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Kofi
Annan at the Youth Visioning event, Mauritius 12th January 2005
 On
12th January 2005, UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, accompanied
by Mrs. Nane Annan, and together with Director-General of UNESCO,
Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, listened as 96 youth representatives from
31 SIDS and 6 island nations with other affiliations presented
the results and outcomes from Youth Visioning for Island Living.
Meeting
at Pointe aux Sables in Mauritius, the youth representatives had
spent six days deliberating themes such as 'Life and love in islands',
'My island home' and 'Money in my pocket'. Their declaration,
presented to the Main International Meeting for the Review of
the Programme of Action for Small Island Developing States on
the morning of 12th January 2005, recognised that youth have a
specific and significant role to play in sustainable development
especially as they have the experience of living in both traditional
and modern settings. The youth called upon their governments,
the private sector and civil society to help them play a significant
role in decision making, to strengthen their role as environmental
advocates and especially to assist them in securing viable job
opportunities.
Not
content with just a declaration, the youth representatives from
each country committed themselves to solid
community-based actions. These follow-up activities ranged
from addressing the generational drift in culture and communications
in Singapore to establishing a youth internship programme to promote
youth employment in St. Kitts and Nevis, and from providing education
about proper waste management practices in Kiribati to enhancing
HIV/AIDS awareness in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Addressing
the youth, Mr. Annan said 'I am happy to see you assume your responsibilities
and that you are not content with slogans'. Mr. Annan was especially
impressed by the youths' commitments to action and said 'You have
the voice and the power'.
While
the youth make their way home to their distant islands, they have
already started submitting concrete proposals to implement their
commitments under the Mauritius Youth Visioning declaration. Plans
are underway to help support the youths' proposals.
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