1 December 2014
On his first day of the visit to the Dominican Republic, the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, had a busy day which included a serious of bilateral meetings with high level government officials as well as a range of activities organized by the Ministry on Youth.
In a meeting with the Minister on Youth, H.E. Mr. Jorge Minaya, Mr. Alhendawi and the Minister discussed youth issues in education and employment. They exchanged ideas on how the UN and the Government of the Dominican Republic can cooperate to support development and implementation of national youth policy. Mr. Alhendawi expressed his commitment to work with the Minister and the Government of the Dominican Republic to plan national youth policy.
In a meeting with the President of the Senate, H.E. Mrs. Cristina Lizardo, Mr. Alhendawi expressed the needs of strong support from female leaders to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights for youth and reiterated the UN’s commitment to work with the Government. Immediately following this, the Envoy received a warm welcome by Congressman Rene Polanco at the Chamber of Deputies.
“Youth is often emphasized as a ‘problem’ but it is a driving force for economy growth and social changes. The big asset for the Dominican Republic is that it has this many youth. Don’t think of them as a problem but think as an opportunity to help development”, said Mr. Alhendawi during his encounter with representatives from several Ministries and Councils. “I will work together with the Ministry on Youth, with support from the UN, to promote ‘positive’ youth development.”
Later in the day, Mr. Alhendawi met Dr. Ivan Grullon Fernandez, Dean of the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo. The discussion focused the possible areas of collaboration, including youth survey.
At the end of the day, Mr. Alhendawi participated the public event organized by the Dominican Association of the UN and addressed youth on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the challenges on youth issues.
