UNITED NATIONS, CITY OF NEW YORK TO MARK INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY, 12 AUGUST

Note to Correspondents

UNITED NATIONS, CITY OF NEW YORK TO MARK INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY, 12 AUGUST

International Youth Day, 12 August, will be marked in New York City by a strategic partnership between the United Nations, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development and Con Edison.

At an event to begin at 11 a.m. in the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium, New York City Youth Commissioner Jeanne Mullgrav, on behalf of Mayor Bloomberg, will declare 12 August Youth Day in New York City.

The Mayor’s proclamation will be followed by remarks from Joop Theunissen, Focal Point on Youth, United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs.  Commissioner Mullgrav will then announce the winner of the citywide Youth Day logo contest and award the prize.  Teens in Motion, a youth non-profit organization originating from the South Bronx, will offer a dance and step performance.

National Basketball Association (NBA) star Craig “Speedy” Claxton will wish the athletes of the world “Good Luck” in the Athens Olympics, which begin the following day.  Four New York City youth basketball teams will then compete in a Youth Day Invitational Tournament in the adjacent Robert Moses playground (42nd Street and First Avenue).

The observance, attended by youth representatives and pupils from New York City schools, will be orchestrated by “Directions for Our Youth”, a citywide youth service and advocacy organization dedicated to empowering and educating young people from every neighbourhood and nation.  The organization’s Executive Director, Dr. Cary Goodman, will serve as the master of ceremonies.

The event is organized by the United Nations Programme on Youth in collaboration with Directions for Our Youth.  Con Edison has generously donated prizes and trophies for the logo contest and tournament.

International Youth Day marks the conclusion of the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998).  The General Assembly proclaimed the Day to promote better awareness of the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond, which the Assembly adopted in 1995.

Contact:  Edoardo Bellando, United Nations Department of Public Information, tel.: (212) 963 8275, e-mail: bellando@un.org; or Dr. Cary Goodman, Directions for Our Youth, tel.: (718) 875-6270.

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