Chair, Korean Council on Foreign Relations
8 October 2015, Seoul, Korea
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am pleased and honored to be here in this Global Forum in the role of ROK in Sustainable Development in Seoul.
On behalf of the Korean Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR) and staff, I am delighted to welcome all of you. We are sure that your time with us will be a positive and successful one.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to the co-conveners United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), UN Habitat and Global Peace Foundation .
Distinguished Delegates,
It is our pleasure to know that on 28 October 2014, 300 young leaders of Asia and the Pacific, participants included representatives of national and multilateral agencies dealing with youth issues, civil society, development partners and the private sector who engaged in lively debates and discussions on enhancing partnerships with youth to address key challenges in clusters concerning the environment service, health service, disaster, culture of peace and youth entrepreneurship.
The Forum launched the Asia-Pacific Peace and Development Service Alliance (APPDSA), a youth and multilateral stakeholder consortia committed to further empowering youth and communities across the region through youth engagement and volunteerism addressing the cluster issues on development and peace. It is impressive that APPDSA has successfully extended its influence by convening Sub regional Consultation in Nepal last March and Mongolia last June.
Similarly, the Korean Council on Foreign Relations expects that the Seoul Forum will discuss issues and gaps, and identify future actions among participants from diverse sectors including policymakers, government representatives from the youth sector, youth volunteers, United Nations agencies and international organizations, development partners, civil society organizations and other concerned parties.
As a representative from the KCFA I am assured that the Forum will deliver its output on Improved knowledge of Youth volunteerism, Access to an interactive platform created to facilitate discussion on national and regional perspectives and bring a set of action-oriented recommendations identified and agreed covering the role of Korea in Sustainable Development, which would be in the form of a “Seoul Call for Action” to facilitate follow-up based on priorities.
Distinguished Delegates,
As we know that there exists wide ranging specialties among youths around the world in terms of socio-economic, political and cultural sphere. Development of youth is a prerequisite for nation building. It is because of the fact that youth of a nation play a lead and meaningful role for the development of a nation. The spirit, diligence, enthusiasm and the creativeness of the youths contribute positively for all round development of a nation. Thus, the overall goal of the Forum is to explore the role of Republic Of Korea based upon an understanding of the current situation of key development and peace issues, share knowledge and experiences, enhance collaboration and multi-stakeholder efforts, and foster follow-up action through ongoing youth service initiatives.
I must mention that representing an co-conveners I would like to assure the concerned parties and the stakeholders that we fully support the program and we are committed to focus on strengthening the contribution of both youth engagement and volunteerism in addressing cluster issues on development and peace in order to the scale up successful collaboration with multilateral partners. We prioritized on improved coordination among sectors, building consensus and partnership, and mobilizing resources.
KCFR therefore is willing to work together with development partners and seeks support for capacity building and institutional strengthening on youth and volunteerism in achieving SDGs .
Ladies and Gentlemen
Finally, I would like to express all the best wishes to all of those participating in one day meeting representing diverse aspects of the society including youth volunteers and volunteer/service organizations, Business entities, Government representatives, Development Partners, United Nations agencies, Academia and Civil society organizations. I believe that this outstanding event will be fruitful to the individual as well as to the society on broader aspects.
Once again, I want to state that we are all most grateful to all speakers on this stage and the participants representing various countries. We thank you for being with us – it’s been a great pleasure.
Thank you for your attention, and I wish you all the best and good luck with your conference.