Kathmandu, August 11

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation has called on all its member states and partners to support the initiatives of youths, to give them voice, to let them grow, to shape together the future of dignity that we are building today.

In a message from Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO on the occasion of the International Youth Day tomorrow, she said most young people live today in the least developed countries and shoulder the heaviest burden of conflicts and poverty.

“There can be no sustainable development if they remain on the sidelines. Therefore, I call on all member states and UNESCO partners to support their initiatives,” she added.She said young people were not only our future, they are our present and our planet has never been so young with 1.8 billion young women and men.

“They are the most connected, the most outspoken and the most open-minded generation the world has ever seen,” she said, adding, “They are powerful agents of positive change, essential to taking forward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

She further said, “It is not enough to hope for a better tomorrow, we must act now.”

The global theme for International Youth Day this year is ‘The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Production and Consumption.’