UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday that extremist groups are taking advantage of COVID-19 lockdowns to intensify social media efforts to spread hatred and recruit young people who are spending more time online.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, he said, one of every five young people was not getting an education, training or working, and one of every four was affected by violence or conflict. And he lamented that every year, 12 million girls become mothers when they are still children.
Guterres told a UN Security Council meeting on youth, peace and security that “these frustrations and, frankly, failures to address them by those in power today, fuel declining confidence in political establishments and institutions.”
“When such a cycle takes hold, it is all too easy for extremist groups to exploit the anger and despair, and the risk of radicalization climbs,” he said.
But despite these challenges, the UN chief said young people “are still finding ways to engage, support each other, and to demand and drive change” — including in the fight against Covid-19.
Guterres pointed to young people in Colombia, Ghana, Iraq and several other countries joining humanitarian workers in delivering supplies to front-line health workers and people in need, keeping communications open within communities while maintaining social distancing.
He said young people are also supporting his March 23 call for a cease-fire in all conflicts in the world.
Jayathma Wickramanayake, the secretary-general’s envoy on youth, criticized the media for focusing on “the small minority of young people who disregarded guildelines” and put people at risk by going to beaches, pubs and parties — and for “completely sidelining the thousands of young people who were already fighting in the front lines of the crisis.”
