Ministers of 91 countries to visit Baku

More than 91 governments’ ministers will attend first ever Global Forum on Youth Policies to be held in Baku in 28-30 October 2014, Azerbaijani Ministry of Youth and Sport reported.

Confirmation letters on the attendance of 92 dedicated ministers to the Global Forum, jointly organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, European Council, UNESCO and the Government of Azerbaijan have been received. Stressing the importance of the Forum, some countries’ ministers hope for a new development trend on youth policies and consider the event as a stimulus for relevant projects in the future.

Minister of Economic and Planning of Saudi Arabia, Prof. Saleh A. Alnassar noted that despite the existence of laws and policies on youth issue all over the world, no any appropritate action was taken even in developed countries. “The importance of this forum stems from the objectives and outcomes targeted to be achieved during the forum; the gathering of experts and youth from all around the globe under one roof will be a great experience to view and share ideas and opinions regarding the different approaches used in developing, implementing, and evaluating youth policies, and to reach a new understanding to evidence based, inclusive, participatory and effective youth policy.” – he says.

Another minister who shared his opinions about the upcoming Forum was a serbian minister of youth and sports, Mr. Vanja Udovicic. He mentioned positive achievements of Serbia in youth policy field that could serve to others as role model. “Serbia has made lot of positive achievements in youth policy field that could serve to others as role model and inspire others when reflecting on their own developments in the field of youth. The Republic of Serbia is dedicated in large extent to quality cooperation on regional, European and international level, since this cooperation represents the framework for exchange of knowledge, information and good-practice examples, organization of different activities for and among youth, enhancing mobility, activism and participation among youth, etc. Therefore, our role and contribution will reflect in sharing the updates on situation related to youth in Serbia and information about all national programs and projects from different fields - education, employment, health, security, etc. that can be considered as beneficial for overall youth position.” - Vanca Udovicic says.

4705 youth applicants from 174 countries showed their interest in participation and 200 of them have been selected to attend the Forum. Overall 200 governmental officials will be either in minister or deputy minister level. Moreover, 100 experts on youth policies will contribute to the work of the Forum. The official web-site of the Forum is www.youthpolicy.org