STATEMENT BY SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE ORGANISATION OF AFRICAN, CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC STATES ON INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY 2020

Brussels, 12 August 2020/OACPS: On this year’s edition of the United Nations’ International Youth Day, themed “Youth Engagement for Global Action”, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), H.E. Mr. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, salutes the global youth and particularly, the young people of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The Secretary-General acknowledges the challenges faced by OACPS youth, such as access to employment and job training, education and access to funding and markets. This year’s theme, therefore, underpins the absolute necessity to bring youth voices, experiences and ideas to global debates, and to include them in formal politics to ensure representative democracy and its institutions as we prepare the youth to take their place as the leaders of tomorrow. The voices of youth as vectors for transformative change are currently most obvious in the discussions surrounding climate change and more recently, in the examination of the topics surrounding equality, justice and human rights at the basis of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The youth are our future. Young people are an essential element of advocating for a multilateral system that is fair, equitable and which leads to the sustainable development of our Member States. This is in keeping with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning. As we navigate the extraordinary times of the COVID-19 pandemic, the knowledge and innovation of our youth will be indispensable.

The Secretary-General is committed to ensuring that our OACPS youth are equipped and capable of engaging for global action and gender equality, in keeping with SDG #5. He furthermore, extends an invitation to all partners, to collaborate in order to strengthen our youth, so they, in turn, can have the necessary tools to build the future and the OACPS we all want.