World Youth Conference 2014 in Sri Lanka

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development Dullas Alahapperuma greet each other.

The Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has officially informed Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development Dullas Alahapperuma that the proposed World Youth Conference to be conducted in 2014, will be held in Sri Lanka with the full support of the UN.

This was said at the 67th UN General Assembly, in New York recently. This is the first time a World Youth Conference is being held in an Asian country.

It is believed that the initiatives taken by the Government under the guidance of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, to institute democracy and to establish sustainable peace between nations with the involvement of the youth, would have aided the decision to hold the World Youth Conference in Sri Lanka.

It is believed that the World Youth Conference 2014 will increase the recognition of Sri Lankan youth internationally, and would trigger the enlightenment of the Sri Lankan youth, locally.

Following the discussions between Alahapperuma and Ki-moon, where the Minister explained the progress Lankan youth have achieved since the ending of terrorism, the Minister and the delegates met the Head of the United Nations Program on youth, Daniella Bass, who is the Director of the Social Policies and Development Division of the UNDESA, and conducted further discussions on the schedule of the World Youth Conference.