Kuwait acknowledges youth efforts in development process: Ambassador

NEW YORK: By engaging the youth in many international and local events, Kuwait acknowledges the efforts by this sector of society, and calls for gearing their energy towards achieving the country’s sustainable development goals for 2030, in addition to realizing the United Nations’ conventions and laws, said a Kuwaiti diplomat.

Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the UN Ambassador Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi made this remark in his speech at the 6th UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum, which kicked off January 30. Otaibi lauded the UN for taking the youth under its wings and encouraging them to promote the organization’s and its subsidiary bodies’ goals towards sustainable development. Following the steps of the UN, Kuwait has strived to promote the role of its youth in all domains. It established the Ministry of State for Youth Affairs in 2013 to collaborate efforts and to encourage initiatives that guarantee young adults’ participation in mapping their country’s future policies.

Some of these initiatives are the launch of two e-portals: one for encouraging volunteerism and the other for youth training. The goal behind creating these e-portals is to invest in their time and to raise the level of their competence, the Kuwaiti diplomat said.

The country has other strategic plans geared toward revising international laws, legislations and agreement related to youth in order to create a supportive environment for this segment of the society, he added.

Otaibi also said that the Youth Ministry has been active in many international youth forums and events and has signed many local, regional and international agreements related to youth. The Youth Forum is held annually by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 2012. It offers young people an opportunity to voice their opinions, share ideas, and think together about what they can do to achieve sustainable development. — KUNA