At the United Nations this week, the pandemic-era rules of engagement for General Assembly week are strict. Entourage sizes are tightly regulated, and there are no exceptions for kings, presidents or other 鈥渆xcellencies.鈥� Yet somehow, in the middle of it all, the U.N. made room to fully embrace the diplomatic soft power of seven young Korean pop stars.
While the may croon that they don鈥檛 need 鈥淧ermission to Dance,鈥� the decision to allow the K-pop band to both give a serious speech to world leaders and film a sunny new music video at the U.N.鈥檚 distinctive headquarters was another of the many signs that the elders are ready 鈥� eager, even 鈥� to turn to young people for diplomacy and relevance.
In this era of kid icons and social media activism, the contrast was evident: globally cherished musical juggernaut fronted by the youthful 麻豆传媒AV Korean men in perfect makeup on one hand, and the famously bureaucratic 鈥� stodgy, even 鈥� 76-year-old diplomatic institution built in the aftermath of WWII on the other.
The paradox was captured by Trevor Noah, the millennial late-night talk show host: 鈥淥ld people were probably watching this, like, 鈥榃hat the hell is a BTS?鈥�" he said. "And young people were watching it, like, 鈥榃hat the hell is the U.N.?鈥�
In his General Assembly opening address on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres practically scolded world leaders for disappointing young people with a perceived inaction on climate change, inequalities and the lack of educational opportunities, among other issues.
鈥淪ome 60% of your future voters feel betrayed by their governments,鈥� Guterres told the gathering of world leaders. 鈥淲e must prove to children and young people that despite the seriousness of the situation, the world does have a plan and the governments are committed to implementing it.鈥�
Rather than initiating a sentiment, Guterres clearly was channeling one that already exists. Other world leaders from Slovakia to Maldives, Latvia to Costa Rica took a similar conciliatory tone toward the estimated 1.8 billion human beings aged 10 to 24 鈥� a cohort that the United Nations claims is the largest generation of young people in the history of the world.
鈥淎 new generation has grown up in the last 30 years,鈥� said Latvia President Egils Levits. 鈥淚n Latvia, like elsewhere, youth are deeply concerned about the climate crisis and about disinformation. They want to build inclusive societies where people of all generations, backgrounds and communities can feel included 鈥� not only formally, but in practice.鈥�
To this end, Guterres also announced the creation of a new U.N. Youth Office to 鈥渂ridge the generational divide鈥� in global affairs. While details are sparse on the actual functions and budget of this new office, it is designed to tackle issues distinctly tied to the activism of people between the ages of 15 and 29, including climate change and worldwide inequities.
鈥淚f we want to ask what kind of world do we want to have, 15 to 29 is kind of the age that鈥檚 doing it,鈥� said Connie Flanagan, a University of Wisconsin professor who studies youth activism. 鈥淭hose are the years when you鈥檙e taking stock of your life. And as a result, you鈥檙e taking stock of your world.鈥�
Flanagan said the United Nations must find a way to include young people in initiatives but not tokenize them, and in the process harness the strengths of late adolescents and early adults, who are generally less jaded about the pace of change and more collaborative and eager to make it happen.
鈥淲hatever the motivation may be, it鈥檚 good they want to remain relevant with young people,鈥� Flanagan said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always hard for people who have power to give up power.鈥�
The new office will be an expansion of the current U.N. youth envoy鈥檚 work, which has been slowly building up over the past decade just as a generation of young people have established their agency online 鈥� earning corporate deals as entrepreneurs, developing loyal fans as entertainers and spearheading social movements, often using just their words, charisma and smartphone.
The current appointed envoy, Jayathma Wickramanayake said young luminaries like Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg have brought mainstream visibility to young people's agenda, and social media has democratized the work of activism and what it means to influence public policy.
Yousafzai was a when she was shot in the head for advocating for girls鈥� access to education, and the has been an outspoken 鈥� and sometimes confrontational 鈥� force on climate change. Both were teenage girls when they, to much fanfare, addressed the United Nations in recent years.
By paving the way for other young people to take on weighty issues, Wickramanayake said, the two have also helped shatter preconceptions that young people lack experience to deal with world leaders and expertise on issues like education or the extremes of climate change.
鈥淗aving those icons with really global outreach and also the power to reach out to the world鈥檚 most powerful people have destroyed those stereotypes 鈥� about young people having leadership positions and being able to lead movements,鈥� said Wickramanayake, who at 30 years old is the youngest person in Guterres鈥� cabinet. She was first hired at 26, making her the youngest person ever to serve in the top ranks of the secretary-general's administration in the history of the United Nations.
The sensibility is spreading. In Denmark, a children鈥檚 nonprofit on Tuesday also convened 20 鈥渄elegates鈥� between the ages of 11 and 16 years old from across the globe to deliver a manifesto to the United Nations. They called themselves the 鈥淐hildren鈥檚 General Assembly鈥� 鈥� an initiative sponsored in part by the Lego toy company 鈥� and discussed a range of issues from children鈥檚 rights and bullying to refugees and development goals.
鈥淚f you really want to do something about (injustice), it has to start with you,鈥� said Mankgara Maime, a 16-year-old girl from Johannesburg, 麻豆传媒AV Africa, who participated in the Denmark presentation. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 feel sorry about them and not think about how to help.鈥�
There is already evidence that this week may prove to be a milestone for the U.N.'s engagement with young people.
Nearly a million people tuned into the U.N. YouTube channel livestream on Monday to watch BTS discuss young peoples鈥� resilience, COVID-19 vaccines and the earth鈥檚 well-being. To date, that BTS music video 鈥� which could easily be mistaken for a U.N. promotional reel 鈥� has 16 million views on the same channel. The U.N. institution itself has just 1.7 million regular subscribers.
鈥淚鈥檝e heard that people in their teens and 20s today are being referred to as COVID's lost generation, that they鈥檝e lost their way at a time when they need the most diverse opportunities,鈥� RM, the leader of BTS, said in their speech. 鈥淏ut I think it鈥檚 a stretch to say they鈥檙e lost just because the paths they tread can鈥檛 be seen by grown-up eyes.鈥�
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Follow Sally Ho on Twitter at http://twitter.com/_sallyho
Sally Ho, The Associated Press
