Together with the World Health Organization (WHO) office in China, Chinese singer and actor Yi Yang Qian Xi was invited as an Asian Pacific youth delegate to New York City this week to participate in the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum 2019. The Forum was on 8-9 April 2019, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Mr Yi was the Rapporteur for the Asia-Pacific session, where he encouraged participants to be willing to speak for those youth unable to join the Forum, who lacked access to services or suffered illnesses that limited their ability to participate fully in their societies. Drawing from his experiences in collaboration with WHO China, Mr Yi expressed support for youth to build a healthier society starting with their own personal action – make healthy choices, and their efforts to reach out to those in their communities, especially children and teenagers in need of support. Using the phrase Yi qi lai ba!, Mr Yi launched a new collaboration with WHO China encouraging young people to join together to choose active, healthy lifestyles. Following the session Mr Yi made an official intervention on behalf of the Asia-Pacific delegates to the full Plenary.
Mr Yi began his collaboration with WHO China in May 2017 when he joined efforts to promote healthy lifestyle and stay away from harm of tobacco. His collaboration WHO China continued with a campaign to reduce stigma for children in China living with HIV/AIDS. Following these campaigns in 2017 WHO China designated him as a WHO China Special Envoy for Health. In the same year, Mr Yi also launched his own foundation with his personal resources to support the ‘Caring for left-behind children’ project created by the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.
About WHO China:
The World Health Organization (WHO) was established on 7 April 1948 as the directing and coordinating authority in global public health within the United Nations system. Working at three levels in the Organization (global, regional and country), more than 7,000 WHO staff worldwide collaborate with the governments of 194 Member States and other partners to achieve the WHO founding vision of the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all people. The WHO China Representative Office, established in 1981, is the official representation of the World Health Organization in China, working with the People's Republic of China in achieving good health for China's citizens.
About the United Nations Youth Forum:
The 1.2 billion youth around the world represent 16 percent of the global population. The 8th Annual Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum of the United Nations is a platform where young people can exchange ideas and develop recommendations on issues of importance to them, engaging in dialogue with U.N. Member States as well as regional and global actors. Within the theme of “Empowered, Included and Equal” the ECOSOC Youth Forum seeks to:
- Provide a forum for discussion on the importance of young people and formulate recommendations to advance the youth development agenda for potential inclusion in key processes and frameworks such as the Climate Summit and Financing Sustainable development;
- Facilitate active engagement of youth in the discussion of the theme of the 2019 ECOSOC substantive session and the HLPF and the six SDGs to be reviewed and to hear their initial perspectives on progress, challenges and actions for transforming our world as a contribution to the SDG Summit;
- Present the United Nations Youth Strategy: Youth 2030 and inform participants of the plans underway for its roll-out and implementation at country, regional and global levels while offering a strategic opportunity to explore partnerships with and share commitments by a diverse set of stakeholders attending the Forum to advance the Strategy’s implementation;
- Provide a platform for representatives of youth-led and youth-focused organizations and networks and others to engage Member States and UN officials (including the President of the General Assembly).
For More Information:
https://www.un.org/ecosoc/en/2019youthforum