The United Nations Development Programme in collaboration with the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare and the Emirates Youth Council organized the International Youth Day Celebration in the United Arab Emirates. Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Nahyan Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, the IYD was celebrated on August 9 at the InterContinental in Dubai Festival City. The chosen theme for 2017 is “Youth Building Peace.”

The United Nations Development Programme Country Office in the United Arab Emirates has had several achievements in 2016. In lieu of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UAE Vision 2021, UNDP has worked on several projects and reports in collaboration with the Emirati government, NGOs and other local, regional and international counterparts.

The 14th of August 2017 will witness the first national workshop of the Youth Leadership Programme III (YLP) which will be hosted by the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare in Dubai and served as a launch for programme.

The United Arab Emirates Public Policy Forum, held by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, is the first of its kind to concentrate on the “Future Direction of Education Policy.” The question posed to contributors is how to best achieve the UAE Vision 2021 through paradigmatic changes in the educational system.

June 5th marks the biggest UN celebration of the environment and this year ‘Connecting with Nature’ was chosen as a theme for the World Environment Day (WED). Today we will also be witnessing the launch of the historic Ocean Conference, to be held in New York from 5-9 June 2017. The United Nations Development...

This morning I signed an MOU with the Council of Arab Economic Unity under the League of Arab States that fully acknowledges the contribution of digital economy for promoting inclusiveness, competitiveness, higher productivity, good governance and making information a public good. I call upon our distinguished CEOs and representatives of the private sector to join hands with the UNDP in collective efforts and joint actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) leveraging on the positive contributions of E-Commerce.

Young people are not only our future -- they are our present. Our planet has never been so young, with 1.8 billion young women and men. They are the most connected, the most outspoken and the most open-minded generation the world has ever seen.