagement and advocacy for the advancement of youth issues across the United Nations, in the areas of peace and security, sustainable development and human rights; (b) Promote meaningful, inclusive and effective engagement of youth and youth-led and youth-focused organizations in the work of the United Nations, working in close collaboration across the United Nations system; (c) Encourage greater United Nations system-wide collaboration, coordination and accountability on the advancement of youth issues, including United Nations support to Member States, as appropriate and upon their request, in promoting the effective and meaningful engagement, participation and empowerment of youth; (d) Encourage the identification of focal points on youth, within existing resources, across the United Nations system and in United Nations country teams; (e) Engage with youth-focused envoys, representatives and offices of regional organizations on advancing youth issues; A/76/L.85 22-13307 3/3 (f) Propose innovative approaches to advance multi-stakeholder initiatives on the engagement and empowerment of youth, for the consideration of Member States; (g) Promote and facilitate intergenerational and intercultural dialogue, collaboration and solidarity; (h) Support efforts to enhance youth representation at the United Nations, including through increasing and improving the conditions of internships and employment opportunities for youth, especially for youth from developing countries and with due regard to gender balance; (i) Support ongoing efforts towards the mobilization of financial and technical support and investment to promote and upscale quality and inclusive education and training, skills development, capacity-building and bridging the digital divide, in tandem with job creation, for youth and creating an enabling environment for harnessing their talents and abilities to contribute to their societies; (j) Conduct outreach to youth and youth-led and youth-focused organizations, through innovative means, including the use of social media;

4. Invites the President of the Economic and Social Council, with the support of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat, to collaborate with the United Nations Youth Office in the preparations for the youth forum of the Council, in particular in ensuring that the forum represents a platform for youth from across all regions to continue to share their ideas and engage in dialogue with Member States;

5. Decides to include in the draft agenda of its seventy-seventh session, and of subsequent sessions, an item entitled “Report of the United Nations Youth Office”, and requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly an annual report on the activities of the Office for its consideration under this agenda item in plenary meeting;

6. Requests that the United Nations Youth Office share the report with youth representatives and representatives of youth-led and youth-focused organizations.

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