Minister Carmelo Abela and Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima mark the opening of the European Sustainable Development Week by promoting youth as key SDG accelerators.
The government is seeing sustainable development as an opportunity for new forms of employment for youth, as today marks the opening of European Sustainable Development Week 2020. Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister Carmelo Abela and Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Sport and Voluntary Organisations Clifton Grima marked the opening of Sustainable Week 2020 by addressing a virtual conference with youth, promoting young people as a key accelerator for reaching Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Minister Abela and Parliamentary Secretary Grima highlighted how engaging young people, and bringing them into the discussion about the complexity of sustainability challenges and debating their aspirations for the future is indeed living proof of sustainability. This also reflects the Maltese government’s vision and commitment to empower youth and give them the opportunity to take an active role in the decision-making process at various levels.
Addressing youth virtually, Minister Abela spoke about the direct involvement of young citizens as an important part of the principles of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which call for inclusive and representative decision-making at all levels. “The SDGs are our roadmap for environmentally and climate-friendly economic practices; for better conservation of species and more sustainable agriculture; for alleviating poverty, for social standards and for better education, greater productivity, increased labour supply and ultimately stronger growth,” said the Minister responsible amongst others for sustainable development.
He added that the United Nations Agenda 2030 recognises youths as; “critical agents of change”, with SDG targets addressing specifically youths. “When thinking of agents of change, we can look towards the past in order to see who these agents of change were. And as history has taught us, it is youths who bring about change. Movements which strive for more social justice, for climate change mitigation, as well as for more sustainable practices are both energized and lead by youths,” concluded Minister Abela.
Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima stated that youths make up a large proportion of the world’s population. We are connected to each other like never before, with young people wanting to and already contributing to the resilience of their communities, proposing innovative solutions, driving social progress and inspiring political change. Youths are also agents of change, mobilising to advance the Sustainable Development Goals to improve the lives of people and the health of the planet.
He added that the present National Youth Policy is concerned with the lives and realities of young people and how these can be supported and empowered through an adequate strategy and policy provisions. Through a system of structured dialogue which permits young people to participate in discussions with policy makers, we are effectively enabling young people to find their voice and express themselves.
Throughout the coming week, a series of events will be organised by the Directorate for Sustainable Development led by Director George Said, by the Ministry within the Office of the Prime Ministry, as part of a European wide initiative to stimulate and showcase activities and projects that promote sustainable development.
