Youth, particularly from the South are hardly represented at the global decision making
stage, especially at the United Nations. This is despite the fact that member states of the
United Nations have taken steps aimed at ensuring that UN member states involve young
people at all levels of decision making including at the United Nations by including youth
representatives in national delegations. These forward looking decisions are found in
General Assembly Resolutions A/RES/50/81and A/RES/62/126 among others.
In paragraph 53 of Agenda 2030, it is stated that:
“The future of humanity and of our planet lies in our hands. It lies also in the hands
of today’s younger generation who will pass the torch to future generations.”
Furthermore, in 1995 when the United Nations adopted the World Programme of Action
for Youth (WPAY), it provided a policy framework and guidelines to strengthen
commitment to young people as well as their involvement. This commitment was
expanded in 2007 when specific areas of action for the youth were laid down. These areas
of action, inter alia include: education, employment, hunger and poverty, health,
environment, substance abuse, juvenile justice, leisure-time activities, girls and young
women, youth participation in society and in decision-making, globalization, information
and communication technology (ICT), HIV/AIDS, armed conflict, and intergenerational
issues. Indeed, in the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly, it was resolved and the
General Assembly:
“…Urges Member States to consider including youth delegates in their delegations
at all relevant discussions in the General Assembly, the Economic and Social
Council and its functional commissions and relevant United Nations conferences,
as appropriate, bearing in mind the principles of gender balance and nondiscrimination, and emphasizes that such youth representatives should be
selected through a transparent process that ensures that they have a suitable
mandate to represent young people in their countries.”
It is in the above framework that CRISP and UNAU are partnering in having an active and
transparent Africa UN Delegates programme 2023 – 2024. The programme is regional in
nature and will have young people from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, and
Ethiopia coming together to learn and prepare themselves to be delegates for their
countries at the UN General Assembly in September 2023.
The United Nations Association of Uganda in collaboration with CRISP – Germany;
undertook Uganda’s National Educational Assessment Workshop at the Grand Global
Hotel – Makerere from 10th to 14th March 2023. The workshop followed a series of other
activities in which more than one thousand Ugandan young men and women competed
to be considered to be delegates at the coming UN General Assembly in New York. The
workshop was constituted by only 20 best selected youths. From among these 20 youths,
the best 2 will be selected as delegates preferably to be embedded with the Uganda
National Delegation to the coming UN General Assembly in New York, USA.
The two selected young people will undergo further training together with their
counterparts from Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan and Ethiopia in further preparation for
their mission as youth representatives at the UN General Assembly. Trainings will take
place in the different countries of origin of these delegates.
Closing the workshop, Ms. Susan Namondo – the UN Resident Co-coordinator in
Uganda; who graced the occasion, urged the young people to take serious interest in the
work of the United Nations, understand how the United Nations system works, think of
how it can be improved and position themselves to provide the necessary leadership
when their time comes. She urged them to participate in implementing the SDGs and not
to be cowed by the challenges the countries have gone through as a result of the COVID
19 pandemic and the recent Ebola disease challenge that Uganda had gone through. She
emphasized that all countries go through challenges but through resilience, humanity
always prevails. She thanked the UNA Association of Uganda and CRISP for the work
being done with the youth and generally linking the population with the United Nations.
