Japan: UNODC, Ministry of Justice convene youth from 50 countries at the 2nd Global Youth Forum for a Culture of Lawfulness in Kyoto

Kyoto, Japan/4 December 2022: Building on the success of the Kyoto Youth Forum, organized prior to the UN Crime Congress, and on the success of the first edition of the Global Youth Forum for a Culture of Lawfulness (CoL-YF) in 2021, the Ministry of Justice of Japan, in cooperation with UNODC, organized the second edition of the Global Youth Forum under the overarching theme of “The role of youth in achieving a diverse and inclusive society”.

Against the backdrop of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the forum was aimed at engaging talented and committed young people in global policy dialogues on the topics of crime prevention, criminal justice, and the rule of law more broadly. The overall theme of the 2nd CoL-YF was “The Role of Youth in Achieving a Diverse and Inclusive Society”, featuring two dedicated discussions focusing on “Building a society free from online defamation and cyberbullying” and “Youth involvement in and disengagements from organized crime: the role of youth in preventing organized crime.”

The Forum was conducted in a hybrid format (in-person participation in Japan and online participation), on 3 and 4 December at the Kyoto International Conference Centre, with a total of around 100 youth participants from nearly 50 countries.

UNODC South Asia’s Communications Officer Mr. Samarth Pathak, UNODC Associate Programme Officer (GRACE Initiative) Mr. Leonardo Paradiso and Consultant Ms. Sharifah Norizah curated, moderated and steered the discussions.

Participants held comprehensive discussions based on a general peer-to-peer learning approach, and finalized a set of actionable recommendations on the thematic tracks.

After being adopted during the closing ceremony, the Youth Recommendations were presented and handed over to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) on 5 December 2022.

This activity contributed to SDG 4, SDG 5 and SDG 16: https://sdg-tracker.org/

(Supported by the Ministry of Justice, Government of Japan)