Vienna, 5 August 2011 - Young delegates from across Europe are meeting in Vienna from 5 to 8 August to establish a network that helps promote the goals of the United Nations. Representatives from the different United Nations Youth Associations (UNYA) paved the way for this initiative in Oslo in 2010, when they decided to found a common organization within the framework of the UN International Year of Youth.
In the coming days young people from Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey will both finalize the Charter for the network and draft plans for projects improving UN youth involvement.
"It is important to have the possibility to work out common projects on an international level and to support the common ideas and principles. By hosting this event, we want to provide the possibilities to further improve international youth networking" says Michael Klampfl, Austrian National Coordinator of the Seminar.
In his keynote speech opening the event at the Vienna International Centre (VIC), the Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna Janos Tisovszky commended the activists for their engagement and emphasized the importance of future multipliers of UN affairs: "As future leaders, politicians, economists, scientists, lawyers, doctors, reporters or any roles that you may take, young people are central in our process of promoting common development."
The goals of the newly founded network include facilitating the cooperation between UNYAs, promoting the idea of UNYAs among political institutions, supporting the establishment of UNYAs, change of ideas and best practices as well as common fundraising.
Information about the event and the network is provided at: https://sites.google.com/site/youthcooperationseminarvienna/
