Opening Speech of HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs at the High-Level Global Conference on Youth-Inclusive Peace Processes
Your Excellency Mr. António Guterres,
Your Excellency, Mr. Pekka Haavisto,
Your Excellency, Mrs. María Juliana Ruiz Sandoval Ms. Ana Maneno, Mr. Mohammad Yahya Qanie,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen;
I am delighted to open this High-level Global Conference on Youth-Inclusive Peace Processes, co-hosted by the State of Qatar, Colombia, Finland, and the United Nations, and co-organized by the office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Education Above All Foundation, and Search For Common Ground, in partnership with the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (UNDPP), the UN Population Fund, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Network of Young Peacebuilders.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the ground-breaking vision of Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser - UN SDG advocate, and Founder and Chairperson of Education Above All (EAA) Foundation.
Her Highness has worked tirelessly to promote the empowerment of youth in conflict-prevention and peace-building. I would also like to acknowledge the instrumental role of Education Above All in this regard.
The State of Qatar encourages the participation of young people in all stages of peace processes, including in decision-making. With this in mind, the Department of Youth Affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Sports has been directed to draft Qatar’s first National Youth Strategy.
Drafted in consultation with our youth, the strategy is a declaration of a common national vision that defines the needs and priorities of Qatar’s youth.
It is worthy of note that the first international Symposium on youth participation, held in Helsinki in March 2019, resulted in the launch of the first global policy paper on youth participation in peace processes.
I trust this conference will follow this path in arriving at shared political commitments to advance the global Youth, Peace, and Security Agenda, and deliver concrete solutions for sustainable youth-inclusive processes world-wide.
I am pleased that this conference will launch international guidelines to advance the global Youth, Peace and Security Agenda, and a five year-strategy on strengthening youth-inclusive peace processes, to be implemented at the national level.
To conclude, the State of Qatar is committed to continue working closely with the United Nations to effectively implement the main outcomes of this conference as part of our joint efforts to strengthen global youth-inclusive peace processes.
I thank you all for joining us, and look forward to our impactful deliberations here today.