An Eritrean delegation led by Mr. Petros Tsegai, Eritrea’s Ambassador to the Russian Federation, participated in the 14th Euro-Asia Economic Forum held in Petersburg from 22 to 24 April.

The forum was organized in cooperation with the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, Ural Economics University, and the Petersburg Municipality. The objective of the forum was to encourage university students, youth, and researchers and to create a common understanding between university students from across the world. Participants included 17,000 ambassadors, diplomats, university presidents, and researchers from 114 countries.

Representing the diplomatic community, Ambassador Petros highlighted the importance of economic sovereignty in the progress of nations. He detailed Eritrea’s stance on creating a world order based on self-reliance, mutual respect, and cooperation.

Additionally, Ambassador Petros discussed the growing bilateral ties between Eritrea and the Russian Federation, emphasizing that these relationships are grounded in the same principles.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

On the 25th of April 2024, Mr. Kenneth Racombo, Seychelles resident Ambassador in Brussels, presented his credentials to the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, His Royal Highness Henri of Luxembourg.

During the ceremony, Ambassador Racombo had the opportunity to discuss various issues of shared interests to both countries. Discussions focused on the development of the Blue Economy, Climate Change effects, Maritime Security issues, specificities of Small Islands Developing States and cooperation through the European Union.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tourism – Foreign Affairs Department, Republic of Seychelles.

Economic Commission for Africa, Executive Secretary, Claver Gatete, has challenged African youth to raise their voice in shaping the future development of the continent ahead of the Summit of the Future.

Opening the African Youth Consultative Forum on the UN Summit for Future held in Addis Ababa, Mr. Gatete, emphasized the importance of investing in the ‘youth divided’ and challenged young people to amplify their voice and participate in global affairs in shaping the future of Africa.

“Youth must participate in the issues that matter to the Common Agenda of the United Nations which has 12 commitments, from where the issues are being drawn for the Summit of the future in September 2024 as well as the Social Summit in 2025, where the youth must be involved,” said Mr. Gatete.

Mr. Gatete noted that 70 percent of the population in Africa are young people and that by 2030, 42 percent of the global youth will be from Africa. This dynamic is reflective of how the youth should be treated.

“You cannot have the future without developing the youth of today and the youth of tomorrow. Youth have to participate in all spheres of the implementation of the SDGs by 2030 and what be involved in achieving the targets,” he said calling for a stronger role of the youth in Agenda 2063.”

The UN Common Agenda is the UN Secretary-General’s vision for the future of global cooperation, calling for inclusive, networked, and effective multilateralism to better respond and deliver for the people and planet.

Mr. Gatete elaborated on the multiplicity of challenges being faced by African countries, including the cascading impact of COVID-19, the debt servicing burden and lack of access to affordable financing and the ongoing push for the reform of the global financial architecture to meet the needs of African countries.

“It is therefore critical for the youth to have a say in these discussions so that their ideas are considered in the Summit of the Future in September 2024,” he said, adding, “We need your voice and your contribution; this is the time to make your contribution.”

Of the 12 commitments in our Common Agenda, the 11th commitment is about listening and working with the youth,” Mr. Gatete said.

“You cannot have a summit of the future without the people of the future,” the ECA Director of Strategic Planning, Oversight&Results Division (SPORD), Said Adejumobi said. “The future can only be defined in the context of the present, you are not only leaders of tomorrow but leaders of today.”

For her part, Mutetsi Oliver, Vice President of Eastern Africa, Pan African Youth Union said young people were eager to participate in shaping the future of Africa but should be supported to thrive on the continent. She noted that insecurity was a major challenge on the continent as was rising unemployment and lack of access to education, health, and social services to young people.

“We employ young people to put their government to task to give them start-up capital just like others do with investors as well as access to land and loans, Ms. Oliver said, calling for the prioritization and provision of sexual, reproductive, and mental health services to young people.

