EU Statement – UN General Assembly: Report of the UN Youth Office

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EU Statement - UN General Assembly: Report of the UN Youth Office

01.08.2024 Press and information team of the Delegation to the UN in New York

1 August 2024, New York - Statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States by H.E. Ambassador Hedda Samson, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, at the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly on the Report of the United Nations Youth Office - Item 130: Report of the Secretary-General (A/78/949)

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I deliver this statement on behalf of the EU and its 27 Member States.

The Candidate Countries Türkiye, North Macedonia*, Montenegro^*, Serbia^*, Albania^*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina^*and Georgia, as well as Andorra, Monaco and San Marino align themselves with this statement.

We would first like to extend our gratitude to the office of the Secretary-General for this report on the United Nations Youth Office and for the opportunity to contribute a statement on behalf of the European Union and its member states.

The EU continues to support the essential mission of UN engagement with and for young persons, recognizing that full and meaningful youth engagement in policy and decision-making processes is key to identifying the solutions that our world urgently needs. We remain steadfast in our commitment to support young people as equal partners in our efforts towards the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, the preservation and the promotion of peace and security, the fulfillment of human rights, and the principle of leaving no one behind. We appreciate the progress and achievements that have been made to enhance youth engagement since the establishment of the United Nations Youth Office, and this is why the EU has announced a contribution of €1 million to the UN Youth Office.

The European Union encourages the Youth Office to be ambitious in the implementation of its mandate, The Youth Office should work across the system in a cross-cutting way, to ensure that young persons are meaningfully engaged in all UN processes, going beyond in the fulfillment of objectives of the Youth Strategy and rejuvenating the UN workforce. The EU will also continue to support the Office´s key role in advancing the Youth, Peace and Security agenda.

We welcome the transition of the office to funding from the Regular Budget, which provides it with a new degree of financial stability, autonomy and independence. Due to ongoing cost containment measures resulting from the UN's liquidity crisis, we strongly encourage the Youth Office to accelerate as soon as possible its staff hiring process in order to be able to use all funds allocated to the office, in order to accelerate the progress of its mandate. We would like to see the Youth Office attract the best experts on youth issues with ample expertise on youth engagement at the UN so that its mandate can be fulfilled in the best way possible.

We will continue our strong collaboration with the UN Youth Office and remain steadfast in our belief that its work is fundamental to ensure that young persons participate meaningfully in the construction of their present and future.

Thank you.

*North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.