S/PV.10065 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2025/798, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by Guyana and Sierra Leone. The Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements before the voting.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of Guyana and my country, Sierra Leone, the penholders of the submitted draft resolution on youth, peace and security (S/2025/798). We attach particular significance to this meeting as we have recently marked the tenth anniversary of resolution 2250 (2015) — the Security Council’s first resolution on youth, peace and security, which affirmed the indispensable role of young people in the prevention and resolution of conflict and in sustaining peace. Over the past decade, the Council has further strengthened this agenda through resolutions 2419 (2018) and 2535 (2020). Yet 10 years on, we must candidly acknowledge that the promise of the youth, peace and security agenda remains only partially fulfilled. Allow me therefore, at the outset, to express our sincere appreciation to all members of the Security Council for the constructive and collaborative approach demonstrated during the negotiations of the draft resolution. Over the past months, we have engaged with every delegation of the Council in an effort to get unity on this draft resolution. Our purpose was twofold: first, to address a gap in the Security Council’s engagement on the youth, peace and security agenda; and secondly, to hear the concerns of all Council members on the objective of the draft resolution. Across the globe, young people are actively engaged on the front lines of conflict. They represent the core of both combatants and victims of conflict. They bear the brunt of violence, including through the disruption of their education and the erosion of opportunities for development. Yet, despite this reality, the Security Council, which has the mandate to maintain peace and security around the world, lacks a sustained and targeted approach to the youth, peace and security agenda. In our regions, as in many conflict-affected areas around the world, the radicalization and recruitment of youth by terrorist and extremist groups and criminal gangs remain a grave concern. This challenge highlights the urgent need for more robust youth-centred strategies for peace and security, including in the Council. We speak from conviction and from regions with the world’s most youthful populations, aware of the opportunities they present but equally mindful of the rising security risk underscoring the urgency of more robust youth-centred strategies for peace and security. The draft resolution before us is a timely effort to restore momentum and address a clear gap in the Council’s engagement on youth, peace and security. In developing this text, our consultations began in October. Through five iterations, we worked to accommodate concerns and craft a balanced compromise, including by responding to the requests not to establish an informal expert group on youth, peace and security. The draft resolution we have before us today reflects a careful In practical terms, the draft resolution advances the youth, peace and security agenda by first ensuring institutional follow-through, including by continuing the Council’s consideration of youth, peace and security through open debates on the Secretary-General’s reports and encouraging expert-level discussions, including in relevant country-specific situations. Secondly, the draft resolution seeks to deepen support for safe, meaningful and effective youth participation, including by encouraging and supporting the safe participation of youth briefers and promoting youth leadership in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, recovery and reconstruction. By adopting this draft resolution, the Security Council will send a clear message, and that is the renewal of its commitment to young people, not as an afterthought but as essential partners for peace. We are convinced that the adoption of this draft resolution will help to close critical gaps, catalyse implementation and reinforce confidence among young people that their voices matter in shaping peace and security outcomes. We are deeply grateful for the support, flexibility and constructive engagement demonstrated by all delegations throughout the negotiations process, and with that, we respectfully call on all Council members to vote in favour of this draft resolution.

I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2807 (2025). I now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements after the voting.

France welcomes the unanimous adoption of this important resolution (resolution 2807 (2025)). We thank Sierra Leone and Guyana for their efforts to present a text strengthening the implementation of the youth, peace and security agenda on the tenth anniversary of resolution 2250 (2015) — the foundation of this agenda. Young people are essential partners in reconciliation and peacebuilding. The youth, peace and security agenda remains the most relevant framework to promote their participation in peace processes. France reaffirms the importance of the provisions adopted under this agenda, which guarantee the inclusion of young people in conflict prevention and resolution and peacebuilding and their participation in the negotiations and implementation of peace agreements. France welcomes the renewed attention paid to this agenda in the past few months through the Pact for the Future, the adoption of two twin resolutions on the peacebuilding architecture (resolution 2805 (2025) and General Assembly resolution   80/11) and the introduction of the resolution that we are considering today. It is essential that the Security Council address the theme of youth, peace and security when examining conflict situations and crisis resolution. In the current context, marked by streamlining efforts under the UN80 Initiative and by a liquidity The text adopted today contributes to this balance by strengthening the agenda in a flexible but concrete way, within existing structures and without imposing additional burdens on the United Nations system. We welcome the spirit of dialogue demonstrated by the co-penholders, with the aim of reaching the broadest possible consensus on this text. This resolution is in line with resolution 2535 (2020), led by France and the Dominican Republic and adopted unanimously in 2020, which mentioned for the first time the measures planned in the context of peacekeeping operations. By voting in favour, France today reaffirms its support for the youth, peace and security agenda and its commitment to recognizing the essential role of young people in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

