Aurescu at opening of UN Youth Summer School: Young people must make substantial contribution to public debates

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, participated on Monday in the opening of the 10th edition of the UN Youth Summer School on Diplomacy, organized by the UN Youth Association of Romania, in partnership with the Foreign Ministry (MAE).

I believe that young people must make a substantial contribution to public debates in order to be able to respond adequately to the challenges we face today. Today, more than ever, we need the younger generation in the fields of international relations and diplomacy, Aurescu was quoted as saying in a MAE release for AGERPRES.

The head of the Romanian diplomacy welcomed the unfolding of the UN Delegate Youth program, carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, showing that it contributes to an increased familiarization with the topics on the international agenda.

Minister Bogdan Aurescu highlighted that Romania actively promotes the involvement of young people in democratic processes, including within the current mandate of Presidency of the Community of Democracies (CoD).

He reminded that the Bucharest Declaration, adopted on the 20th anniversary of the Community of Democracies hosted by Romania, on June 26, emphasizes the role of young people in democratic processes, and the Youth Forum organized by Romania brought together online participants from over 30 states. Romania hopes to organize the second edition of the Forum in 2021, in Bucharest.

In the context of marking, in 2020, the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the UN and the 65th anniversary of Romania becoming a member of the organization, the minister of foreign affairs proposed to the participants that, during the debates, they take stock of the transformation to assess its impact on its international profile.

The UN Youth Association of Romania is a student NGO whose statutory goals are to promote and encourage the values and activities of the UN among young people, the Romanian society and the international community. The most important project of the association, established in 2009, is the Bucharest International Student Model United Nations (BISMUN) conference.

UN Youth Summer School on Diplomacy, which at its current edition has the theme "The human era: a world of changes and developments", brings together students passionate about foreign policy and international relations.