Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) Secretary General Dr Rizwan Naseer said that the young people contribute to the 80 million of the total population of the country.
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This year’s worldwide Youth Day theme is “Youth Civic Engagement“.
He said, “At this critical moment in history, I call on young people to demand and foster the dramatic progress so urgently needed in our world”.
Volunteerism is an ideal way to improve society – and it is open to virtually everyone. Youth can also join forces with the United Nations as we move from forging the new sustainable development goals to implementing them.
“In our effort to ensure active youth civic engagement in the Commonwealth, the themes for the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Forum to be held in Malta are centred around civic engagement of the young people, and these bordered around Participation of young people in Economic, Social, political and environmental sustainability in their societies”.
“The goals aim to tackle systematic problems that young people understand so well – like inequality, wasteful consumerism and the lack of decent jobs”, he said, stressing that the youth face many challenges, including poverty, conflicts and unemployment. The final works will be exhibited at the final Youth Day celebration on 12 August at the Sudan National Museum.
The global Youth Day was first observed in 1999.
In a recent interview with the UN News Service, Alhendawi said the message of this year’s Youth Day is one of hope.
Earlier this month, negotiators from 193 UN member states agreed on a draft blueprint for sustainable development over the next 15 years which will be adopted at a United Nations Summit in late September at UN Headquarters in New York. In order to achieve this objective the PRC is in a process of developing a volunteer corps within each community which shall be trained to take up a leadership role as agents of change in their communities, and therefore, inspire a positive transformation of mindsets, attitudes and behaviours in favour of promoting social inclusion, safe living and culture of non-violence and peace, he added.
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Indeed, with the current cohort of young people the largest the world has ever seen, “the smart thing to do”, he continued, “is to engage them as partners in development and in implementation”. This offers an unprecedented opportunity to dramatically transform the lives of young people and fulfill their human rights. “We have a very exciting time ahead and we need everybody to come on board”, he declared.
