World Conf. of Ministers Responsible for Youth – Press release (excerpts)

World Conference of Ministers

Responsible for Youth

3rd Plenary (PM)

CONCERN OVER ADOLESCENT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED
DISEASES EXPRESSED AT LISBON MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE

(Received from a United Nations Information Officer.)

  LISBON, 9  August —

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Conference Work Programme

The first  World  Conference of  Ministers Responsible  for Youth  met this  afternoon   to  continue  its  general   exchange  of   views  on  the implementation of the World  Programme of Action for Youth to the Year  2000 and Beyond, adopted by  the United Nations General  Assembly in 1995  on the tenth anniversary  of the International Youth  Year.   The Conference, which began yesterday, 8 August, in Lisbon, brings together representatives  of some 160 nations — more than 100  at the ministerial level —  to find ways of responding  more effectively to the needs of young people.

Participants  at the five-day  Conference will  review the efficacy of efforts  to  fulfil  the  World  Programme   of  Action  and  consider  what additional actions  are required  on the  national level.    They will  also appraise progress since  the 1985 International Youth  Year, as well as  the relevance  of  its themes  —  participation,  development  and  peace.   In another area  for  discussion, social  development,  the  focus will  be  on certain priority issues:  education, health, employment, and the  increasing problems  of  drug  abuse  and  risk  of  communicable  diseases,  including HIV/AIDS.   The  Conference  is expected  to adopt  a  declaration  by which governments  will  commit to  strengthening  national  policies  to  benefit youth.

Statements

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MOFEED SHEHAB,  Minister for  Higher Education,  Egypt, said  that in  his country, the largest  Arab nation, there  were more  than 1.5 million  young people attending  universities and institutions of  higher learning. Youth training, education, employment,   participation,   social   welfare  and integration were high priorities of his  Government.  Egypt had successfully established a social fund to help young people  in training and through job creation.

Egypt, as an integral part of the Arab-African  region, was well aware  of the difficulties in achieving  peace and development in that area, he  said.  The long suffering of the Palestinian and Arab youth under Israeli occupation since 1967 underscored  the need for  a speedy resolution of  the problem based on international agreements reached  in Oslo and Madrid and on relevant United Nations General  Assembly resolutions.   Progress in that regard, together  with  the establishment  of  a  nuclear-free zone in the Middle  East, would spare  future generations  the bitter  legacy of strife.  He called upon Israel to honour its  obligations,  to  desist from  its repressive policies  and practices,  and  to  join hands with Egypt  in  an effort to build the edifice of a just peace for future generations.

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DAW SWEDAN, Deputy  Secretary-General, League  of Arab  States, said Arab countries had  always  taken special  interest  in  the problems  of  youth.  Issues such as young people's participation  in public  life, education and

employment  were given priority in the national plans of these countries.  Since the endorsement of the World Programme  of  Action  by the General  Assembly, national  youth  programmes  had  been  expanded,  reflecting  an   expanded commitment to offer the best opportunities to a new generation.

Even as the Conference  took place, many young  people were suffering from unjust policies  which limited their potential  and deprived  them from full participation  in national life, he said.  Young  people in occupied Arab territories, including  Palestine, were living  under the scourges of ethnic conflict  and economic  embargoes.  He  hoped that in  the coming millennium those young people would be able to live in conditions of peace and justice.

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