Youth4Disarmament Organizes ECOSOC Youth Forum Side Event: “The Security We Need- Rebalancing Military Spending for a Sustainable and Peaceful Future”

On 15 April, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs’ (UNODA) flagship youth outreach programme, Youth4Disarmament (Y4D), organized a hybrid side event “The Security We Need – Rebalancing Military Spending for a Sustainable and Peaceful Future" in collaboration with the Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations on the margins of ECOSOC Youth Forum. With global military expenditure reaching $2.7 trillion in 2024 and progress on the Sustainable Development Goals lagging behind, the event compelled to ask the question: are these investments delivering the security our people need?

The side event that brought together more than 80 youth participants both in-person and online kicked off with opening remarks from H.E. Ambassador Mohamed Edrees, Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations, and Mr. Ivor Fung, Chief, Conventional Arms Branch at UNODA. 

This was followed by a presentation on the UN Secretary-General’s report “The Security We Need - Rebalancing Military Spending for a Sustainable and Peaceful Future.”

Participants also had the opportunity to hear from the side event panelists, including Deputy Permanent Representative H.E. Marthinus Van Schalkwyk of South Africa, Research & Partnerships Specialist Ms. Josefin Pasanen of UNDP, Dr. Nan Tian of SIPRI, and Ms. Roberta Bojang, Y4D Alumna. Each speaker discussed the military expenditure report within the context of their organizations, highlighting the far-reaching implications of rising military expenditure and encouraging the youth to stay actively engaged and informed on the topic, for example by taking the UNODA online course Excessive Military Expenditure and its Impact on Sustainable Development.