UN Youth Champions for Disarmament share their insights for the upcoming Fourth Review Conference (RevCon4) of the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons

On 2 May, Her Excellency Ms. Maritza Chan Valverde, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations, who also serves as the President Designate of the Fourth Review Conference (RevCon4) of the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (UN PoA), hosted a virtual consultation with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) ahead of RevCon4.  

After opening remarks from Ambassador Chan, three of the UN Youth Champions for Disarmament — Jutomue Doetein from Liberia, Anne Cuadros from Peru, and Monalisa Hazarika from India, representing regions from the Global South affected by gun violence — presented a joint statement.  

Jutomue opened the statement by underscoring the disproportionate and unique impact of small arms and light weapons (SALW) on young people, who are both victims and perpetrators of armed violence. He highlighted the physical, psychological and social consequences experienced by young people as a result of being recruited by armed groups, which can lead to persecution, displacement and a lack of access to essential services. As future custodians, youth have the most to lose should the current crisis continue unabated, Jutomue emphasized. 

Following Jutomue, Anne noted the lack of meaningful avenues for youth to engage in issues around small arms control at the institutional level. Except for creating separate avenues and ad-hoc committees, efforts should also be focused on integrating young people into existing frameworks and teams, enabling them to work, learn, and collaborate with experienced professionals. By recognizing young people as equal stakeholders and investing in their training, education, and capacity building, states, civil society, and institutions can move beyond the tokenistic involvement of youth.  

To conclude, Monalisa outlined clear, action-oriented recommendations for the upcoming RevCon4 from a youth perspective. These recommendations include:  

• Establishing youth-led regional and global research networks around small arms control 

• Reviewing institutional policies to understand the barriers to meaningful participation of youth 

• Supporting the expansion of youth delegate programmes and promotion of youth-led interventions in arms control  

• Creating more paid entry-level positions for youth in arms control.  

The joint statement delivered by the UN Youth Champions for Disarmament underscored the significance of meaningful youth engagement and inclusion in decision-making processes and showed that integrating youth perspectives can strengthen the UN PoA by bringing creativity and innovation.  

You can learn more about the upcoming RevCon4 of the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons here.