UNICEF congratulates Egypt on the convening of the World Youth Forum and announces the launch of the "Shabab Balad" platform

Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), congratulated Egypt on the convening of the new session of the World Youth Forum under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

"On behalf of UNICEF, I congratulate the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, on the launch of the fourth edition of the World Youth Forum 2021," Henrietta Fore said, in a recorded speech on the occasion of the forum's opening, which was broadcast on UNICEF's social media platforms.

"I wish you a fruitful and successful forum," she added and pointed out that the forum will witness on Tuesday the launch of the "Shabab Balad" project as an Egyptian version of the international initiative, Generation Unlimited, launched by the United Nations in the region for the first time since its launch in 2018.

The UNICEF Executive Director said that the international initiative "is the first public-private partnership platform for youth, created to give young people a platform to express themselves and find opportunities, and has a bold goal - to have every boy and girl in the world have the opportunity to attend school, learn or train." Or they have a suitable job by 2030."

"We have reached 220 million young people in more than 50 countries and thousands of partners. We have leveraged partnerships to create opportunities, mobilize resources and implement solutions. We have brought these partners into our governance architecture so that decisions are made through participation and representation from all sectors."

“For this reason, it is good news that tomorrow at the World Youth Forum we will launch the Shabab Balad platform, the Egyptian version of the international platform," said Henrietta Fore.

"We know it will be a great support and a great platform for Egypt's youth," she added.

The "Shabab Balad" project is scheduled to be officially launched in a session of the forum on Tuesday, with the presence of high-level government agencies, the United Nations, the private sector, and youth as partners in the project.

Emphasizing her confidence in the capabilities of the younger generation, the UNICEF Executive Director said, “Young people are resilient, hardworking, dedicated, and most importantly, they believe they have the power to realize their dreams, and they will achieve them. This generation of children and young people have an unlimited potential to create a better future. to the world we share.”

Henrietta Fore concluded her speech by greeting the participants in the opening of the forum with the word "thank you" in Arabic.

The opening session of the forum was attended by a high-ranking UNICEF delegation, including Kevin Frey, CEO of the International Initiative, Jeremy Hopkins, UNICEF Representative in Egypt, Fazlul Haque, Deputy Representative of UNICEF, Abdulsalam Al-Souhigi, Deputy Representative for Operations, and Dr. Ghada Makady is Director General of Partnerships and Shabab Balad Project at UNICEF, and Program Officers at the organization.