Spotlight: OSCE favors greater role for youth in strengthening security

Participants at the ongoing 23rd Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have voiced support for a greater role of the youth in addressing security-related issues, saying that the youth is essential for strengthening security in the world today.

"Youth is key to fighting violent extremism, promoting tolerance and diversity," Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation Alfonso Dastis Quecedo said on Thursday.

Quecedo made the remarks at the "OSCE Youth Speaking Up: Destination Security" side event on the margins of the ongoing 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg.

The Spanish minister also announced that a conference on youth and security will take place in May 2017 in Malaga, a seaside resort in southern Spain.

Other participants at the side event also echoed Quecedo about the role of the youth on security issues.

"We must invest in youth if we are serious about countering extremism," OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said.

Michael Linhart, secretary-general for the foreign affairs of Austria, said that youth should be involved in decision-making and reaffirmed that youth will be a priority area for work during Austria's OSCE chairmanship next year.

Samia Hatroubi, a young French-Tunisian activist, stressed the need to empower young people in order to make them agents of change for today's challenges. She called for a change of paradigm and advocated for regarding youth as part of the solution rather than a threat.

"They deal with the realities of the world we are living and are in the best position to identify the vulnerabilities that others may overlook," Ambassador Jonathan Moore, head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, said.

Moore said that youth are the present and the future and he was against talking about youth without youth present.

Rebecca Smith, a member of the European Youth Parliament, talked about education and the importance of having spaces like the European Youth Parliament in which dialogue with and for youth are possible.

According to the participants, a variety of initiatives have been launched in recent years within OSCE activities to empower youth throughout the structures of the OSCE.

Young men and women have repeatedly raised their voices on security issues affecting them and their peers, from intolerance and violent extremism, from inclusion to political participation, the participants said.

In order to build a bridge between intentions and implementation, the participants called for the doubling of efforts to further youth participation and to establish a regular dialogue on and with youth.

With OSCE chairmanship this year, Germany has promoted exchange and dialogue among young people from the entire OSCE region. A series of outreach events included amongst others a major youth forum in Vienna and Belgrade, a number of discussion events with public figures and policymakers in Germany and a final youth conference in Berlin, according to the participants.

The two-day OSCE Ministerial Council opened in Hamburg on Thursday, focusing on efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, Syria and to strengthen the dialogue on security issues in Europe.

The OSCE, comprising 57 participating States, and 11 Partners for Co-operation, is the largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization in the world. Its 57 participating states are located in Europe, northern and central Asia and North America and cover much of the land area of the Northern Hemisphere.

It is concerned with early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management, and post-conflict rehabilitation with a variety of mandates ranging from security issues such as arms control, border management, conflict prevention and resolution to economic and social issues as well. Endit