UN encourages Afghan youth to work for change

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22 Oct 2014

UN encourages Afghan youth to work for change

KABUL - A senior United Nations official in Afghanistan today called on the country’s youth to help address the challenges facing the South Asian nation.

“When I look around today, I’m happy to see so many young people who are able to pursue higher studies,” said Mark Bowden, the UN Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, speaking to an audience of scholars and hundreds of students gathered at Kabul University to mark UN Day.

Mr. Bowden said the world body is needed now more than ever to lend support to the young people working for change in Afghanistan. “You, I hope, will become the lawyers, scholars, teachers and politicians on whom the country’s future depends; but also, I should say, the United Nations depends on you as well,” he went on to say.

“In the 69 years of its existence, the goals of the United Nations to help foster and sustain peace throughout the world have not changed,” the UN Deputy Special Representative added.

Also speaking at the university event, Zamira Sayedi, a Kabul University law student, said the Afghan people are grateful to the UN for playing “a significant role for peace in recent years,” helping to support democracy and working with millions of Afghan refugees to assist them in returning home.

At the Kabul event, hosted by the university’s Faculty of Law, Afghanistan’s Minister of Higher Education, Obaidullah Obaidi, said the UN can be more effective when all countries work in close partnership with the world body.

“UN efforts in the reconstruction and political processes in Afghanistan have been significant in improving the livelihood of the people,” said Mr. Obaidi. “The Ministry has always been cooperative with the international community, particularly the UN.”

Observed since 1948, UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter, the world body’s founding document. Afghanistan has been a member of the UN since 1946, and has participated in the work of the organization for the benefit of the Afghan people and others around the world.

In his message for the Day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that poverty, disease, terrorism, discrimination and climate change are exacting a heavy toll on millions of people, who continue to suffer “deplorable exploitation” through bonded labour, human trafficking, sexual slavery or unsafe conditions in factories, fields and mines.

“The founding of the United Nations was a solemn pledge to the world’s people to end such assaults on human dignity, and lead the way to a better future,” Mr. Ban remarked. “There have been painful setbacks, and there is much work still ahead to realize the Charter’s vision.”

The world body’s representatives and their partners in Afghanistan are marking the UN’s birthday this week with various UN-backed events, including panel discussions, exhibitions and a music concert that will be broadcast live in Afghanistan and around the world.

At today’s event in Kabul, 25 UN agencies and their partners set up exhibits to provide information on their work to support Afghan people. There are 27 UN bodies operating in Afghanistan.

At a separate panel discussion on Tuesday, organized at Al-Taqwa University in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, scholars and UN officials deliberated on various aspects of the support provided by the UN in developing nations, including Afghanistan.