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Role of Youth in SDGs

Role of Youth in SDGs
Role of Youth in SDGs

Youth from across the country including Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians will participate along with their parliamentary representatives in a conference 'Iranian Youth, World Peace', on Saturday (Aug. 15) to be held at the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, on the occasion of 'The International Day of Youth.'

Coordinated by the Office of the Deputy for Youth Affairs in cooperation with the United Nations, President Hassan Rouhani's adviser on Ethnic and Religious Minorities Affairs Ali Younesi, and the Center for Regional Studies for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage, the event "seeks to explicate the role of youth from different religions in promoting global peace," Mehr News Agency reported.

UN Resident Coordinator Gary Lewis will attend the event.

The International Day of Youth is observed annually on August 12. On the occasion, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, "As the world changes with unprecedented speed, young people are proving to be invaluable partners who can advance meaningful solutions."

As world leaders prepare to adopt a bold new vision for sustainable development at the September summit in New York, the engagement of youth is more valuable than ever, and "at this critical moment in history, I call on young people to demand and foster the dramatic progress so urgently needed in our world," Ban said, calling today’s youth the 'Sustainable Development Goals' (SDGs) generation.

Policy and programming have increasingly been focused on civic engagement of youth by governments, UN entities, regional and multilateral organizations, yet the opportunities for youth to engage politically, economically and socially are low or non-existent.

'Youth Civic Engagement' is the 2015 theme of the day and aims to promote civic engagement and participation of youth in politics and public life, so that they can be empowered and contribute to society, development and peace.  

Ban urged member states to include young people in the delegations for the summit to adopt the agenda on SDGs.

Financialtribune.com