Moving forward the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2250

By Matteo Tonella

With the announcement by UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon of Graeme Simpson as Lead Author for the Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security, as well as an advisory group of experts to support the study process, the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2250 takes a step forward. The Progress Study was mandated by the UN Security Council when it adopted Resolution 2250 in December 2015, to provide a basis for meaningful implementation of the resolution at local, national and international level.

Achaleke Christian Leke of Local Youth Corner, Cameroon, member organization of UNOY Peacebuilders, says that the Progress Study “will be a bedrock in concretizing this historic global agenda on youth, peace and security for the coming years and decades. This resolution hold the key to sustainable world peace, and for a young peacebuilders like myself, its findings will be extremely timely and important.”

The advisory group is composed of 21 experts of diverse backgrounds including youth and non-youth, academics, practitioners, and individuals from different regions of the world. The members of the advisory group are: Farea Al-Muslimi (Yemen), Luz Alcira Granada Contreras (Colombia), Scott Attran (USA), Chernor Bah (Sierra Leone), Ikram Ben Said (Tunisia), Malual Bol Kiir (South Sudan), Kessy Martine Ekomo-Soignet (CAR), Ilwad Elman (Somalia), Matilda Flemming (Finland), Terri-Ann Gilbert-Roberts (Jamaica), Saba Ismail (Pakistan), Thevuni Kavindi Kotigala (Sri Lanka), Nur Laiq (UK), Mieke Lopes Cardozo (Netherlands), Robert Muggah (Canada), Hussein Nabil Murtaja (Palestine), Funmi Olonisakin (Nigeria), Salim Salamah (Syria), Ali Saleem (Pakistan), Hajer Sharief (Libya), and Marc Sommers (USA).

Several members of the advisory group have a background in UNOY Peacebuilders: Kessy Martine Ekomo-Soignet, Saba Ismail and Thevuni Kavindi Kotigala all work for UNOY Peacebuilders member organisations, Hajer Sharief is a member of the Youth Advocacy Team and Matilda Flemming previously worked for the UNOY Peacebuilders International Secretariat. The other members of the advisory group similarly have very strong backgrounds in working on youth participation in issues of peacea and security.

On the nomination of Graeme Simpson as lead author, Gwendolyn S. Myers of UNOY Peacebuilders member organisation Messengers of Peace Liberia affirmed: “I’m thrilled with the appointment of Graeme Simpson as the lead author to establish the basis upon which the implementation of the UNSCR2250 would be formed. The contribution of young people to peace and security to a large extent has been ignored in the past but this announcement foretells a brighter future for young people. Without the meaningful and active participation of young people in peace and security issues, the quest for global peace would be an illusion to be pursued. We ask for all young peace advocates to support this initiative and call on world leaders to encourage youth engagement in peace, security and stability matters”

The findings and recommendations that the progress study will produce will be presented to the UN Security Council on December 2017, on the occasion of the second anniversary of the adoption of Resolution 2250.