Doctor Babatunde Osotimehin
Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund
Esteemed guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
On behalf of the government of the State of Qatar, I would like to convey my thanks to the government of Turkey for the kind hospitality and this well-organized historical summit.
The State of Qatar pays great attention to this special session that focuses on the youth, and we are delighted that the international programs are increasingly talking about youth participation and their contributions to peace, development, and security. With regards to humanitarian programs, we are convinced that not only must the concerns of the youth be addressed, but that we should also mobilize youth in humanitarian response situations. The youth are the necessary tools for change, not only for the future, but also in the present time.
In addition, the youth not only play a key role in advancing the commitments and promises that concern this summit, but they are also essential partners in moving forward and developing synergies between the outputs of the third international conference on financing for development, the goals of sustainable development, and the Paris Agreement that concerns climate change.
With all pride, Qatar sponsored the World Youth Consultation which was held in Doha in September 2015, and which brought together youth from all over the world to discuss their thoughts on improving the current means of humanitarian action, and reaching an agreement on key priorities.
It featured the contributions of 250 young people, from genders from around the world, to the formation of the Doha Youth Declaration on restructuring the humanitarian agenda.
We are pleased to see that the work is progressing ahead in this summit, and through the Youth Humanitarian Action Charter, which Qatar fully supports.
Ladies and gentlemen,
A very important aspect in this regard is to ensure the youth are given the opportunities they deserve to have their voices heard. And in our framework to committing to this, in addition to the goodwill towards Asia and other partners, Qatar is presently building a vision for a regional capacity building center to work with concerned youth and groups involved with work in the field of humanitarian work, increasing their capabilities, knowledge, and active participation.
And from this point, it is to be made sure that the work that was done with the World Youth Consultations that were held will not be a "one time" opportunity, but will become a basis for building a sustainable mechanism for youth participation and empowerment.
This initiative currently focuses on the Middle East and North Africa. But it is our hope that it will be repeated for other parties interested in this field from different regions. And we are discussing this possibility with our local, regional, and international partners, and we welcome contributions from others present here as well.
The State of Qatar is keen to hear the commitments that may result from this session, and we conceive from our experiences in supporting initiatives which are led by the youth, that peaceful and inclusive societies cannot go on a sustainable path without the participation and commitment of the youth.
Thank you very much.