World Population Day celebration, “Investing in Young People”
Cairo, 13 July 2014 - the National Population Council, in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund, and under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Population, organized a celebration on the occasion of the World Population Day, under the slogan of "Investing in Young People", to highlight the most important issues for the population, and focus on the challenges facing young people in Egypt, and to provide communication channels to transmit the ideas and the aspiring initiatives of youth to the decision makers and the civil society in order to face those challenges.
The celebration was attended by the Minister of Health and Population, Dr. Adel Adawy, as well as the Minister of Environment and the Minister Planning, a number of government officials, and the representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Egypt. The celebration was also attended by a number of ambassadors of foreign countries in Egypt, representatives of international organizations, donors, public figures and media representatives.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Adel Adawy, declared in his speech: "We have about 25 million people in the age of youth. Hence, we have a great "human" power, either to be mismanaged, as it had already occurred for many years, or we can get use of it to build this country."
The celebration was divided into several sessions, including a panel discussion between a group of young people that are responsible for some developing initiatives and social projects in different aspects of development, and the attending ministers and officials, to discuss how to invest the ideas of these creative initiatives on a national scale, and the possible ways to strengthen such initiatives.
Moreover, the head of the National Population Council, Dr. Hala Youssef, has confirmed during her speech that "Investment in young people is not merely a slogan, but a national goal set by the Egyptian government in mind, through cooperating with the organizations of the civil society to achieve it."
During the celebration, a number of public figures and experts were honored for their contribution in the field of population in Egypt, including the Director Sandra Nashaat for her documentary film "What are the dreams of Egyptians" which reflects the dreams of Egyptians from various locations, age groups and socio-economic levels.
Meanwhile, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Egypt, Mr. Jaime Nadal, announced the launching of the awareness campaign entitled " #انا" in 21 governorates. The campaign aims to encourage the initiation and the participation attitudes at all the Egyptian people, so that they can participate in defining the future of their country. The main idea of this campaign is to ask each of the participants about their dreams and aspirations for the future, and then the participant writes how she/he can achieve those dreams. The campaign duration will be from the 12th of July till the 12th of August 2014; and the photos of the participants from various governorates will be shared on the different social media platforms of the United Nations Population Fund in Egypt.
For more Information please contact:
Mohamed Megahed, Communication Officer, United Nations Population Fund
Direct Tel: +20-2-27067080 Ext:70320
Fax: +202 27067084
Email: megahed@unfpa.org
