IYF holds special dialogue for young people

On May 20, the International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage along the Silk Roads (IYF) held a special dialogue through online video, bringing together more than 100 young men and women from 68 countries along the Silk Roads. The event was organized by UNESCO, the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, Changsha Municipal People"s Government and Nanjing Municipal People"s Government. Tencent provided technical support.

Tian Xuejun, Vice Minister of Education of China and Qu Xing, Deputy Director General at UNESCO spoke during the event. In his speech, Tian highlighted the tremendous effort made by China to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, save lives and protect people’s health. He said that the world is a community with shared future, and it was only by uniting together that such difficulties could be overcome. As the most energetic and creative section of the population, young people were expected to take on the present challenge and play their part in the fight against the virus. Qu added in his speech that against the backdrop of the pandemic, it was essential for young people to make their voice heard. He said UNESCO encouraged young people to cooperate and exchange with each other, to leverage their contributions to their communities and the world as a whole.

The event covered a number of topics, including “the global fight against COVID-19 and young people’s responsibilities” and “challenges and opportunities of young people’s innovative entrepreneurship”. A young representative said, as China was reopening its economy, the government had introduced a series of timely and efficient measures to promote employment among young people, offering valuable lessons for other countries. Recalling President Xi Jinping’s reply to the letter from  participants to the Second International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage, the representative expressed the hope to further foster friendship between China and African countries.

All participants to this event reached a consensus that the virus knows no borders or ethnicity, and that young people should be open, inclusive and professional and shoulder their responsibility in the fight against the pandemic.