NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 29 – “Allowing young people to be actively involved in shaping the future benefits society as a whole”, said Italy’s Giulia Tariello at a General Assembly’s Third Committee meeting today in New York. Giulia is one of two Italian Youth Delegates who will bring to the General Assembly the voices of their peers during 2022-2023.
As advocate of multi-stakeholders dialogue, Italy fosters youth’s leading role as drive for change. Giulia Tariello and fellow Youth Delegate Gabriele Colella were chosen as part of the United Nations Youth Delegate Program, the main tool through which Member States have the opportunity to include university students within their diplomatic missions, enabling them to represent the interest of young people at major UN Conferences and, in particular, during the General Assembly.
Giulia spoke during a meeting on youth engagement. “We believe that allowing young people to be actively involved in shaping the future benefits society in two ways: youth can gain more knowledge and experience, and adults can interpret the world from a new perspective they may have forgotten”, Tariello said: “Too often, young people feel an ever-increasing distance between themselves and the core bodies where the decision-making process takes place. This growing mistrust draws young people even further away from participating in public life”.
Giulia reminded her peers that Italy has stepped up with the 2021 Youth4Climate ‘Driving Ambition’ COP26 side event, hosting 400 young participants from all over the world, to pool together ideas and offer a platform to share their proposals to address the climate crisis. “We have made significant progress, but we still need more commitment to bridge the gap and reverse the trend. To improve involvement, younger students should have access to more information about the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, starting in elementary school, where they can learn how to respect others”.
The Third Committee, which focuses its proceedings on the status of human rights, met today for the first time during the 77th General Assembly. Among the issues that will be debated this term, the resolution on the death penalty, which will call for a moratorium of executions in view of their total abolition, is of special relevance for Italy. (@OnuItalia)
