Foreign Undersecretary participates in youth activity

New York, Feb. 1 (BNA): Undersecretary for International Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, participated in a youth event activity on the implementation of new urban agenda, organized by the Advisory Council for Youth and the youth department of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, which was held on the sidelines of the Youth Forum of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The event focused on the implementation of the new urban agenda that was adopted at the third Conference on human settlements held in October 2016 in Quito, Ecuador, as well as the importance of the eleventh goal of sustainable development goals related to urban development. The Undersecretary delivered a speech initiating the event, in which he highlighted the successes achieved by the Kingdom of Bahrain in dealing with the requirements of the various transformations that are associated with the processes of urbanization and urban adoption of the concept of sustainable cities, socially and environmentally. He highlighted that the Bahraini society is a young society where the youth category (15 to 30 years) constitutes 30% of the total population. The Kingdom has worked on the formulation of appropriate programs to meet the social, cultural and economic needs, recognizing that this category of the population is pivotal in advancing the paths of sustainable development, which gives Bahrain a wealth in human resources that has an important role in sustainable development. The national strategy for young people aimed to focus on the needs of young people, their right to participate in public life and their role in building a future society through a number of initiatives in the areas of political action and economic empowerment. In conclusion, he noted that the Kingdom of Bahrain, like most countries in the world, believes that balanced urban development effectively supports the implementation of the sustainable development goals of 2030. This is specially in regards to the eleventh goal on making cities and human settlements all-inclusive, safe and sustainable, which binds and dramatically affects other goals, hoping to achieve the aspirations of young people who carry the responsibility of following up and being accountable for optimal implementation of the agenda that affects them more than others because it will determine their future.