On 27 September 2019, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov met with UN Secretary General's Envoy on Youth Jayathma Wickramanayake.
During the conversation, the SCO Secretary-General informed Jayathma Wickramanayake on the SCO's current activities, including on the meetings of the SCO Heads of State Council and the SCO Youth Council held in Bishkek in July.
The Secretary-General noted that at present there are over 800,000,000 young people living in the SCO space. Therefore, one of the SCO's priority areas of activity is a coordinated and effective youth policy, including in the context of solving global and regional problems and tackling the challenges and threats of the present-day world.
Vladimir Norov underscored that the adoption of the Joint Address of the Heads of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation for the Youth and the Programme of Action for its implementation at the last year's summit in Qingdao was a significant event in the SCO activities. He also spoke about the operation of the SCO Youth Council and suggested establishing cooperation with the relevant UN bodies in implementing youth policy.
The UN Secretary General's Envoy spoke highly of the SCO countries' efforts in the field of youth policy. She emphasised that the SCO experience in this area may acquire a global dimension and expressed readiness to organise joint activities. She also invited representatives of the SCO Youth Council to attend UN conferences and forums on youth issues.
Jayathma Wickramanayake also praised the SCO member states' efforts in advancing the preparation of the UN Convention on Youth Rights and expressed an interest in coordinating work in this area.
The office of the UN Secretary General's Envoy on Youth was established in 2013 at the initiative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to protect the rights of young people and strengthen cooperation between the UN and the young generation at a global level.