Investment in Youth Worldwide Key to Preventing Conflict, Protecting Human Rights, Deputy Secretary-General Says at Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the Goalkeepers Global Awards 2018, in New York today:

It is fantastic to be with you this evening.

Every now and again, you feel that the stars are aligning.  We felt it when we began to see unstoppable momentum around the Millennium Development Goals.  We felt it in 2015 when world leaders embraced the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement.  Last year in an effort to reinforce the principles of multilateralism, the United Nations began ambitious reforms to better meet the needs and aspirations of the world.

And this week, I feel the stars aligning again.  The time is now.  This morning, the Secretary-General urged world leaders to repair broken trust and reinvigorate our multilateral project.

Yesterday, understanding the importance of engaging the youth, he launched the United Nations first ever Youth Strategy and Generation Unlimited initiative – a commitment by our entire United Nations family to empower young people in everything we do, in a more earnest and effective way than we have ever done before.

Behind that strategy lie two essential truths.  First, with 49 countries in armed conflict, whether we are aiming to prevent conflict, protect human rights, eradicate poverty or achieve sustainable development, we simply will not succeed without investing in the world’s 1.8 billion young people – 90 per cent of whom live in developing countries.  Second, when we look across the world for inspiration today, when we try to be optimists like our hosts, we turn to young people.

I see their leadership, ingenuity and example every time I visit a community bearing the brunt of today’s global challenges.  I see it within the world of climate action.  I see it among those who are challenging the abuse of power.  And I see it in those young women who matching towards gender equality, are standing up and saying “NO MORE” to gender discrimination and sexual harassment.

These two essential truths unite us here tonight, as we look to build on the firm foundations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  Much has been done in the three years since we agreed the goals.  Countries are owning the goals.  The SDGs have taken root with policy-makers, the business community, civil society, cities and local authorities.

But, frankly speaking, we remain at best in second gear.  Only now have we started to undo the knots that are holding us back, and build a path towards dignity, prosperity and peace for all on a healthy planet.

One such path is investment in young people and thank you Melinda and Bill for highlighting the urgent need to build human capital – strengthen our investments in health and education, particularity in some of the most fragile parts of the world.

Over the coming 12 months, let us commit to moving as far as we can on the SDGs, so that when we gather next year to review and move ambition from Paris to the Secretary-General’s Climate Summit, we can show that we have not just switched from promises to policies, but from promises to results in people’s lives.

As we do so, let us remember the words of our former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who we sadly lost just a few weeks ago.  “You are never too young to lead,” he said, “and never too old to learn.”

In my job as Deputy Secretary-General, I am constantly learning from the young people who are genuinely leading, from the many inspiring and determined young people I meet from the Sahel, to the Pacific, and all across the world.  You lift us up.  You keep us focused - from those who came together yesterday for the launch of Youth 2030, and from who we recognize here tonight.

Now it is my pleasure to present the Global Goals Changemaker Award.  This award celebrates the achievement of an individual who has inspired Goal-related change using their personal experience or from a position of leadership.

But, before we welcome the winner to the stage, let’s see what they've been up to.

[FILM]

Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome to the stage Nadia Murad.