Hon Speaker, the first international conference of parliamentarians on youth development was held in Mexico City, from 24 to 27 August 2010. As part of the celebrations of 2010 being declared as the youth year, as per the United Nations, the conference was also a UN- supported initiative. At the conference the SA Parliament was represented by members of both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.
The conference looked at various topics and South Africa participated in the following: unemployment, health and education. Other topics that the conference covered included peace and security, social participation and democracy, information technology, immigration and sustainable development. All of these topics are considered key to youth development.
As such, the conference adopted declarations which bind each parliamentary member to adopt and implement in support of the youth. Thus, the ANC continue to support the global campaigns, which are aimed at putting youth development issues on the world agenda, and identifying priority action for 2015 on youth issues to be included in the international agenda for development beyond the millennium development goals. Thank you. [Applause.]