By Gautam Banerji
We have seen more wars, internal conflicts, and emergencies than ever before since the end of the Cold War, which has been replaced by the War on Terror. This is at risk of continuing indefinitely, with far reaching consequences in human terms, leaving the most vulnerable population groups exposed. With the raging global pandemic, misery has multiplied manifold and compounded further.
According to recent UNICEF sources, there are 1.2 billion adolescents worldwide – the largest cohort ever, and the most educated and urbanized. Ninety per cent of adolescents live in low and middle-income countries, and 125 million live in areas affected by armed conflict. Sub-Saharan Africa’s growing adolescent population is expected to reach 500 million by 2050 and has the potential to fuel powerful change – if Governments invest in and engage it. India has a similar story to unfold.
To add to the challenges ahead, 1 in 4 of the poorest adolescents have never attended school, and more than 200 million adolescents of secondary school age are out of school. Alarmingly, adolescents are the only age group among whom AIDS-related deaths are not decreasing.
Challenges have also grown and diversified, prompting a rethink of the millennium development goals and redrafting them in turn as a set of 16+1 sustainable development goals with targets set to be achieved by 2030. Amid these challenges, we have a burgeoning adolescent and youth population, who deserve a voice in shaping their destiny.
Global trends point towards an increasing role of technology in a knowledge driven post-industrial world, and youth will be working towards shaping and sharing that destiny. It is appropriate therefore for UNICEF to align its vision for the future with these in mind.
Under ExDir Fore’s leadership, UNICEF has appropriately placed adolescent and youth among its program priorities. Over the past fifty years, the focus was primarily (and rightly so) on child survival and development targeting the 0-5yr cohort and driven by a focused set of interventions. This was the child survival and development revolution (CSDR) in our times. The beneficiaries are the youth of today.
To expand opportunities for adolescents to participate meaningfully in their communities and the political processes, UNICEF empowers them to actively engage and voice their views and opinions. UNICEF works with youth organizations and other partners to change the social norms that stand in the way, and develop platforms for adolescents to share their experiences.
UNICEF programs for adolescents and youth continue to work alongside adolescents to co-create solutions that support their transition into adult life and work, like traditional and non-formal paths to education and skills development. Student participation and learning is at the core. Such interventions need to be strengthened through more partnerships and alliances.
In post-retirement I have found the time to engage with and volunteer for two international youth organisations, namely the YMCA Indian Students Hostel in London, and more recently with the United World College (UWC) in Dilijan, Armenia, where I am presently based. UNICEF is familiar with these organisations and a few of us have done our bit to strengthen alliances at the local level. UWC, under its mission statement, has committed to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable development. Having worked both with UNICEF and in post-retirement with UWC, I see the potential to take the existing alliance even further.
At UWC Dilijan, we have students from eighty-two countries, many from distressed backgrounds and from conflict zones, and quite a few have spent prolonged periods in refugee camps. All are aged 17-19 years, and they come to us to earn their International Baccalaureate. Preparing them for global citizenship remains at the core of the curriculum. In a world being torn asunder by distrust and conflict, preparing young minds as harbingers of peace could well be the call of the day.
Funding remains a prime requisite for scaling up. The UN family often complains about donor fatigue. And yet it is enigmatic that there is no dearth of funds in circulation globally. Many among the rich are struggling to put to good use a sizable amount of their wealth for charitable purposes. Few successful businesses do also boast a strong ‘social enterprise’ component. The likes of Bill Gates have set the trend, which many are beginning to emulate. On a humbler scale, there is Noubar Afeyan, Chairman and Cofounder of Moderna Vaccine as a prime mover and Founding Patron of UWC Dilijan.
It is not true that donors are ‘fatigued’. In reality, they are looking for the right opportunities to make their investments. Their trust in mega-organisations that the UN has grown into has to be revived. Donors wish to see their money reach the intended beneficiaries. They wish to see streamlined structures with reduced overheads and staff costs.
In a world fast returning to multilateralism and global cooperation after a short flirtation with unilateral actions driven by selfishly preserving hegemonic interests, it is appropriate that the seventeenth sustainable development goal that we stand committed to achieve is all about partnerships.
In building new alliances, ‘public’ and ‘private’ will likewise merge to cement a stronger ‘partnership’. Corporate priorities will shift to accommodate a new ‘social enterprise’ approach. UNICEF leadership needs to be capable of appreciating and responding to these shifts.
I have argued for a strong focus on youth as a program priority for UNICEF. I have placed education, both formal and non-formal along with skill development at the core of the empowering process driven by technology under a new knowledge-based economy. I plead for strong partnerships, and to work together to achieve the collective commitment we have made for the SDGs.
Of course, UNICEF will gain to retain its focus to reach the unreached and the most vulnerable; no holistic development is possible with pockets of underdevelopment, where the most vulnerable continue to remain. If education is to be effective as a tool for empowerment, it must reach out to the vulnerable population as a priority. Truly empowered, they in turn will be the harbingers of peace, through sustainable development with a vision for the future.
