Jagat Bahadur Sunar Bishwakarma, Minister for Youth and Sports, said that that the Government of Nepal placed high priority in engaging youth in economic activities by ensuring their access to science and information technology as well as start-up financing through Youth Self-employment Fund.

He attended the 8th ECOSOC Youth Forum being held at the United Nations Headquarters from 08 and 09 April 2019. The theme of this year’s Youth Forum is “Youth: Empowered, Included and Equal”.

The Minister added that the National Youth Policy, 2015 of Nepal “stresses emphasis on quality and vocational education, employment, entrepreneurship, skill development, health and social security, youth engagement and leadership development, and sports and entertainment”. He underlined that information technology is an integral part of the Youth Policy and the Youth Vision, 2015, and that the Government introduced IT in school curriculum, including in higher education.

The Minister arrived in New York on 07 April 2019 to participate in the Forum.

The annual ECOSOC Youth Forum provides a platform for young leaders from around world to engage in a dialogue among themselves and with the United Nations member states and to share ideas and visions for advancing all internationally agreed development agendas, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.