CIDCA vice-chairman addresses World Youth Development Forum

The 2024 World Youth Development Forum opened in Beijing on Aug 12. First Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China A Dong, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina J Mohammed (via video), Vice-Chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) Zhao Fengtao, and UN Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs Felipe Paullier attended and addressed the event.

In his remarks, Zhao said that the Global Development Initiative (GDI) is a strong commitment and action for implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Noting that young people are beneficiaries and inheritors of global development, Zhao said the CIDCA attaches great importance to international development cooperation to empower young people and teach them "how to fish". The CIDCA established the Global Development Project Pool and the Fund Pool to support youth and has also established the Youth Leaders' Community for Global Development to encourage mutual learning and unity.

Zhao called for young people around the world to take the lead in shared development, draw up a blueprint for development with common actions, and employ innovations for progress. The CIDCA will, as always, cooperate with youth organizations in other countries, attach significance to, rely on and empower youth, sing the chorus of youth in the GDI, and pen a new chapter in solidarity and cooperation, he added.

China announced hosting of the World Youth Development Forum at the High-level Dialogue on Global Development in June 2022.This year's forum was jointly hosted by the All-China Youth Federation, the UN in China, and the organizing committee of the World Youth Development Forum, with more than 2,000 young people from over 130 countries and 20 international organizations participating, both on-site and online.