10/08/1998

I stand today before you as the representative of a small country, Andorra, which has the particularity of having a large proportion of youth among its people. This situation is quite unique among our neighbors in Europe and it is due to the fact that our pyramid of ages is very different from the average European one. It is thus natural for Andorra to attach a lot of importance to all issues related to youth and to be among the participants to this first conference of ministers of youth.

In the months leading to this gathering in Lisbon, we have participated, as one of the two representatives of the Western European and Other States Group of the United Nations, in the bureau in charge of the preparation of the Conference. Our LIN Ambassador, the youngest ambassador accredited to the organization, has, for many years been at the forefront of the youth issue at the UN. He was a governmental representative at the last Youth Forum in Vienna, in December 1996. In March of the nprevious year, at the Social Summit in Copenhagen, Andorra authored one of the paragraphs of the Heads of State and Government declaration that introduced intergenerational dialogue as a key to social advancement. This formal reference in the Copenhagen text has been subsequently used by my country as a foundation to promote youth issues at the United Nations. For a few years in a row, Andorra has been and still is one of the largest contributors, in absolute terms, to the Youth Fund at the United Nations.

I have just mentioned a few examples of my country's enthusiasm and work in the field of youth issues at the international multilateral level in the last years. I do R not to brag about it, which is against every diplomatic instinct Andorra has accumulated in the past 7 centuries of independence and neutrality, but to highlight the fact that all nations, large and small, can add their voice and actions to the challenging task of helping youth acquire the necessary tools to build a better tomorrow.

This is the moment For the first time, we all assemble, at the invitation of the Portuguese Government and with the patronage of the United Nations, to discuss at a world level what we can do for youth and how youth can interact with us, as governments. Governments, at the multilateral level. have forcefully and so rightly come together before to protect children. The time is now ripe to extend this interest to the segment of the population which is evolves towards adulthood, there peoples of ages 15 till 24 and beyond, that enter t ' he world as decision makers, as workers, as students, as full-fledged members of communities and which are readying themselves as adults to inherit the deposit of humanity from older generations, with the mission to transmit it, improved, to the ones coming after them.

I wish to commend, at this point, the United Nations. Mr. Angel and his team, among scores of others, have managed to raise the issue of youth to a noticeable level when only a few years ago, it was still so difficult to even try to define this stage of human development. More needs to be done, though, at the UN level. In the first place, Governments must do an effort to fund programs that relate directly to youth at the UN: the youth fund must not remain the forgotten fund in the development area at the organization. Secondly, a place must be found for young people at the UN secretariat, in the same way women have been actively incorporated into UN staff. Less than five percent of the people working for the UN secretariat are now under the age of 35. Let us not be afraid, without endangering the contributions of experienced staff, to open the doors too often closed to young talent that will help drive the UN into the next century. When we talk about LIN reform, we must remember that it shall never come about without young people ready to implement ft. Andorra commits itself to follow up this issue at the headquarters of the organization in the next months.

On a national perspective, my country would like to contdbute two observations to the conference. First of all, I would like to point out to the importance of activities at the local level. Andorra has 7 different regions or parishes, and we have come to believe that youth programs that happen at the local level are able to co-opt more easily the full collaboration of young people. Local authorities play a big role in Andorra in the formulation of youth policies and my government believes this is good. The young person, be it a student or one that is already working, finds its natural partners in the net of its small surrounding community where local authorities have more intervention. The central government helps in the funding and other practical matters of this local action.

The preceding observation about the benefits of decentralization in youth policies leads me to comment on another form of decentralization that exists at the national level, and which I believe is also beneficial. While I hold the title and I assume the coordination of policies destined to youth as Minister of youth, actions affecting young people taken by the Government flow from a varied number of different departments, such as health, education, sports, culture, etc... . It is by sensitizing these various ministries to the possibilities and challenges affecting youth in their respective areas that we, as ministers of youth, play an important role. We cannot do everything by ourselves, but we can be the standard-bearers of the interests and necessities of youth before our ministerial colleagues.

It would be long and repetitive to give to you an account here of all youth policies implemented by Andorra in the fields I mentioned before. I would nevertheless wish to make a note of the fact that my country, recognizing the value of an open society, is investing a lot in promoting the contact of our youth with their counterparts in different countries and cultures. To cite but one example, I will mention our recent agreements with governments and academic institutions in North Amehca which shall provide a means for an organized first venture of our young people outside the European continent.

Andorra, ladies and gentlemen, has no more valuable resources than its human capital, and its youth as a prominent component of ft. It is them we wish to empower. It is our youth that we,Governments of the World, here assembled, must empower. Or may be it is them who must empower us, if we listen closely to what they have to say. In the end, do govemments and older generations, in our proclaimed wisdom, do we give a good example to our youth, with our wars, our hatreds, and our irrational disputes? Let us not silence the voices of youth and let us listen to those young people who speak of peace and good-will. They will build our future.

Thank you Mr. President.