It is incontrovertible that the peace and security challenges experienced in Africa from the 1990s put continental and international attention on the key roles played by young men and women in episodes of armed conflict and insecurity. Successive wars and violations of formal peace agreements and processes across the continent further heightened the attention and concern of policy institutions to the participation of youth in armed conflicts and violence. Across the divide, young people continue to constitute the core of combatants, while also representing a significant number of those affected by armed conflicts, violent extremism, banditry, violent protests and gender-based violence in Africa. For instance, in addition to disruption of education and youth-sensitive socio-economic activities, “estimates of direct conflict deaths in 2015 suggest that more than 90 percent of all casualties involved young males.”
PRINCIPLES ON RELEVANT|EFFECTIVE SUPPORT TO MEDIA AND THE INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
A well-functioning independent media system is critical to sustainable social and economic development, and a bulwark of peaceful, economically prosperous societies. Greater citizen engagement, stronger accountability and lower corruption are all attributable to the presence of professional news media. A vibrant news sector is also fundamental as the first line of defence against democratic backsliding and autocratisation, whose first step is often to undermine media freedom and financial viability. Credible news media provide sunlight on critical social, economic and political issues to ensure a well-informed civil society and accountability of industry and private interests
PACT FOR THE FUTURE |PART TWO
We commit to achieving a world in which humanity lives in harmony with nature, to conserving and sustainably using our planet’s marine and terrestrial resources, including through sustainable lifestyles, and sustainable consumption and production, to reversing the trends of environmental degradation, to promoting resilience, to reducing disaster risk, and to halting ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. We will conserve and sustainably use oceans and seas, freshwater resources, as well as forests, mountains and dry lands and protect biodiversity, ecosystems and wildlife.
PACT FOR THE FUTURE
We, the Heads of State and Government, representing the world's people, have gathered at United Nations Headquarters to take action to safeguard the future for present and coming generations. We are at a moment of acute global peril. Across our world, people are suffering from the effects of poverty, hunger, inequality, armed conflicts, violence, displacement, terrorism, climate change, disease, and the adverse impacts of technology. Humanity faces a range of potentially catastrophic and existential risks. We are also at a moment of opportunity, where advances in knowledge and technology, properly managed, could deliver a better future for all.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights | Dignity, Freedom and Justice for All
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people.
Nairobi Youth Statement | Make Development Work for Youth
The youths attending the Second High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) are coming together and rallying for inclusive development that works for us and with us. This statement is a reflection of youth’s eagerness and strong intent to be involved and actively participate as equal and independent partners in practical development cooperation – a discourse and a process that does not only shape our societies comprehensively today but our future and those of the coming generations ahead.