Leaders of the Kenyan chapter of the Organization of African Youth (OAY) paid a courtesy call on UN-Habitat to thank the agency for its support in hosting the African Youth conference on the Post 2015 Development Agenda that was held on 17th to 19th December 2012.

The conference’s aim was to address the role of young people in promoting youth led development towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, as well as to identify  the priorities of African Youth in post 2015 Agenda, and African countries’ commitments towards creating decent jobs and reducing youth employment. The meeting ended with a declaration calling on African governments to provide enough resources to children, youth and women related ministries and to plan and implement sustainable poverty eradication programmes that reach a high segment of the youth

Receiving the Certificate of Appreciation, Mr. Douglas Ragan, leader of UN-Habitat’s Youth Unit congratulated the African organization on a very successful conference, noting that young people have made considerable contributions to Goals, adding that  their work should be further acknowledged and strengthened in the post 2015 development agenda. Mr. Ragan stressed on the importance of partnerships, particularly with youth groups, and cited the case of the UN-Habitat Youth Advisory Board whose role is ensuring that the views and expectations of youth are heard at the highest level of the agency. He further stated that young people’s inputs guide the agency to develop appropriate policies addressing issues related to their needs.

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