Addressing the World Bank on Youth & the MDGs

In collaboration with the United Nations Association, the UN body mandated to organize the annual celebrations on October 24 of United Nations Day, the World Bank Y2Y Community organized a full-day event at the World Bank on Youth and the Millennium Development Goals – linking the local with the global on Friday, October 22, 2004. The week leading up to UN Day 2004 in the National Capital Area focused on the process and achievements made towards reaching the MDGs. Given the increasing attention both within UN agencies and affiliates, including the World Bank, and outside on the important role of youth in development, the UNA and the Y2Y Community decided to dedicate a full day during the UN Week 2004 celebrations in DC to youth and the MDGs.


The event showcased the work and activities of United Nations agencies and affiliates, NGOs, including the World Bank, on youth and the MDGs, making an explicit link between both local and global experience. The event provided an opportunity for participants to learn about the MDGs, share lessons learned, stimulate discussion, provoke thought and discuss related work both locally and globally. The conference stated with a basic course on the MDGs in order to provide participants with a foundation. The second activity was a panel discussion where I was invited to address the Bank’s young staff members and other participants on “The Relevance/Role of youth in achieving the MDGs“. The participants also benefited from an overview on this topic and different perspectives ranging from multilateral, to regional, to an NGO. Once equipped with an this understanding, they moved onto roundtable discussions where they will be presented with more detailed information on various case studies of “youth inclusion” in achieving the MDGs.


The event brought attention to the crucial role of youth in achieving the MDGs, as well as the important work which the UN agencies and the World Bank is doing, both locally and globally, to integrate youth and better address their respective needs and concerns. The event also brought greater awareness locally of both the work and role of the World Bank and of the UN, and of collaboration between these organizations as well as other organizations.