RYCO Discusses Youth Participation at Nairobi Summit ICPD25

NAIROBI – Over 9,500 delegates from more than 170 countries took part in the Nairobi Summit ICPD25 (International Conference on Population and Development), where RYCO Secretary General Mr Đuro Blanuša and Head of the RYCO Local Branch Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ms Berina Bukva had a chance to present RYCO’s vision and work, as well to emphasize the importance of involvement of young people in decision-making processes, especially when it comes to conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

Mr Blanuša participated as a speaker at the session “Youth 4 peace” where he said that RYCO wants to support young people of the Western Balkans to get to know each other and learn more about each other. “We are still missing the common narrative of what has happened in the recent past and we see on a daily basis how many challenges are coming from that,” RYCO Secretary General pointed out and added that RYCO is a credible partner to the UN in achieving the goals of Agenda 2030 and SDGs.

“We commend the work and efforts of UNFPA and other UN agencies in promoting the role of youth in peace and security agenda. Still, there is a lot to be done, and we are privileged to take part in a joint project funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund in supporting youth organizations and high schools in the Western Balkans to create an enabling environment for all young people in the region,” Mr Blanuša highlighted.

The session’s moderator, UN Youth Envoy Ms Jayathma Wickramanayake, was already familiar with the work of RYCO and took the opportunity to underline how important and needed RYCO is for the young people in the region.

Ms Bukva co-moderated the session “Meaningful Youth Participation” that focused on Europe and Central Asia. The panelists discussed what can be done for better participation of young people, what we should do differently and how to “leave no one behind”. Ms Bukva presented RYCO as a good example of synergized efforts of governments and young people who want to work towards a better future and deliver concrete results in the Western Balkans.

The summit co-convened by the Governments of Kenya and Denmark together with UNFPA, also focused on the “three transformative results” – zero maternal deaths, zero unmet need for family planning, and zero gender-based violence and harmful practices – within the next decade. It concluded with partners making commitments to transform the world by fulfilling the three transformative results by 2030. Pledges were made by governments, civil society, youth groups, faith-based organizations, academia and many more to mobilize almost $10 billion for reaching the goals.

 

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