On 19 August 2022, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted The Baltic Youth Forum: Strengthening Whole of Society Resilience, organised by the United Nations’ Latvian Youth Delegate Programme in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Mission of Latvia to the UN in New York, and the UN Youth Delegate Programmes of Estonia and Lithuania.
As the Adviser to the Foreign Minister on strategic communication, democracy and public diplomacy, Gunda Reire, opened the conference, she pointed out that “one of the elements of peace building is the strengthening of resilience at all levels of society. Fighting the spread of disinformation and misinformation is of key importance, since they interfere with people’s ability to take informed decisions and can pose threat to democratic processes”.
At the opening session, the participants were addressed by Latvia’s Youth Delegate to the UN, Anete Biķe, who welcomed the first international conference arranged by the UN Youth Delegate Programme with participation of young people from Estonia, Lithuania and Ukraine, and she encouraged youth to be active and bring their contribution at the international level.
The Ambassador of Ukraine to Latvia, Olexandr Mischenko, thanked Latvia for the huge public support offered in the context of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and he called on youth to actively engage so as to prevent such an aggression against a sovereign country occurring anywhere in the world. The building of peace and security and maintaining them worldwide lies in the hands and capabilities of youth, Ambassador Mischenko underlined.
The objective of the Baltic Youth Forum is to educate young people aged 16 to 25 about promoting resilience at the individual, national and international level. Overall societal resilience to global challenges has assumed a crucial role following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Standing up against the aggression and its consequences, Latvia has been supporting Ukraine militarily, providing it with humanitarian aid, and calling for the aggressor to be brought to justice.
The United Nations Youth Delegate Programme aimed at raising awareness among Latvian youth about current processes in the United Nations’ work and ensuring meaningful engagement was launched in 2019.