Youth Organisations Calling for More Active Role in the UN

Following a recent gathering of 26 Youth Organisations, the ICMYO (International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organisations) is calling on governments gathering for the UN World Summit next month to fulfill their commmitment towards the youth of today.

After meeting in Mollina, Spain, to reaffirm their commitment to the UN's World Programme of Action for Youth and Millenium Development Goals, the ICMYO have released a statement highlighting the potential of Youth to solve a large number of global problems such as high poverty and unemployment rates, AIDS and armed conflicts.

In particular, the gathering of Youth NGO's, which included the World Alliance of YMCA's highlighted the contribution of non-formal education to promoting more 'active citizenship' in young people.

By promoting positive qualities such as leadership, inter-personal relations and vocational skills, in which the youth organisations have 'grassroot expertise' a more sustainable solution could be found to many of these problems.

In followup, the ICMYO's statement called on the UN General Assembly, meeting next month to promote an integrated youth policy across the UN System in which both the Un Agency and Youth Organisations could fully participate in the World Programme of Action for Youth.

The UN World Summit is set to take place on the 14th-16th of September in New York and will include a review of the World Programme of Action for Youth.