More than 200 young people from Egypt join their peers across the world in celebrating the 2017 International Youth Day under the theme “Youth Building Peace” at a camp at Abu Qeer in Alexandria.  The camp is under the auspices of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in collaboration with the UN family in Egypt including UN Women, UNICEF, UNDP, UNHCR, UNFPA, UNESCO, UNIC, WFP, ILO and IOM.

The four-day camp will focus on capacity building activities, edutainment, mock-up policymaking exercises and interactive discussions. The objective is to enable the young people to be active citizens, to engage on solutions for real-life scenarios and to be better prepared to become effective peacebuilders.  

The camp will also identify youth priorities and simulate scenarios on how these priorities can be developed and presented to decision-makers. It also aims at preparing youth for an open dialogue with the executive branches of the government - associated with the presidential youth dialogue - to ensure inclusion and consideration in decision making.

During the sessions the young people will discuss their role and contributions in a variety of issues covering enhancing harmony between economic activities and nature, resolving migrants and refugee issues, population issues, and advocating for social cohesion. The camp will also be an opportunity to announce the World Youth Forum that Egypt is organizing late 2017 as a follow up to its national efforts to gather youth views on development and political issues.

About the International Youth Day:

On 17 December 1999, in its resolution 54/120, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth that 12 August is to be declared International Youth Day.

Constituting a considerable segment in every society and since the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2250 in 2015, there is a growing recognition that as agents of change, young people’s inclusion in the peace and security agenda and in society more broadly, is key to building and sustaining peace, achieving prosperity and progress, as well as shaping current challenges through a fresh lens. Another Security Council Resolution 2282 in 2016 reaffirms the important role youth can play in deterring and resolving conflicts, and are key constituents in ensuring the success of both peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts.

The International Youth Day 2017 is dedicated to celebrating young people’s contributions to conflict prevention and transformation as well as inclusion, social justice and sustainable peace.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development committed to fostering peaceful and inclusive societies and affirmed that “Sustainable development cannot be realized without peace and security”. Goal 16 aims to ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels. The World Programme of Action for Youth, which provides a policy framework and practical guidelines to improve the situation of young people, also encourages “promoting the active involvement of youth in maintaining peace and security”.