Kathmandu, February 1 Minister for Youth and Sports Rajendra Kumar KC participated in the ministerial round-table of the seventh Economic and Social Council Youth Forum ‘Means of Implementation and Financing Youth Development’ in New York yesterday. Responding to queries about the Government of Nepal’s approach to creating more off-farm jobs in the context of the large number of youths seeking jobs abroad, he said that the new federal governance system recently set up in Nepal had created conducive environment for creating more employment opportunities for youth in the country, said Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations in New York. While highlighting the government’s major policy initiatives to contribute to the economic growth and sustainable development, he also shed light on the positive contribution of Poverty Alleviation Fund, Youth and Small Entrepreneurs Self-employment Fund and Remote Area Employment Programme, among others. Minister KC also attended the opening session of 2018 Youth Forum organised under the theme ‘The role of youth in building sustainable and resilient urban and rural communities’ yesterday. In the interactive round-table that followed, various participants highlighted the contribution of young people to achieving Sustainable Development Goals. In addition to two ministerial round-tables, the Youth Forum this year included six breakout sessions on SDGs and six additional sessions on various regions. On the sidelines of the Youth Forum, KC held a meeting with the Minister of State for Youth and Sports of Bangladesh Biren Sikder. The two sides shared their governments’ views and initiatives in fully harnessing the potentials of youth for sustainable development. They also explored the possibility of youth exchange between the two countries. Minister KC had embarked on a visit to New York on January 29 leading a Nepali delegation comprising Mahesh Prasad Dahal, secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and representatives of National Youth Council.