NEW YORK, Feb 3 (KUNA) -- The fifth Economic and Social Council's (ECOSOC) Youth Forum, which emphasized on taking action to implement the 2030 Agenda, wrapped up its activities Tuesday evening.
With a Kuwaiti participation, the ECOSOC's Youth Forum adopted a main resolution, affirming that this gathering has come at a point in time, in which the world has to come together to turn its commitment, embodied in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), into tangible action.
The two-day Forum was the first high level discussion in the Council to plan how to implement the new SDGs and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the statement affirmed.
A key message that emerged from this years' forum was "the recognition that young people are not only key actors in advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, but they are also directly affected by the challenges the SDGs seek to tackle." One of these challenges is the prevailing employment crisis young people face all across the globe, the statement added.
During the discussions over the past two-days, the gathered youth along with the officials highlighted that the Youth around the world are not mere beneficiaries of the Sustainable Development Goals, but key drivers for the successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
The forum recommended the need to approach the issue of youth with a sense of urgency. "We should not only work for youth, but work with youth to promote sustainable development," it promised.
It also recommended the need of participatory and inclusive political processes for all the diverse voices of youth to be heard, in particular the marginalized young people.
As youth unemployment continues to be one of the most challenging issues of our time with around 40 percent of young people in the labour market either unemployed or working in poverty, the challenge is not only to create jobs, but to create decent jobs for young people.
Therefore, the forum affirmed that it is a must to enhance the quality of education and training to meet today's labour market needs. This requires strengthening partnerships involving the private sector and youth organizations, the statement added.
The need to invest in and promote youth entrepreneurship which is considered as a key driver for young people's economic empowerment as well as for achieving the SDGs, was also a key recommendation highlighted during the forum.
Furthermore, the forum stressed on the Increased participation of the youth in decision-making at all levels is key to conflict resolution, recognizing young people as peace-builders and beacons of hope to overcome war and violence.
This was Kuwait's first participation in the forum, where the representation was by Assistant Undersecretary of Youth Projects at the Ministry of State for Youth Affairs Shafeeq Sayyed Omar, Sara Abdelaziz Al-Fares and Ali Tareq Al-Oraifan. (end) mao.gta