site.btaBulgarian Peter Mladenov Nominated for UN Envoy on Youth

Bulgarian Peter Mladenov Nominated for UN Envoy on Youth

Sofia, April 10 (BTA) - Bulgarian Peter Mladenov has been nominated for UN Envoy on Youth by 28 NGOs. The selection is to be made by the end of April, it transpired from a BTA-hosted news conference here on Monday.

The Office of the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth was created in 2012 by then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who identified in his second term that working with and for young people was one of his top priorities.

"In today's world, faced by conflicts, it is very important to realize that it is precisely young people who are the solution to the problems surrounding us," said Mladenov. They will be the ones who will work on achieving the UN's sustainable development goals, he noted, adding that young people under 25 make up a huge part of the world's population, which is why they should be included in the decision-making process at all levels. In addition to that, volunteer work and protecting the rights and policies of young people are among the priorities in Mladenov's vision for sustainable development by 2022, it emerged from the news conference.

Peter Mladenov is a youth leader and youth rights advocate. He has been involved with volunteer work since the age of 14. Mladenov was a youth coordinator at the Y-Peer international youth network, where he worked for active youth participation, protecting the rights of young people and HIV/AIDS prevention. He was a youth delegate at the UN. Currently Mladenov works as an expert at the Youth and Sport Ministry's Youth Policies Directorate.