Jamaica’s younger individuals individuals got here collectively for significant dialogue on the long run they wish to see at a Nationwide Youth Dialogue on the Summit of the Future.
The occasion, held on Friday (August 16) on the Terra Nova Lodge in Kingston and on-line, was organised by the Ministry of International Affairs and International Commerce, the Ministry of Schooling and Youth, and the United Nations (UN) in Jamaica.
It supplied a chance for college students and youth leaders, together with individuals in rural communities, throughout the Diaspora in addition to these with disabilities, to have interaction with coverage and decision-makers from the Authorities and UN system, to assist craft and current their imaginative and prescient for the long run to nationwide and international leaders.
Minister of International Affairs and International Commerce, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, in her deal with, mentioned the companions are “happy that we’ve been in a position to create this chance to take heed to the voices of our younger individuals – voices of the current and certainly voices of the long run – as we transfer nearer to the 79th session of the UN Normal Meeting [in September] and extra notably, to the Summit of the Future, which can precede it.”
Senator Johnson Smith mentioned the Summit of the Future will deliver collectively Heads of States and Governments with a standard objective of worldwide peace and safety, supported by a powerful multilateral system.
It should speed up efforts to fulfill current worldwide commitments and take concrete steps to reply to rising challenges and alternatives.
“Leaders will talk about reaching sustainable growth despite the various challenges that face our world. Jamaica can be taking part and advocating specifically on the challenges confronted by Small Island Growing States (SIDS) and different growing international locations, points together with local weather change, local weather financing and financing for growth,” Senator Johnson Smith identified.
Jamaica and the Kingdom of the Netherlands are spearheading negotiations on a UN Declaration on Future Generations, which can be annexed to an action-oriented final result doc referred to as the ‘Pact for the Future.’ Member States will log off on the Pact through the Summit.
Youth voices are an vital a part of the method in adopting a powerful Declaration and Pact.
The draft Declaration on Future Generations acknowledges that kids and younger persons are brokers of change, and that intergenerational dialogue/engagement is required and must be taken under consideration in coverage and decision-making processes to safeguard the wants and pursuits of future generations.
The Minister famous that the world’s younger individuals collectively kind a particularly vital stakeholder grouping, noting that whereas many globally are marginalised, residing in circumstances of conflict and excessive vulnerability, as a worldwide demographic they’re extra empowered than they’ve ever been earlier than.
She mentioned that the UN recognises that younger individuals should play a extra lively function in serving to to create the world through which “all of us reside” and to make it higher to beat advanced crises.
“I feel it bears emphasis that your participation, your views are wanted greater than ever on progress and achievement of the Agenda 2030 for sustainable growth in reaching briefly, our Sustainable Growth Objectives (SDGs). Jamaica, subsequently, commends the UN for growing a youth technique, which prioritises engagement, participation and advocacy,” Senator Johnson Smith mentioned.
“However as an entire, nonetheless, within the broader context of our participation…it has been an absolute honour for Jamaica to co-facilitate the intergovernmental course of for the Declaration on Future Generations,” she added.
Senator Johnson Smith inspired the younger individuals to share their views and inputs in direction of the implementation of the Pact for the Future and the Declaration on Future Generations.
“We encourage you thru this dialogue and in any other case, to take full benefit of the chance to have your voices heard,” she mentioned.
