Statement of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Ivica Dacic at the opening of the event "National Dialogue Platform" :

"Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear friends,

It gives me honor and pleasure to open "National Dialogue Platform" as part of the Joint Regional Program "Dialogue for the Future: Fostering Dialogue and Social Cohesion in, and between, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Republic of Serbia", implemented by UNDP, UNICEF and UNESCO.

The project, whose main goal is strengthening of dialogue and trust, promotion of ties and cooperation, particularly among youth, can certainly affect positively the regional dynamics and create conditions conducive to the promotion of broader cooperation, establishment of friendly relations and a better future in the Western Balkans region.
I would like to emphasize that "Dialogue for the Future" program recognizes an important role of youth which is an indispensable precondition for the progress of society and its stable future. The development of each society dictates that all citizens, particularly youth, become active participants in society and drivers of change that will contribute to developing the policies aimed at overcoming key challenges that we in Serbia and in the region are faced with.

The empowerment of youth is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda as well. Most of the adopted goals include also youth issue of importance to their implementation, which received a promise today that over the next 15 years the world will ensure better youth inclusion by building more robust institutions, providing quality education, gender equality, better job opportunities and economic growth. The Voluntary National Review on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, submitted by Serbia at the High-Level Political Forum in July in New York, is primarily addressing youth topics and for that reason it was highly rated.

From the point of view of today youth's, key factor for successful social integration is quality education and employment. Commitment of the Republic of Serbia to the issue of youth has also been reaffirmed by the adoption of the National Youth Strategy 2015-2025 which represents a key mechanism for the promotion and coordination of youth policies creating conditions to encourage and acknowledge youth initiatives to ensure their increased and active participation in society.

Finally, I would like to recall that UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on youth, peace and security clearly defines the role to be played by youth in building lasting peace and economic prosperity of societies they live in. We owe it to them to ensure the conditions so that they may play their role, promote and implement the activities to build trust, overcome challenges, find solutions and strengthen social cohesion in the Republic of Serbia and in the region.

Thank you for your attention and I wish you successful continuation of deliberations at the event.