SECRETARY-GENERAL TO ADDRESS TWO INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS ON YOUTH

31 July 1998

Press Release
SOC/4459

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO ADDRESS TWO INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS ON YOUTH

19980731 Portugal to Host World Youth Forum and World Youth Ministers Conference

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will speak at two conferences dealing with youth being convened in Portugal in August -- the third session of the World Youth Forum of the United Nations System and the first World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth. On 7 August, the Secretary-General will address the closing session of the World Youth Forum, which will take place in Braga from 2 to 7 August. The following day, he will open the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, along with President Jorge Sampaio of Portugal, being convened in Lisbon from 8 to 12 August. Under the theme "Youth Participation for Human Development", the World Youth Forum will bring together representatives from non-governmental youth organizations, youth-related agencies of the United Nations system and intergovernmental organizations, to discuss enhanced cooperation. About 500 young people from youth and student movements will participate in the meeting which will focus on youth policies, youth participation and youth rights. The third session of the Forum is being convened by the United Nations in partnership with the Portuguese National Youth Council. A delegation will present the Forum's recommendations to the Ministers Conference in Lisbon. The World Conference of Ministers will be the first global meeting on youth at the ministerial level held since the founding of the United Nations in 1945. It will decide on further ways of implementing the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond, adopted by the General Assembly in 1995. Discussions will focus on national youth policies; the relevance of the three themes of International Youth Year -- Participation, Development and Peace; and social development and major priority issues for action, including employment, health and drug abuse. Over 100 government leaders are expected to attend the meeting which is expected to adopt a historic declaration on youth. The Conference is being convened by the Government of Portugal in cooperation with the United Nations. The two meetings being hosted by the Government of Portugal are a follow-up to the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth, which focuses, in particular, on measures to strengthen national capacities regarding youth, and to increase the quality and quantity of opportunities available to young people. * *** *