UNESCO has identified today’s young people as the first generation that can put an end to extreme poverty and the last that can resolve climate change.
UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, said this in a lecture on Friday at Comenius University, Bratislava (Slovakia).
She described the young generation as the most travelled, educated and open-minded as well as one that carries the heaviest burden of transformation.
Bokova stressed that around 1.5 billion people currently live in conflict-stricken areas, of which 40 per cent are young people.
The UNESCO chief added that there are also as many as 73 million youngsters that are unemployed.
“We’re witnessing the destruction of cultural heritage as well as a new global fight for the hearts and minds of mostly young people.
“When our planet and resources are being depleted, we can tap into the renewable energy of the human mind,” she said.
Bokova became UNESCO’s 10th director-general on Nov. 15, 2009, making her the first woman and the first Eastern European to head the agency.
In February, Bokova was named as Bulgaria’s official candidate for the post of UN secretary general.