The Organization of Islamic Cooperation is celebrating on the 3rd September of every year the OIC Youth Day as stipulated by the Resolution no. 7/44-C adopted by the Forty Fourth Session of the Council of the Foreign Ministers, held in Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire on 10-11 July 2017.
On this occasion, I would like to extend my deepest congratulations and best wishes to the youth around the World and to the youth in the OIC member states in particular.
I deeply believe that the youth of Muslim World are a fountainhead of exuberance, energy and dynamism. However, such endeavors require young people to be equipped with good education and skills and good values as well. Therefore, it is our common responsibility to harness the potential of youth and to put it in a right direction by effectively channeling that energy.
Cognizant of its part in this collective responsibility the OIC has prepared a Strategy for Youth that was adopted by the 4th session of the Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers held in 2018 in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan. A Plan of Action is also drafted for the implementation of this Strategy, which addresses such as issues as education, employment, entrepreneurship, health and marriage as well as tackles issues concerning extremism, globalization and migration. It is therefore, an occasion for me to call on all Member States and all relevant institutions to participate in the open-ended meeting of the Steering Committee for Youth and Sports, at the OIC General Secretariat Headquarters in Jeddah, to discuss and adopt the Plan of Action for the implementation of the OIC Youth Strategy.
The General Secretariat, through its Youth Unit, expresses its readiness to play an active role in implementing the OIC Youth Strategy in coordination with the Member States and in collaboration with all the international organizations and relevant OIC Institutions active in the field of Youth empowerment.