Leaders to the Future Series

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs' #Youth4Disarmament initiative is delighted to announce the ‘Leaders to the Future’ (#L2F) Series.

With generous financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, #Youth4Disarmament engaged its alumni members on topics related to Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Arms Control (D.N.A) in monthly sessions. Topics included the Secretary-General’s New Agenda for Peace, gender parity, Outer Space, diversity, multilateralism, and emerging technologies. Additional workshops to explore Youth Engagement, Environmental Remediation and Protection and Human Rights were announced for the second half of the programme. 

Briefings were delivered by representatives from UN Member States, UN entities, Civil Society and youth-led organizations in a series of engaging and interactive virtual workshops, which also included small group discussions amongst the participants to exchange, discuss and develop their perspectives. 

The #L2F project also offered networking opportunities and mentorship sessions with career professionals via "Career Connections"; potential speaking opportunities for participants to address high-level events, conferences, and intergovernmental fora where feasible as part of our "AIM” (Advocates in Motion) initiative; and a study visit for a selected group of representatives, including a trip to the UN Office in Vienna and UN Headquarters in New York in 2023.

Interested to learn more about the sessions? Check out the calendar below:

Calendar:

• D.N.A. and the Secretary-General’s New Agenda for Peace on 24 January 2023, the International Day of Education,

• D.N.A. and Gender Parity – 13 February 2023, in commemoration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science,

• D.N.A. and Outer Space - 24 March 2023, date in which the Open Skies Treaty opened for signature in 1992,

• D.N.A. and Multilateralism - 24 April 2023, the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace,

• D.N.A. and Emerging Technologies - 17 May 2023, World Telecommunication and Information Society Day,

• D.N.A. and Diversity – 16 June 2023, in light of the International Day for Countering Hate Speech on 18 June 2023,

• D.N.A. and You(th) - 21 September 2023, International Day of Peace,

• D.N.A. and Environmental Remediation and Protection - 21 November 2023, in light of the second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons from 27 November to 1 December 2023,

• D.N.A. and Human Rights - 11 December 2023, Human Rights Day and 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 2023.

Recommendations: 

Following the first six sessions, the cohort of #Leaders2Future drafted a series of recommendations to be shared and promoted in various disarmament related inter-governmental meetings and events. Check out what actions and inputs the Leaders to the Future suggested below:

• To support the development of the Secretary-General's New Agenda for Peace,

• To achieve gender parity in disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control,

• To support the development of the Outer Space elements of the Summit of the Future,

• To strengthen the spirit of multilateralism in international peace and security,

• To approach the opportunities and challenges posed by new and emerging technologies,

• To strengthen diversity, equity and inclusion in the field of disarmament, non-proliferation, and arms control.

The individuals listed above acted in their personal capacity. This document contains a summary of the spoken and written interventions made by young people – that is not intended to be exhaustive or prescriptive.