PRESS CONFERENCE ON WORLD YOUTH MEETINGS

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE ON WORLD YOUTH MEETINGS

At a Headquarters press conference this morning, the Portuguese Secretary of State for Youth, Miguel Fontes, and the Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, John Langmore, briefed correspondents on the forthcoming World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth. The Conference will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, from 8 to 12 August. It will be the first global meeting on youth at the ministerial level to be held since the founding of the United Nations in 1945.

Touching on the background to the preparations for the Lisbon Conference, Mr. Fontes said that consultations were under way in New York to discuss a draft Declaration on Youth, to be adopted at the Conference. The purpose of the Conference was to promote the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond, which had been adopted by the General Assembly in 1995. The Conference would address not only issues directly associated with youth, but also issues such as employment and peace, that were related to young people.

Mr. Langmore said that the Conference was the first to have been organized since the end of the cold war, and that many of the issues that had previously been too politicized could now be discussed. Many of the main issues concerning youth affairs were on the agenda. It was also the first such conference to have been organized by a country in conjunction with the United Nations. That was a new formula for saving money: the costs were being borne entirely by the Government of Portugal. That did add to the complexity of organizing such a conference, but the Portuguese Government was doing an outstandingly good job.

He also said that in the week before the World Conference of Minsters Responsible for Youth, there would be a World Youth Forum, organized by the United Nations and by the Portuguese Youth Council. It would be held in the town of Braga in Portugal, and would be attended by 400 to 500 young people, representatives of organizations around the world. They had a similar agenda, and their conclusions would be presented to the ministerial Conference.

A correspondent said that despite the end of the cold war, there was still residual opposition to what the Conference was trying to do, notably from the United States. What was their rationale? he asked. Mr. Langmore replied that he did not think there was such opposition. His impression was that the United States was supportive of the Conference. There was, of course, a skeptical view about funding; the form the Conference was taking was in response to that funding tightness. But the United States Administration seemed very supportive of the Conference, and would even be sending a deputy secretary to lead the United States delegation.

Youth Meetings Press Conference - 2 - 26 June 1998

"Are you saying there is no opposition to the concept"? the correspondent continued. "I know of none", replied Mr. Langmore.

Another correspondent asked why the youth meeting was going to be held a week ahead of the ministers' meeting. Mr. Fontes replied that the two meetings would be completely different in terms of representation: the World Youth Forum in Braga would be attended by representatives of non-governmental organizations; The World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth would be a political meeting, which would also take into consideration the ideas of the first meeting.

Mr. Langmore emphasized that the World Youth Forum in Braga would be attended by representatives of youth organizations, and the ministers' Conference would be attended by representatives of governments. They would be two different kinds of meetings.

Logistically, would it be difficult for the youth representatives of the non-governmental organizations to meet with the ministers, if the meetings were being held a week apart and in different cities? the correspondent asked. Mr. Langmore said that would not be a problem. The meetings would be held back to back -- the Braga meeting ending on 6 August and the Conference in Lisbon starting on 8 August. That would give the youth participants time to get to Lisbon.

Would the two meetings work in parallel with each other, or would they work separately? a correspondent asked. They would work very much in parallel, Mr. Langmore replied. The agendas of the meetings were very much the same. The young people at the first meeting in Braga would discuss issues such as employment, education and health, among others. The ministers would then meet to discuss the same issues from a governmental perspective. There would be official input from the first meeting to the governmental meeting.

A correspondent said he found it hard to believe that all 185 Member States of the United Nations were willing to accept the provisions of the Conference, without knowing what they would be. Mr. Langmore responded that it was not possible to say what the attitudes of governments would be to a Declaration that had not yet been completed. There were certainly issues that were being debated in the discussion of the draft Declaration. That was the normal process in refining drafts.

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