UNUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Press Release

[Index]      

Geneva, 29 August 2002

The participants of the First Regional Forum on Youth
are calling for action
(Geneva, 26-28 August 2002)

"The First Regional Forum on Youth is over after two and a half days of deliberations and debates and its participants left Geneva with high expectations and hopes that the outcome of the Forum will be a positive change in the situation of youth," said Mrs. Larissa Kapitsa, Director of the Coordinating Unit for Operational Activities of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

Among the 280 participants from 41 countries of the Forum were three State Secretaries (Hungary, Romania, and Tajikistan), five deputy State Secretaries/Ministers (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation, Slovenia and Ukraine), the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Family and Youth Affairs (Ukraine) and the President of National Union of Industrialists and Employers (Ukraine). Youth was represented by National Youth Councils, Unions of Young Entrepreneurs, National Unions of Youth, various youth societies, but also by young individuals, who came to the Forum to share their concerns and to seek advice. Other civil society organizations, including women's associations and religious organizations, were also participating in the Forum.

Representatives of the EU, Council of Europe, NATO, CIS, Friends World Committee (Quakers), World Economic Forum, International Federation Terre des Hommes (IFTDH), YCARE International, Youth Business International, Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, America's Development Foundation, W.A. de Vigier Foundation, COMMUNICARE, European Youth Forum, World Assembly of Youth etc., as well as other organizations of the UN system (UNESCO, UNCTAD and the World Bank) took part in the work of the Forum.

"The outcome of the Forum is very impressive" said Mrs Kapitsa. Each of the Forum Working Groups (on Youth Health and Security, on Youth Employability and Employment and on Youth Entrepreneurship) made specific recommendations in the areas of their expertise (see below), drawing upon the findings and lessons presented by the panellists. "These recommendations, in combination with those developed by the High Level Group of Experts at the initiative of the UN Secretary-General, could serve as building blocks in designing a regional plan of action requested by the Forum participants."

For further information, please contact:

Mrs. Larissa Kapitsa, Director,
Coordinating Unit for Operational Activities
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Palais des Nations, Office 436
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Phone: +41(0)22 917 42 21
Fax: +41(0)22 917 01 78
E-mail: [email protected]

Web site: http://www.unece.org/operact/meetings/youth/main.htm

********

Recommendations of the First Regional Forum on Youth

1. Request a joint Secretariat of the UN organizing agencies and the UNECE to draft a regional plan of action, which should be send to all the Ministries responsible for youth affairs and organizations, which participated in the Forum, for contribution and comments. In preparing the draft plan of action, the joint Secretariat is recommended to make sure that all the three components of the Forum content, security, opportunity and prosperity of youth, are taken into consideration and, therefore, its implementation will result in alleviation of the risk factors and the vulnerability of youth in the region.

2. The draft regional plan of action is recommended to be submitted for consideration, including possible means and way of its implementation, at a joint meeting of the Ministers of Youth and National Youth Councils to be held in the first quarter of the year 2003.

3. To hold the Second Regional Forum on Youth in 2004, ensuring that all the countries of the region are fully represented.

4. Recommend other UN Regional Commissions to organize similar regional Forums on Youth with the UNECE First Regional Forum as a model.

5. Invite ESCAP, ESCWA and ECA to consider the possibility of joining some of the UNECE sub-regional programmes on youth e-business to facilitate the development of youth e-commerce.

6. Invite the private sector to actively participate in national, sub- and regional youth programmes and projects on the partnership basis.

7. Request the joint Secretariat to address the Governments of the UNECE member States, calling upon them to support activities and initiatives, aiming to promote youth employment and youth entrepreneurship, and/or to develop specific national policies and policy instruments.

8. Call upon all the relevant UN agencies and bodies to continue their cooperation in promoting youth employment and youth entrepreneurship policies and programmes in the UNECE region.

9. Invite the donor community to consider the possibility of providing a sustainable support for youth employment and entrepreneurship projects and programmes, initiated in countries in transition, including those based on the partnership approach and joint youth ventures.

10. Request the joint Secretariat of the UN organizing agencies to identify a possibility of developing and funding sub-regional projects on ICT in Mainstreaming Youth in Economic Activities, including from the UN Development Account.

11. To set up a group of experts for screening project proposals presented by the participants of the Forum in order to form a portfolio of bankable projects to be presented to international financial institutions, bilateral development assistance agencies, corporate and other private foundations for funding.

12. Request the UNECE to organize a workshop in sub-regions on Best Practices in Generating Youth Employment and Self-employment Opportunities and on How to Increase the Survival Rate of SMEs Owned by Young Entrepreneurs, giving a special attention to youth in declining industrial areas and possibilities of utilizing its potential in their recovery.

13. Request the UNECE to initiate a systematic collection of data on youth entrepreneurship and to prepare a compendium of best practices in ensuring the sustainability of business set up by young entrepreneurs.

14. Request the UNECE to study the possibility of developing a PPP youth entrepreneurship programme for the South-East European sub-region or within the framework of SECI to be submitted for consideration/funding by the Stability Pact, the EU, EBRD and the World Bank.

15. Request the UNECE to study the feasibility of creating youth banks in the region, drawing upon the expertise available in the UN system, regional and international financial institutions.

 

Ref: ECE/OPA/02/14