Beijing, June 20, 2019 – The Launching Ceremony of the joint Innovative Demonstration Project on Promoting Youth Participation in Sustainable Development and Building a Community with Shared Future for Mankind was hosted today in the China Soong Ching Ling Science & Culture Center for Young People (SCLSCC).

In partnership with China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, SCLSCC, China International Centre for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE) and UNV, the youth project aims to create an enabling environment for Chinese youth participation in achieving the SDGs through education, innovation, entrepreneurship, and volunteerism. Vulnerable youth groups will also be engaged and empowered to make sure that no one is left behind.

Nearly 150 participants from government institutions, academia, and UN agencies attended the launching ceremony. Mr. Wang Jiarui, Chairman of China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, Mr. Hang Yuanxiang, Executive Vice Chairman of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, Mr. Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator, Mr. Zhang Yi, Deputy Director General of CICETE and Mr. Devanand Ramiah, UNDP Deputy Residence Representative in China jointly launched the project.

Mr. Hang Yuanxiang, the Executive Vice Chairman of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation expressed that sustainable development is the golden key in addressing global issues, which shares similar goals and philosophy with building a community with shared future for mankind.

Mr. Olivier Adam, UNV Executive Coordinator highlighted the importance of three essential elements that supports sustainable development: youth, values, and innovation and technology. “If we provide the right skills for our youth and guide them to address the existing development challenges through volunteerism, imagine how far we can go in reaching those ‘left behind’”.

Mr. Zhang Yi, Deputy Director General of CICETE affirmed the important role youth take in inheriting the spirit of volunteerism and building a community with shared future for mankind.

Mr. Devanand Ramiah, UNDP China Deputy Residence Representative reaffirmed that young people are central to the achievement of the SDGs and are experiencing many issues it seeks to address, saying “65 out of the 169 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets reference young people explicitly or implicitly, with a focus on youth empowerment, participation and well-being”. As a country that is home to the second largest cohort of young people in the world, China has consistently emphasized the great importance of supporting youth. Aligning with the Chinese government strategy, he stated that UNDP China sees its youth program as one of the top priorities.

The Programme Management Office and the International Platform of Volunteers were launched at the SCLSCC, which is a national experimental and demonstration platform to carry forward the spirit of Soong Ching Ling and actively guide and serve the development of youth.