A Plan of Action

Political ideologies, from Marx’s Communist Manifesto to de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, often focus on identity consciousness to initiate conversations and change. Youth, however, is more fickle to deal with. It is a transitory identity because it is a period we pass through and eventually leave. By the end of high school, most of us are trying to move away from the identity of being a ‘young person’ in the attempt to demonstrate our credibility and maturity to an adult world. Nonetheless, young people are intimately tied to both the future of our societies and its present. We provide innovations, taxes, labour, ideas, and potentially even conscription numbers in the case of conflict. In the UK, we live our lives in a system that is heavily skewed towards prioritising the interests of older generations – something I have tried to argue in previous pieces in this series. More and more young Brits are deciding to work abroad and over the course of curating this series, the government has ushered in changes to the budget that pander towards pensioners. This transitional identity of youth, which we so often try to move away from, is something we must take ownership of if we care to improve our lot in the UK. 

Ten years ago today, the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security. Over the last seven weeks, the British Institute of Global Affairs has led a new conversation on what the YPS Agenda could mean for the UK, and what we can learn from our friends and partners abroad. While there is much to be worried about, these articles have been refreshing for their practical optimism and I want to end the series looking at what our next steps could look like.

Direction and Decision

Today marks the 10^th anniversary of the YPS Agenda and in the years since then, the UN Security Council has passed two further resolutions on YPS. The Agenda, however, goes beyond the Security Council. Countries across the world have drafted National Action Plans that set out actionable steps for incorporating youth into decision making structures. Finland led the way in 2021 and during this series, it has reaffirmed its commitment to the agenda by launching its second National Action Plan on YPS. Moreover, during its time as Chairperson of the OSCE, it launched a region-wide roadmap for strengthening YPS as well as running a discussion panel alongside the meeting of Ministers held in Vienna recently.

All of this is to say that the Youth, Peace and Security agenda is not the far-fetched dreams of restless youth or niche academics – it is actionable, practical, and useful. The various actions plans of different countries set out mechanisms that support civil society and create ways for plugging civil society groups into governance institutions. Networks are nurtured and hierarchies set a place at the table for representatives. The United Kingdom needs this, now more than ever. The First Sea Lord recently gave a speech demonstrating the Royal Navy’s innovations but advocating for more funding for a ‘stretched’ organisation. Other military figures in the country are similarly making the case for more funding and smarter funding. Such demands are reasonable, but they will inevitably be placed on young people. This, alongside regular disenfranchisement of British youth and a bleak economic environment, may prove to be too much.

A British National Action Plan on YPS would mean bringing civil society in for more than occasional Select Committee meetings. It would mean cultivating a network of young people who can represent the views of different communities alongside their age demographic to ensure an intersectional and responsive development of policy. It would mean having youth as a cross-cutting theme in civil service and Parliamentary work so that policy-creation is at the very least conscious of the ramifications for young people. Slowly, but surely, we can make sure that young people are involved in the country that so often sidelines them.

Best Laid Plans

Anyone who has worked in a large organisation, or even interacted with one, knows how easy it is to publish a glossy PDF that never translates into much meaningful change. Emphasis is placed on the contents being important, strategic, critical, urgent, or some other buzz word yet they so often end up in a virtual dust-filled corner of a civil service webpage. A UK National Action Plan on YPS would be a necessary and useful step forward for the country, but by itself, it risks being a Potemkin attempt at change.

What is earnestly needed is for young people to be more aware of their position as young people. We need to become more aware of what structures shape this position, and we need to learn how to advocate our cause more meaningfully. This work involves going up against generations that have been willing to guilt-trip us into compliance, all the while stripping us of the chance at an enriching life. My goal here is not to stir resentment or deepen intergenerational divides, but we need some spine if we are going to stand up for ourselves. We cannot sit around waiting for the occasional MP to make a passing suggestion about a policy that could help young people. We need to demand fair treatment and inclusion. We need to make our cause in our homes, at our social spaces, and to our representatives. Better yet, as recent podcast guest Professor Alister Scott advocated, we need to give politics a try ourselves.

Finland has to get its defence right because it borders Putin’s Russia, and it makes the decision to earnestly incorporate young people into policy-making. If we want to get not only our defence right, but our democracy too, it would be smart to take notes.