As Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate the International Youth Day on August 12, 2017 next week under the theme “Youth building peace”, allow me appreciate the framers of this day to the lives of young people. They did a lot of work and thought twice about the future of youth who are the world’s biggest resourceful population for its development.

On International Youth Day, which is celebrated annually on Aug. 12, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon chose Palestinian youth Hussein Murtaja from Gaza City to be part of the Advisory Group of Experts for Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security. [...] This group includes 21 youth experts who work in the framework of a project with the aim of finding a new role the youth can play in peace and security building.

International Youth Day observed under the theme ‘The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production’ represents the opportunity for youth at home and abroad to reflect on the work, progress and struggles of all youths, regardless of race, class or ethnicity. [...] it is important that Local and Central government provides opportunities and an enabling environment to maximize the potential of youths across all sectors and reduce the challenges that hinders development.