Statement by the German UN Youth Delegates Carina Lange and Alexander Kauschanski to the 54​ session of the Commission for Social Development at the United Nations th​
Honorable chair, distinguished delegates, dear fellow youth delegates, Have you ever played the lottery? Have you ever drawn a blank? Most of the people who play the lottery do not win. Being born into this world is very much like drawing a lot. It determines who you are and who you become. Let us play the lottery of life again. Draw a lot ­ bad luck! You are one of more than 60 million people in this world who are on the run. Hard blow: you lost your parents early on and had to flee from your home. You are all by yourself. War, terror and losses leave scars on your body and soul. It is difficult to settle down anywhere. People give you looks and raise their fences. As a stranger to this world, you live in constant fear of being attacked or deported. Draw another lot ­ congratulations! You are one of 62 people on this planet who own as much as half of the world’s population. Elsewhere people work all day and go to bed hungry, while your fortune continues to grow as you sleep. Draw a new lot ­ welcome, little girl! As a girl, you still cannot enjoy many of your rights. You are more likely to get denied education than your brother. You work more for lower wages. You are more vulnerable to experience sexual violence. Having the same skills, the same knowledge, and the same ambitions will not get you as far as you could get being a man. It is a fact: you live in a world favoring men. Let ut remind ourselves of the core principle of the United Nations: One voice for each country. No voice outweighs another. Let us translate this to us, the people. Speaking for the nations of the world, 193 states are responsible for more than 7 billion people. 7 billion lots. Let us listen to every voice. Let us include minorities and marginalized groups. We are not a sum of people. Each and every one of us is a part of social development. As the German Youth Delegates, we tour our country. Together, we visit people who drew the most different lots. We meet young people in classrooms, on the streets, in refugee camps, everywhere. The problems they face, the visions they have guide us in our actions. On our journey we ask them: what do you want to change in this world? The change we demand starts with simple recognitions: We are the largest generation of young people in human history. Today, we make up half of the world’s population. To achieve fairness, equality and dignity we need representation that corresponds to the size of our generation. Current generations are destroying our planet. It is our future we need to decide on. We demand the right to be heard, listened and involved in our communities, in our countries and in this very institution. Let us participate to create the world we want. Honorable chair, distinguished delegates, Social development is all about the opportunities you get, regardless dless of the lot you draw. The Agenda 2030 provides a roadmap for those opportunities. Throughout this commission, the SDGs and the Declaration of Human Rights have to be our moral compass. They have to be the tools with which work to achieve full equality in all regards. There has never been a better educated generation before us. Tuition costs, however, are exploding and nothing guarantees you to get a decent job. Youth unemployment has skyrocketed throughout the last years. We are the generation of unpaid interns. Even here at the United Nations, the pioneer of fair working conditions, the interns go unpaid. We all, regardless of privileges, need spaces to unfold our skills. We demand to stop exploitation. Change is more than words, it demands actions. Pay your interns! Many children and youth grow up on the run. Millions have nothing left to lose. Providing them perspectives is urgent to prevent grievance. We can’t afford a “lost generation”. If we let them down now, further radicalization, ​
violence and war will follow. Empowering humans on the run is a moral imperative. Our goals should be to solve conflicts, end war and build sustainable peace. And it cannot wait any longer. Any longer is already too late. The current distribution of wealth is not only outrageous, but it is quickly worsening. 1% of the world’s population owns as much as the other 99%. Economic inequalities and unemployment tear our global community apart. In fact: poverty drives grievance, radicalization and terror. Peace comes with equality and wealth. The Berlin wall was torn down before I was born. But in our contemporary world, many walls continue to separate and divide us. Building fences has never come with peace and integrity. We still need to tear down those walls. Equality, justice and human rights are not commodities to be bought with your nationality, status or money. They have to be for everyone. Achieving gender equality is the right step to empower half of our world’s population. Girls are the torchbearers of partnership, peace and prosperity. Women are strong leaders, so let them lead. Let us get return to the lottery of life. What is the worst place to enter this world? What world would you want to grow up in? Imagine yourself with another name, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion and another family. How would the world you create look like? How do you make it just and equal for everyone? This commission is crucial to decide on the world we want to live in. For now the wheel of fortune keeps spinning. The future of our world depends on whether fate will be a matter of chance or of opportunity. Involving youth is the key to achieving this goal. We need to abandon the labels placed on people and recognize their humanity. Social development is about taking the privilege out of opportunity. It is about empowering the powerless. The nature of games is divisive: we are either winners or losers. We need to close it down: that lottery of life. Let us use the Sustainable Development Goals to play a game for everybody to win. Thank you!