Young people at core of post-2015 agenda — activists

AMMAN — Young people play a crucial role in the shaping and implementation of the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda, experts and activists said Thursday.

“The Post-2015 Development Agenda seeks to bring about a better future and more opportunities,” Costanza Farina, UNESCO Representative and Chair of the Post-2015 UN Focus Group, said at the opening of the seventh Youth Tech Festival, held under the theme “Gender and Post-2015 Development Agenda”.

“The engagement of the youth is crucial for the implementation of the agenda and ensuring its objectives are realised,” Farina added.

Young people represent the main pillars of the agenda and their involvement is essential for its success, she said at the event, which attracted dozens of young people, activists, officials and NGO representatives.

Farina added that more than 50,000 young Jordanians took part in a global survey on what their priorities were, with job creation and better education topping the list, which she said will be taken into account in the agenda.

Lubna Duwany, president of Sisterhood Is Global Institute/Jordan that held the event along with other stakeholders and partners, said the three-day event provides an important platform to introduce young Jordanians to the objectives of the development agenda and their role in this respect.

“The meeting seeks to raise awareness among young people on how they can contribute to the implementation of the agenda and to improving their societies,” she said in an address at the event.

For her part, Asma Khader, coordinator of the Post-2015 Development Agenda Coalition, said NGOs and youth groups were actively participating in the consultations in Jordan for setting priorities.

She expressed hope that the upcoming development agenda will bear a better future for young generations and communities whose opinions and viewpoints were taken into account when setting priorities.

“This is not only the role of the government. The implementation of these priorities is also the role of everyone and all NGOs,” Khader said.

UN member states are currently negotiating the details of the Post-2015 Development Agenda that will likely present a set of 17 goals in New York, according to the UN.