According to the United Nations Department of Economic & Social Affairs, Population Division, the number of young people aged 15-29 are expected to rise during the period 2015 to 2030. With young being a critical population for the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the increase will be in the less developed and least developing regions, whereas a decrease is expected in more developed regions. At present 62 percent of the World’s youth live in Asia and 17 percent (the next largest proportion) live in Africa, with the total being 960 million. Approximately 64percent of youth in Africa and 84 percent in Asia live in countries where at least one third of the population subsists on less than US$2.00 per day. The youth population of Sri Lanka is 26 percent of its 22 million people. Sri Lanka can share good practices in addressing youth in issues such as peace and security. In this regard ensuring their access to education, health and productive employment remain critical.

The Government of Sri Lanka I committed to undertake the responsibility in organizing the ground work for the global process with global ownership enabling young people to contribute to the decision making process for post 2015 Development Agenda. In this context Government of Sri Lanka is in great pleasure to host the World Conference on Youth 2014. This conference will be held from May 06 to 10 at Bandaranayake Memorial International Conference Hall. Opening Ceremony will be at the Magama Ruhunupura International Convention Hall (MRICC) at 11.00 hrs on 06 May 2014 and the closing at the Bandaranayake Memorial International Conference Hall - Colombo on 09 May 2014 at 20.00 hrs.

Furthermore, the outcomes of the said World Conference on Youth, including the “Colombo Declaration” will be extensively shared at national, regional and global meetings including the ECOSOC Youth Forum and also it will be presented to the, 69the Session of the UN General Assembly by His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa the President of Sri Lanka. This World Conference of Youth 2014 is organized by an international youth task force (IYTF) comprising 20 young global leaders from around the world (10 members from Sri Lanka) along with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development in Sri Lanka.