UNICEF has grown exponentially since our days. We have witnessed a rapid turnover of leadership in the recent past. Four Executive Directors made it through the past twenty-five years compared to much longer tenures of the previous three over the first fifty years. More rapid turnover at the helm has also witnessed shift in priorities, aligning them to the new challenges that we face globally.
We have seen more wars, internal conflicts, and emergencies than ever before since the end of the Cold War, which has been replaced by the War on Terror. This is at risk of continuing indefinitely, with far reaching consequences in human terms, leaving the most vulnerable population groups exposed. With the raging global pandemic, misery has multiplied manifold and compounded further.
According to recent UNICEF sources, there are 1.2 billion adolescents worldwide – the largest cohort ever, and the most educated and urbanized. Ninety per cent of adolescents live in low and middle-income countries, and 125 million live in areas affected by armed conflict. Sub-Saharan Africa’s growing adolescent population is expected to reach 500 million by 2050 and has the potential to fuel powerful change – if Governments invest in and engage it. India has a similar story to unfold.
To add to the challenges ahead, 1 in 4 of the poorest adolescents have never attended school, and more than 200 million adolescents of secondary school age are out of school. Alarmingly, adolescents are the only age group among whom AIDS-related deaths are not decreasing.
Challenges have also grown and diversified, prompting a rethink of the millennium development goals and redrafting them in turn as a set of 16+1 sustainable development goals with targets set to be achieved by 2030. Amid these challenges, we have a burgeoning adolescent and youth population, who deserve a voice in shaping their destiny.
Global trends point towards an increasing role of technology in a knowledge driven post-industrial world, and youth will be working towards shaping and sharing that destiny. It is appropriate therefore for UNICEF to align its vision for the future with these in mind.
Under ExDir Fore’s leadership, UNICEF has appropriately placed adolescent and youth among its program priorities. Over the past fifty years, the focus was primarily (and rightly so) on child survival and development targeting the 0-5yr cohort and driven by a focused set of interventions. This was the child survival and development revolution (CSDR) in our times. The beneficiaries are the youth of today.
To expand opportunities for adolescents to participate meaningfully in their communities and the political processes, UNICEF empowers them to actively engage and voice their views and opinions. UNICEF works with youth organizations and other partners to change the social norms that stand in the way, and develop platforms for adolescents to share their experiences.
UNICEF programs for adolescents and youth continue to work alongside adolescents to co-create solutions that support their transition into adult life and work, like traditional and non-formal paths to education and skills development. Student participation and learning is at the core. Such interventions need to be strengthened through more partnerships and alliances.
In post-retirement I have found the time to engage with and volunteer for two international youth organisations, namely the YMCA Indian Students Hostel in London, and more recently with the United World College (UWC) in Dilijan, Armenia, where I am presently based. UNICEF is familiar with these organisations and a few of us have done our bit to strengthen alliances at the local level. UWC, under its mission statement, has committed to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable development. Having worked both with UNICEF and in post-retirement with UWC, I see the potential to take the existing alliance even further.
At UWC Dilijan, we have students from eighty-two countries, many from distressed backgrounds and from conflict zones, and quite a few have spent prolonged periods in refugee camps. All are aged 17-19 years, and they come to us to earn their International Baccalaureate. Preparing them for global citizenship remains at the core of the curriculum. In a world being torn asunder by distrust and conflict, preparing young minds as harbingers of peace could well be the call of the day.
Funding remains a prime requisite for scaling up. The UN family often complains about donor fatigue. And yet it is enigmatic that there is no dearth of funds in circulation globally. Many among the rich are struggling to put to good use a sizable amount of their wealth for charitable purposes. Few successful businesses do also boast a strong ‘social enterprise’ component. The likes of Bill Gates have set the trend, which many are beginning to emulate. On a humbler scale, there is Noubar Afeyan, Chairman and Cofounder of Moderna Vaccine as a prime mover and Founding Patron of UWC Dilijan.
It is not true that donors are ‘fatigued’. In reality, they are looking for the right opportunities to make their investments. Their trust in mega-organisations that the UN has grown into has to be revived. Donors wish to see their money reach the intended beneficiaries. They wish to see streamlined structures with reduced overheads and staff costs.
In building new alliances, ‘public’ and ‘private’ will likewise merge to cement a stronger ‘partnership’. Corporate priorities will shift to accommodate a new ‘social enterprise’ approach. UNICEF leadership needs to be capable of appreciating and responding to these shifts.
I have argued for a strong focus on youth as a program priority for UNICEF. I have placed education, both formal and non-formal along with skill development at the core of the empowering process driven by technology under a new knowledge-based economy. I plead for strong partnerships, and to work together to achieve the collective commitment we have made for the SDGs.
Of course, UNICEF will gain to retain its focus to reach the unreached and the most vulnerable; no holistic development is possible with pockets of underdevelopment, where the most vulnerable continue to remain. If education is to be effective as a tool for empowerment, it must reach out to the vulnerable population as a priority. Truly empowered, they in turn will be the harbingers of peace, through sustainable development with a vision for the future.
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