UN Under-Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office Vladimir Voronkov has sent a message of greetings to youth delegates from the SCO member states, who gathered at Dongfang, China, for the SCO Youth Assembly.
"Your meeting is of special importance: you represent more than 650 million young people across the enormous space of the SCO. You are aged between 15 and 24: this is more than half of the young generation of our planet! You are its future," Mr Voronkov said in his video message for the Assembly's opening.
"A keen sense of justice is always inherent in the youth. Discrimination and isolation, inequality and a lack of prospects often push young people towards radicalism. It seems to them that problems can be resolved at a dash. This is what recruiters for all sorts of evil, including terrorists, prey on. It is necessary to resist the false temptation to side with them. Listen to the voices of terror victims, feel their pain in order to drive away this pure evil," the message reads.
"The leaders of your countries, the Shanghai Eight, met at the SCO summit in Qingdao this June, where they adopted a joint appeal to the youth, which became a powerful message from political leaders to younger generations: a call for education, tolerance and cooperation. This is what a corresponding SCO programme of action aims towards," the UN under-secretary-general said.
"Let us work together in order to use the dynamism and creative force of the youth to finally defeat the evil of terrorism in the world, in order to build a safe and prosperous future for everyone!" Mr Voronkov concluded.
A proposal to hold an SCO Youth Assembly under the slogan "SCO Youth against Terrorism and Extremism" was endorsed by the SCO Council of Heads of State in a joint communiqué signed at its 17th meeting, which took place in Dushanbe on 11-12 October 2018.