Mr. Matthias Naab, Director, the United Nations Development Programme, RSCA, representing Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa, Assistant Secretary-General and Director of UNDP Africa Bureau, said the Africa Youth Forum was a pivotal moment for young people as Africa reiterated its dedication to multilateralism to pave the way to a promising future for the youth.

Mr. Naab said the world is far from achieving the SDGs, and as Africa races to achieve Agenda 2030 and the SDGs, the Summit of the Future was a beacon of hope while the Youth Forum offered an opportunity to articulate the positions, thoughts, priorities, and urgencies of young African towards the Summit of the future.

“Youth empowerment is both a goal and mission and the young people represent great minds with a potential to transform Africa,” said Nr. Naab.

Daniel, Adugna from the African Union Commission AUC, said Africa is already the youngest continent and it must invest in developing its young people. He said the integration of Africa was at the forefront of Agenda 2063 and would unlock economic opportunities for the continent.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Young people should participate in the reform of the United Nations system to deepen global cooperation and protect their interests, the Assistant Secretary-General of Youth Affairs, Felipe Paullier, has said.

In a keynote address at the African Youth Consultative Forum on the UN Summit of the Future 2024 held in Addis Ababa, Mr. Paullier said the youth must be part of the discussion process in the countdown to the Summit of the Future because multilateralism augurs well for youth inclusion in securing a better future.

Describing the Summit of the Future as an opportunity for transformation in the UN system and the future of the youth, Mr. Paullier said the world needs a different multilateral system because ‘we are not going to be able to address the challenges of our grandchildren if we continue to work with a system that was designed by our grandparents’.

“We need more than ever your voices in this process, we need your voice addressing your governments so that the positions governments take in the Summit of the Future represent the voices of the young people at the country level,” said Mr. Paullier, emphasizing that the Summit was an opportunity to act and foster meaningful engagement by the youth.

“We need to create a mechanism for meaningful engagement and we need to unpack what is meaningful engagement because meaningful youth engagement is about addressing issues that affect young people,” he said, adding, “Meaningful engagement is about how to address the issues of unemployment that affect young people in this region and across the world, we need to unpack meaningful engagement processes to address mental health challenges and to  address effectively the climate crisis.”

Mr. Paullier invited the youth to support an open letter recently issued by the Youth Affairs office to global leaders highlighting the need for transformation in multilateralism and the urgency of young people to have meaningful engagement.

“The problem is not in young people, the problem is in the institutions we have. We have 19th-century institutions to respond to the challenges of the 21st century, so we need to transform these institutions and if we do not transform them we are ruined,” he said.

In an open engagement with Mr. Paullier, youths related several challenges they faced that needed to be addressed urgently. Young people expressed concern with high unemployment and limited economic opportunities. In addition, they worried about worsening insecurity in some parts of Africa, growing populist regimes with restrictions on the media and freedom of expression, and the silencing of the voices of young people.

Responding to the concerns raised by the youth, Mr. Paullier said safe spaces for civil engagement of young people were needed and these can come about by having a strong multilateral system that protects human rights.

ECA Director of Strategic Planning, Oversight and Results Division, Said Adejumobi, the world was globalized, and what happens in Europe and elsewhere has an impact on Africa, making collective action and moral responsibility important.

“It is not only in Africa that the civil space is shrinking it is also over the world so the democratic space is shrinking and we are seeing the rise of authoritarianism and authoritarianism is associated with declining civil rights and liberties for people around the world and how can we as young people reclaim that and what is our role in doing so,” he asked.

Speaking on migration, Mr. Adejumobi said Africans needed to engender dignity at home by being allowed to move across borders without restrictions. He said migration has underpinned the socio-economic development of countries all over the world and it must be viewed positively.

“We need to go beyond the criminalization of migration and create a new narrative around that because intra-African migration is almost 70 percent of the migration dynamic in Africa but because of sensationalization; people move more within the continent than outside.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).