Youth take over at UN Alliance of Civilizations

Kicking off day one was the Youth Forum, where more than 150 youth delegations gathered at the 16th century military Forte de São Julião da Barra, spreading messages of peace, unity and multicultural understanding.

“As young people, you have to revolt and to spread your dreams,” said Miguel Ángel Moratinos, High Representative of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, at the opening session. “You’re now told that your future is gloomy, but you are a new generation. You are the bridge generation that wants to create a better world.”

As conflicts rage on in Gaza, Ukraine and beyond, Mr. Moratinos said that during these turbulent times of war and uncertainty, the challenges are great. His triple message to young people was to maintain their drive towards peace, saving the planet and addressing technological challenges, like the spread of mis- and disinformation online and artificial intelligence (AI).

Navigating between the virtual and reality

“You are the generation to navigate between the virtual and reality,” the High Representative said, encouraging them to take the lead.

Many of them already are. Throughout the day, young people exchanged stories about how they are fostering peace in their communities and building ever more bridges across generations.

For Lynda Nkechi Emmanuel, who works in northwestern Nigeria, violence and kidnapping are realities.

“I work in a conflict zone,” she said. “In this situation, you find out that the major causes of conflict is misinformation, the communication gap, disinformation, miscommunication and the fake news online.”

She said she loves working with local communities to help them tackle disinformation and find the truth. For her, coming to the UN Alliance’s gathering is a “fantastic opportunity” and a great platform given free to youth globally.

“It’s an avenue for their voice to be heard not just in their localities and not just in their communities,” she said.

‘You have to listen differently’

Echoing that message, Shreya Jani, a peace education consultant from India and a veteran of UNAOC programmes, said she first attended an Alliance workshop in 2006. While she laughingly added that she is “old” now, she continues to build peace, from Kabul to Manipur.

“You have to listen differently,” she said of her work in Jammu and Kashmir from 2012 to 2019, adding that so much diversity “gets crushed” because of the “us versus them” situation imposed on people.

“You have to suspend your view of what nationalism is,” she explained. “There is a government and a nation. You have to let the humanity come through.”

To do that, she launched a month-long photography workshop for young people so they could literally see through a different lens to understand various perspectives. For her, the Youth Forum is a place to meet others and share experiences.

“I think celebration is such a core part of the work for humanitarian aid that people do, and the world needs to celebrate and amplify those voices much more,” she said.

“I was feeling a bit jaded and in despair about the world and where it’s heading, so when I got this invitation, I jumped on it because I would get to hear about so many young people and their beautiful endeavours, and it would give me a little bit of energy to do my own work.”

International film festival

Once the Youth Forum wrapped up, delegates moved to the Estoril Conference Centre for the evening at the PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival. Second graders to young adults were among the directors of 32 films recognised at the festival, sponsored by the Alliance and the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Telling stories from around the world on the themes of migration, diversity and inclusion, these young filmmakers tackled topics from battling discrimination a to celebrating religious diversity.

One came from Dativa Mahanyu from the United Republic of Tanzania. She was recognised for her animated film, Fidi, which tells the story of a 16-year-old autistic boy who becomes a hero in the face of discrimination. Watch the full film here.

“The Youth Forum has opened my mind,” she said. “I have met so many people. It’s a wake up call for us to do more of what we do.”

Check out the whole PLURAL+ 2024 playlist here.

Watch the ceremony on UN Web TV here.