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February 8, 2018

UN envoy to meet Nigerian youths

UN envoy to meet Nigerian youths

Pix: Youths and Members of i stand with Bola Tinubu Group, during the i stand with Bola Tinubu Loyalty Walk in Support of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, National Leader of All Progressive Congress[APC] in Lagos. Yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

The United Nations Youth Envoy, Ms Jayathma Wickramanayake, has arrived Nigeria for a three-day working visit, says UNFPA Nigeria Office.
Mrs. Kori Habib, Media Advisor, UNFPA Nigeria, said this in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

She said the envoy would be in Nigeria from Feb. 8 to 10, as part of a five-country official visit across Africa.

Habib said the visit is aimed at providing a platform for young people’s voices to be heard and to galvanise momentum to deliver on commitments to empower and enable young people to achieve their full potentials.

She said the envoy was scheduled to attend a Youth Town Hall Meeting in Abuja, have high-level meetings with Government officials as well as the UN System in Nigeria.

She added that the visit would also see the envoy engage with young innovators who are at the frontline of using technology to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during the visit.

According to Habib, Wickramanayake is appointed as the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth in June 2017 at the age of 26.

“Wickramanayake works to expand the UN’s youth engagement and advocacy efforts such as sustainable development, human rights, peace and security, and humanitarian action – and serves as a representative of/and advisor to the Secretary-General.

“Originally from Sri Lanka, Ms Wickramanayake has worked extensively on youth development and participation, and has played a key role in transforming the youth development sector in her home country,’’ the statement read in part.