Felipe Boller…the youngest senior official in the history of the United Nations to lead the global youth empowerment agenda

From the classroom to the corridors of the United Nations, Felipe Boller emphasizes that the voice of youth is not marginal, but rather an essential element in confronting the challenges of the times, from armed conflicts to the mental health crisis in the age of social media. More on this Article written by Mr. Felipe Boller:

“When I studied history in high school, I learned about the origins of the United Nations, and it was always the organization I felt connected to in terms of the values ​​it promoted. However, I never imagined I would have a direct role in the organization.

During my time with the government in Uruguay, I had a lot of engagement with the UN system in the country, including agencies such as UNFPA, UNICEF, and UNDP. We had quite a number of joint initiatives, including a national project on issues related to the mental health and wellbeing of adolescents and young people. Through this collaboration, I began to understand how the United Nations works.

I was still studying for my master’s degree in management at the University of Florida when I was nominated to lead the first UN Youth Office. My goal was to help the organization maintain the best possible connection with young people, not only by listening to them, but also by engaging them in cooperation and participation. Eight months later, I received a call from Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, telling me that I had been selected for this role and that I would start work in 15 days!

The first year I focused on understanding the challenges, building the team, identifying how to add value to the work of youth organizations and countries, and positioning the office as a space to raise awareness of various issues. I believe that the purpose of the Office of Youth Affairs is to collaborate, disseminate information and raise awareness of the interests and concerns of all young people around the world.

Three agendas of the United Nations Youth Office

Talking about the youth agenda means understanding and supporting a broad movement that we approach from three main dimensions.

The first item revolves around participation. There is an urgent need to consider new generations in decision-making circles. We engage with various efforts to link civil society to the United Nations, creating innovative scenarios in which young people feel represented, part of centers of power, and that their concerns are taken into account and addressed.

The second item is the peace and security agenda. In the current global situation, with the largest number of active conflicts since World War II, we have seen young people taking the lead in promoting the peace agenda and demanding an end to wars.

The third priority is the issue of mental health and well-being. Millions of young people around the world face a silent crisis that affects all aspects of their lives: despair about the future; a digital culture characterized by hate speech; lack of opportunities in education, employment and housing; climate crisis; The absence of spaces for care and communication. All of this generates anxiety, depression, and, in more serious cases, loss of purpose and suicide.

Therefore, we are promoting a global youth mental health and well-being initiative, which in just a few months has brought together more than 600 youth organizations in more than 80 countries, impacting more than 13 million people (81% of whom are young people).

This initiative combines youth empowerment and communication with international mental health networks and international organizations working in this field, such as World Health Organizations, UNICEF and UNESCO. At the same time, this initiative strengthens political advocacy efforts so that more countries recognize youth mental health as a priority and develop policies that respond to this urgent need.

The young participants spoke about their personal experiences, the challenges they faced, and their motivations as change makers, entrepreneurs, and advocates.

Mental health in the age of social media

The focus is on how we interact with technology in a rapidly changing world. What can we do in a world where we are more connected than ever, but at the same time more isolated? This is the paradox we live in this era. Social media is a huge challenge because it ultimately creates bubbles in which people only communicate with like-minded people.

The algorithms of these networks often lead to more polarized discourse, and they also allow individuals to exploit anonymity to spread aggressive messages. Hence the need for more meeting spaces to encourage dialogue between people, because in these digital spaces, dialogue does not exist; There are just situations, and people do not listen to each other, but confront each other.

When we search for answers, we will certainly find them by turning to the United Nations Charter, which defines the essence of the organization: dialogue, celebration of diversity, and international cooperation. Young people are already doing their part. “It is small individual changes, when combined, that ultimately move global agendas.”