10/08/1998

May I begin by extending to you on behalf of my delegation and on my own, warmest congratulations on your unanimous election to the presidency of the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth. My delegation is confident and I firmly believe that with your wide experience and skills and personal attributes, you will be able to guide the conference successfully to a fruitful conclusion.

My delegation would also like to express our deep and sincere appreciation to the government of the Republic of Portugal for hosting this historic gathering in this beautiful city of Lisbon, and also for the warm hospitality extended to us all. It is a great privilege and honour for me to home this opportunity to address this first world conference of ministers responsible for youth.

Mr.President,

The govenment of the Union of Myanmar is striving to achieve the goal for the country to become a modem developed nation.. Towards that end, and with determination and sustained efforts, we have been implementing four objectives for political, four objectives for economic and four objectives for social fields. These objectives were of course laid down according to the historical, geographical, social and cultural context of our country.

As regards to the development of national youth policies, the following four social objectives act as the guiding principles:

- Uplift of the morale and morality of the entire nation

- Uplift of national prestige and integrity and preservation and safe guarding of cultural heritage and national character

- Uplift of dynamism of patriotic spirit

- Uplift of health, fitness and education standards of the entire nation While marching towards the emergence of a new modem and developed nation, we are also implementing the human resources development programmes. In trying to develop the potential of the population at large, special the emphasis is given to development of the youth. We firmly believe that the youth of the nation is the productive force of the nation for the present as well as for the furture - a belief, which I am positive, is shared by all the participants of this august body.

Mr.President,

The Union of Myanmar places high priority on youth affairs. The 1947 and 1974 constitution, stipulates that "the state cultivates to develop the physical, mental and morality of youth"and that "the state must uplift the patriotic spirit among youth," for having correct perception and all round development of the youth." The national objectives were laid down with a view towards national development and which in turn will be beneficial for the young people of our country. Also, the development of youth in health and education fields are provided for in our national objectives with a view of preserving patriotism and national culture among the entire youth population.

Moreover, we sincerely believe that initiatives for the development of youth not only serve for the betterment of our country, but also to prepare the ground for them to shoulder their responsibilities in the future. Arrangements are also being made to increase job opportunities for them and we are also trying our best for our young people to achicve team-work spirit.

While the development of the potential of youth resources have been carried out by the government and the people's participation on one hand, the imminent problems of drug addiction, juvenile delinquency and HIV/AIDS, which hamper the momentum of youth programmes are also being addressed by the state with prevention, control and eradicatio programmes on the other hand.

Mr. President,

As a member of the United Nations, we are cooperating closely with that world body and we are participating in all the United Nations activities. By so doing, we sincerely believe that we are serving the youth development and also the common interest of mankind.

The United Nations has defined the age of youth to be from 15 to 24 years of age and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has specifically stated the age of the child to be under 18 years of age. Here, I would like to state that the Union of Myanmar has ratified the CRC in 1991 and we have since then, commenced implementing the provisions, programmes and plans of actions in our country. This clearly bears witness to our efforts and endeavours to promote and ensure the development of the youth in Myanmar.

Moreover, a delegation of the Union of Myanmar attended the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women which was convened in Beijing in 1995. We have signed the Beijing Declaration and are now implementing the agenda. Subsequently, activities related to the development of women are now carried out in our country with mounting momentum under the umbrella of a national level committee for Women.

In line with the national interests, and with the collaboration of the United Nations and its affiliated agencies, we are working actively to reach our goals in the child welfare, youth development and women affairs sectors.

Furthermore, the menace posed by narcotic and psychotropic drugs has reached catastrophic proportions and has spread to all nations and permeates every strata of the human society. It has indeed become an alarming threat to our youth worldwide.

Our government has been fighting this war against illicit drugs by using our own national resources and also with the collaboration and cooperation of the UNDCP as well as with the neighbouring countries within our region. Accordingly, since 1989, destruction of seized narcotic drugs have been carried out 11 times in Yangon, our capital city, and an area in Eastern Shan State in Myanmar, has been declared as a "Drug-free Zone". We believe that these efforts and achievements will contribute positively towards the development of

Myanmar youths and bear enormous impact on the youth of our planet earth

Mr. President,

We have submitted to this conference, a report on our national-level implementations of youth organization and activities. So also, an overview of the main activities carried out in the Union of Myanmar have been presented to you.]. am also happy to have the opportunity to inform you of our efforts in waging the war against narcotic drugs which endangers the world youth community. In conclusion, I wish to state that the Union of Myanmar stands ready to cooperate and participate in the Final Declaration to be eventually adopted by this august body.

Thank you, Mr.President