Pretoria - A South African delegation, led by Deputy Justice Minister Andre Nel, will be among the countries participating in the World Youth Conference in Mexico.
The conference, which got underway on Monday, aims to put youth development on the world agenda and identify priority actions for 2015 on youth issues to be included in the international agenda for development beyond the Millennium Development Goals.
South African Ambassador in Mexico Mphakama Mbete, representatives from the National Youth Development Agency, members of Parliament, youth organisations and government departments will form of the South African delegation in Mexico, according to the Presidency.
The conference will further seek to reach consensus on the declaration of governments that would single out priority actions on youth issues and development policies.
Delegates are also expected to consider issues such as poverty, education, health, employment, technology, cultures, gender equality and climate change - all of which are considered key to youth development.
The conference is hosted by the Mexican government in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) Population Fund, UN Development Fund for Women, UN Development Program, UN Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Youth Program of the UN.
The conference will end with a world youth declaration, which is expected to be adopted, being presented to the UN General Assembly in September.
A number of pre-conferences were held in different regions of the world in preparation for the conference in Mexico.
The African Youth Ministers and other experts met in Nigeria in June to adopt and African position which was then submitted for inclusion in the draft declaration to be discussed in Mexico.
