Alanna O’Malley

The UN support for youth in disarmament affairs has grown over time. Although Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-Moon increased the relevance of disarmament within the UN agenda, the UNSG Antonio Guterres finally achieved consolidating the importance of youth in disarmament affairs and promoted programs to support and widen the youth involvement in the discussion of disarmament. With that, the main aim of the UN has been to promote the education of younger generations in matters related to peace and security, such as disarmament, and with that contribute to the fourth Sustainable Development Goal, which is quality education. 

The role of women in peacekeeping has for long been neglected in a world where women have a unique role in their local and national environments to handle and solve conflicts. Several UN organs have actively contributed to the training and inclusion of women in peacebuilding and developed reports to highlight their contributions. The UN must therefore learn from best practices both from its own organs and the historical role of women as peacebuilders in countries such as Yemen in order to develop mechanisms to ensure gender parity in peacekeeping. 

Torchbearers and architects are how the UN describes young people when discussing the 2030 Youth and Sustainable Development agendas. From this perspective, young people are recipients, partners, and participants in the development, implementation, and review of the 2030 agenda. This article focuses on a subgroup of non-state actors who can mobilize sectors of society the UN is unable to reach directly.