Blog: The future of development - Hoofdinhoud

Meeting Ban Ki Moon and over 1,000 young people in Brussels

One of the parts of my role that I always enjoy the most is meeting young people, and particularly hearing their views on how they see the future of development.

After all, they’re the people who will be the most affected by the decisions we take now, and who will be the most involved in implementing the Post 2015 agenda that we decide on in September at the UN General Assembly.

That’s why I was very much looking forward to yesterday's event. Jointly organised by the EU and the UN, the event brought together over 1,000 young people between the ages of 14 and 27, from across the EU and worldwide.

The keynote speaker was the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, who I actually had the pleasure of meeting on the first day of my mandate last year. I was delighted to introduce the Secretary General to the audience, after which he made a speech on the importance of Post 2015, and young people’s role in shaping the development agenda going forward.

There’s never been a more important, or exciting, time in international development, with the Millennium Development Goals coming to an end this year, and the implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals, which will further build on what the MDGs started, at the same time as the European Year for Development takes place here.

That’s why yesterday was such a unique opportunity - to bring together so many young people from our different partner organisations, with the man who will be at the very helm of shaping the new development agenda going forward, was really a one off event.

I enjoyed all of the relevant and well-informed questions from the young people on stage, such as Maruba, just 14 years old, from Zambia, who rounded off the event with his question on the role of young people in decision-making. I thought the Secretary General's response on this was great - telling young people in the audience to 'raise their voices and claim their rights!' A rousing way to end the event!

According to the latest Eurobarometer, 88% of young Europeans think it's important to help people in developing countries. This was really reflected in the discussions, which were positive, insightful and innovative.

If yesterday’s event is anything to go by, the future of development will be in very safe hands indeed.