The Russian Federation voted in favour of the resolution on youth, peace and security introduced by the delegations of Sierra Leone and Guyana (resolution 2807 (2025)). We are grateful to the penholders of the resolution for taking the amendments that we proposed into consideration. At the same time, we must note that the text adopted today is not ideal. Even though several delegations, including Russia, were not entirely supportive of the idea to hold open debates on youth, peace and security issues every two years, this provision remained in the document. We consider the excessive formalization of the Security Council’s work on “generic” issues to be inappropriate given the already tight schedule and untimely given the current budget crisis. The Security Council’s mandate to maintain international peace and security involves seeking solutions to specific conflicts and problems rather than squandering scarce resources on generalized discussions. We also disagree with the wording regarding coordination between the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), which goes beyond the scope of the Security Council and General Assembly resolutions adopted on 26 November on the review of the peacebuilding architecture (resolution 2805 (2025) and General Assembly resolution 80/11). It would be more accurate to speak of interaction between these two bodies, since one of the main tasks of the PBC, which is advisory in nature, is to prepare high-quality and timely recommendations for possible consideration by the Security Council. We are convinced that the use of more transparent working methods during the negotiations, as well as refraining from attempts to create artificial deadlines, would have made it possible to produce a more balanced text, which in turn would have contributed to the further advancement of the youth and security agenda. For our part, we pay great attention to youth issues within the United Nations system, which must remain based on the principles of national responsibility and non-interference in internal affairs. We stand ready to share our experience in this regard.

Panama voted in favour of this resolution (resolution 2807 (2025)) because we seek to enhance the responsibility of the Council to be more inclusive and to strengthen its role in supporting young people. We thank Sierra Leone and Guyana for their initiative, for their work and for bringing forward this resolution that seeks to strengthen the role of young people in efforts to maintain, build and strengthen international peace and security. The youth, peace and security agenda is a priority for Panama, as is ensuring the inclusiveness of all actors at all levels of decision-making. Panama can be counted on to continue advancing and innovating, hand in hand with the participation of young people and their contributions to development, in the area of peace and security.

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of Sierra Leone and my country, Guyana. Guyana and Sierra Leone are proud to have co-authored resolution 2807 (2025) on youth, peace and security, which was just unanimously adopted. We thank the members of the Council for their support and for their keen interest and engagement throughout the negotiations. Their vote for this resolution is a reaffirmation to the world’s youth of the Security Council’s confidence in the positive contribution they can make to international peace and security. It is a tangible demonstration of the Council’s interest in hearing from young people on matters related to peace and security, and it reaffirms our commitment to consider youth when deliberating on matters within the Council’s purview. The resolution comes 10 years after the establishment of the youth, peace and security agenda in resolution 2250 (2015) and builds on the previous youth, peace and security resolutions of the Council. It provides a framework of activities through which the Council can advance the youth, peace and security agenda and encourages continued coordination among United Nations bodies and agencies on this subject. In 2022, the General Assembly established a United Nations Youth Office with a mandate to lead engagement and advocacy for the advancement of youth issues across the three pillars of the United Nations, including on peace and security. We commend the Office for its efforts, which we believe can meaningfully complement the Council’s work. Guyana and Sierra Leone are steadfast in our belief that engaging young people and giving them a greater voice in decision-making at the local, national, regional and international levels will yield lasting peace dividends. Today’s global youth population is the largest in history with unique potential. Globally, youth are harnessing the power of technology and social media to advance their interests, creating digital communities and vast networks that could be activated with speed. It is therefore prudent to positively channel this immense resource and boundless energy towards conflict prevention and resolution. Albert Einstein famously said: “Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them.” By no means do we consider the resolution to be genius. Indeed, we were far more ambitious. But it is intended to contribute to the prevention agenda, understanding that that investment in prevention and peacebuilding will lower costs in the long term. We have seen repeatedly how poverty, a lack of education, a lack of employment opportunities and exclusion make young people more vulnerable to radicalization and recruitment by terrorist groups. For us, the necessity of pursuing development, including youth development, in parallel with peace and security has always been obvious. Peace and security do not exist in a vacuum. A siloed approach by the Council by mostly excluding youth from its deliberations will not yield the durable results that we seek. Let us not keep our youth outside the door, clamouring to heard and seen, but engage them on how they can be part of achieving peace and stability in their countries. Ensuring the meaningful participation of youth at all stages of peace processes is not optional but necessary to build sustainable peace. Guyana and Sierra Leone believe that resolution (2807) will contribute to this endeavour.