Project Director of the Turkic Council Jeyhun Shahverdiyev delivered a speech at the 3rd session of the UNOSSC Fifth Regional Networking Forum for Arab States, Europe and CIS. The topic was “Creating the future we want: investıng in youth as the source of innovation and green entrepreneurship” at a side event that took place on 27 November in New York, as part of the Global South-South Development EXPO 2018.

High level representatives of UNOSSC, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Egypt, International Cooperation Agencies of Morocco, Tunisia and Palestin, World Green Economy Organization and Islamic Development Bank addressed the opening session of the Forum.

In his speech, Project Director Jeyhun Shahverdiyev underlined that engaging the youth has also taken an increasingly central role in the portfolio of the Turkic Council. As an international organization, Turkic Council recognizes the prominence of youth participation in educational, cultural, economic and social arenas.

Building on the instructions of the Heads of States to develop and further cooperation in the new area of youth, the Project Director presented about all completed and ongoing projects and activities of the Turkic Council centered on youth. He talked about the youth camps and festivals, student council, student exchange programme and youth platform as key youth initiatives of the Turkic Council that align and support the regional and global south-south development agenda.

Mr Shahverdiyev also shared about the sports projects, the young diplomats training programme, the international conference on the role of youth in preventing and countering violent extremism co-organized with the UNAOC and the Online Academy on PVE as a new project to be implemented with the UNDP, as other significant initiatives undertaken by the Turkic Council.

The following day, Project Director Jeyhun Shahverdiyev participated at the High –level Opening Ceremony of GSSD Expo 2018 where António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General; H.E. Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the seventy-third session of the General Assembly; H.E. Ambassador Hany Selim, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director of the Department for International Cooperation for Development; Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Mr. Jorge Chediek, Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) delivered speeches.

Afterwards, Mr Shahverdiyev joined to the discussions on Intergovernmental Organizations on Promoting and Scaling Up Good Governance through South-South Cooperation and Triangular Cooperation and briefed the participants about the Turkic Council and its ongoing projects and activities in attainment of the SDG.