Ashraf AboArafe
Saudi Arabia participated with a delegation in the Youth Forum of the Economic and Social Council (YFESC) which was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 25 to 27 April. During the participation, the delegation emphasized the highly influential role of youth in achieving the goals of sustainable development.
This year’s edition of the Forum was held under the theme “Accelerating Recovery from COVID-19 and Full Implementation of the 2030 Agenda with and for Youth”, while the Forum provided a unique opportunity for the new generation to communicate directly with the Member States of the United Nations.
The Kingdom’s delegation was headed by an advisor at the Ministry of Economy and Planning, head of the Y20 Saudi Youth Communication Group, Othman Al-Muammar, and was joined by representatives of youth from the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation “Misk” and the Salam Project for Civilizational Communication.
During the participation, Al-Muammar stressed that the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the various challenges facing young people in areas such as education, employment and mental health, and this has caused an increase in the level of uncertainty, highlighting the importance of such meetings and gatherings in this forum as it can contribute to creating a brighter future. Prosperity for all countries, including the Kingdom, pointing out what the Kingdom affirmed during its presidency of the Group of Twenty that youth represent a great priority for it, and that it strongly supported the youth agenda by including policies that support youth such as the “Youth Road Map 2025”.
The forum’s agenda included a discussion of the paths to achieving sustainable development, as the progress made so far in many of the sustainable development goals, which cover areas such as access to water and energy, as well as the need to build more resilient societies, were reviewed.
