Salvador will host the Youth Pre-Conference of the Americas between 24 and 26 of May

18 May 2010 - Between May 24 and 26, the city of Salvador, in Bahia state, will host the Youth Pre-Conference of the Americas, which will bring together representatives of governments and civil society from Brazil and from 29 other countries. The event precedes the World Youth Conference, scheduled for the period from July 31 to August 13 in Mexico. It will discuss the progress of youth policies in the continent and build a joint agenda that will be brought to the global meeting.

The pre-conference will be held at the Hotel Pestana. The opening ceremony starts at 10 a.m. on Monday (24). It  will be attended by the Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Luiz Dulci, the Secretary of the National Youth, Beto Cury,  the Governor of Bahia, Jaques Wagner, the mayor of Salvador, João Henrique Barradas, the Minister of Youth in Mexico, Priscila Vera, the coordinator of the UN Working Group for Youth Conference and regional director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for Latin American, Marcela Suazo, the UN resident coordinator in Brazil, Jorge Chediek, and the Secretary-General of the Ibero-American Youth Organization (OIJ), Eugenio Ravinet, among other officials.

The World Conference of Mexico is part of UN celebrations, who selected 2010 as the International Year of Youth. The goal of the organization is to stimulate young people around the world to engage in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that seek to reduce a number of social problems by 2015, including the fight against hunger, maternal and infant mortality, the extreme poverty and lack of access to education.

The pre-conference is organized in Salvador by Brazil at the request of the Mexican government, in recognition of the effort that the country has been doing in recent years to build a youth policy that is fully capable of ensuring the rights of young people, in order to the role of protagonists in the priority projects of the country.

The event is under the responsibility of the National Youth Secretariat, linked to the General Secretariat of the Presidency, in partnership with the government of Bahia, with the support of the United Nations, through various agencies: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Labour Organization (ILO), Joint United Nations Programme Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) , among others. The event also has the support of other international bodies, such as the Ibero-American Youth Organization (OIJ).

So far 140 government participants have confirmed their presence, including the following countries: Argentina, Belize, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay, besides Spain and France, which participate in the event as observers. The pre-conference will also have the participation of civil society representatives from several countries, including Canada and the United States.

Information for participants

Service:

Pre-Conference of the Americas
24 to 26 May
Pestana Hotel, Salvador, Bahia
More info: www.juventude.gov.br

Soucer: United Nations Information Centre - Brazil

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