DISCOVER
YouthLED

The critical role of youth in driving positive change in society is being increasingly recognized around the world. In many contexts, young people constitute the majority of the public yet are routinely excluded from important decision-making processes. The meaningful inclusion of young people is key to advancing fair, just and inclusive societies. Increasing young people’s influence within decision-making processes raises the likelihood that laws and policies respond to the concerns of youth, their visions of the future and/ or their needs.

Why YouthLED?

The first-ever United Nations Youth Strategy, ‘Youth 2030’, which was launched in September 2018, marks a shift away from merely working for young people towards an approach that involves them, amplifying their voices and engaging them as partners and leaders.

The political declaration, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly special session against corruption in June 2021, places anti-corruption education and training at the core of a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to promote transparency, accountability, integrity and a culture of rejection of corruption as a basis for preventing and countering corruption. It recognizes the role young people play as agents of change in creating an atmosphere of non-tolerance towards corruption at all levels of society. The declaration mandates the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to increase public awareness of and knowledge on preventing and countering corruption.

Furthermore, in its resolution 9/8, the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (CoSP) recognized the importance of engaging young people to fight corruption globally and encouraged all States parties to support UNODC’s efforts in promoting a strengthened role of young people in anti-corruption efforts.

How do we do this?

UNODC launched the Global Resource for Anti-Corruption Education and Youth Empowerment (GRACE) to foster and promote the role of education and youth empowerment in preventing and countering corruption and ultimately nurturing a global culture of rejection of corruption.

The “YouthLED” Advisory Board will play a key support role for UNODC in ensuring that youth are respected as contributors, partners, leaders, innovators and knowledge-holders and that youth perspectives and ideas are safeguarded and upheld in all UNODC’s anti-corruption work.

The Board represents a programmatic follow-up to the UNGASS Youth Forum recommendations by establishing a permanent anti-corruption youth voice to discuss and contribute to UNODC’s work in mainstreaming youth perspectives to find efficient and sustainable solutions to global corruption problems. The establishment of the Board is testament to UNODC’s commitment to finding sustainable and forward-looking anti-corruption solutions, which are built on the engagement of the young generations as inseparable parts of the solution.

By establishing the Board, the GRACE initiative follows up on the
suggestions received by youth
in the margins of the UNGASS Youth Forum for UNODC to:

Move beyond barriers to
youth engagement in anti-corruption

Tackling barriers to youth participation and enhancing inclusion and diversity

Addressing the relationship between youth development (understanding the cultural, social, and political impediments for youth) and youth engagement in activism

Develop tools for
effective youth action against corruption

Bridging the gap between awareness-raising and impactful youth-led anti-corruption strategies at community level

Engage youth with academics for a comprehensive and well-rounded discussion on education

What exactly is the role of YouthLED?

The Board advises UNODC on strategies to engage young people in effective and meaningful anti-corruption efforts. Under this light, the Board seeks to increase youth involvement in UNODC anti-corruption initiatives as well as regional project and activities organized in partnership with a wide array of stakeholders.

The Board also advocates and seeks to strengthen youth participation and youth-led initiatives in UNODC networks through a wide array of engagements to raise awareness and promote the role of youth in anti-corruption.

The two main functions of the Board are:

Advisory role: Board members will (a) provide strategic advice to the GRACE programme team on its workplan and envisaged activities for each quarter, with a view to ensuring youth perspectives are taken into account and are represented in the programme activities; (b) advise UNODC on the development and dissemination of good practices to promote the engagement of youth in anti-corruption matters; (c) make recommendations to UNODC to guide the development of anti-corruption strategies, policies and programmes.

Implementation role: Board members will utilize their acquired knowledge with the support offered by UNODC in order to (a) design and implement Regional Anti-Corruption Micro-Projects; (b) provide feedback for programme implementation; (c) support the planning, organizing, and hosting of youth workshops during the CoSP; (d) support UNODC with the design and implementation of youth platforms by reviewing and discussing topics of interest and providing input into conference sessions and activities.

United Nations

Global Resource for Anti-Corruption Education and Youth Empowerment

DISCOVER YouthLED

Why YouthLED?

How do we do this?

By establishing the Board, the GRACE initiative follows up on the suggestions received by youth in the margins of the UNGASS Youth Forum for UNODC to:

Move beyond barriers to youth engagement in anti-corruption

Develop tools for effective youth action against corruption