Pakistani announces $100,000 for Commonwealth youth council

Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif announced a special donation of USD 100,000 at the Commonwealth Summit in Colombo for the newly established Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC), said an official press release. According to the press release, the contribution, which demonstrates the importance Pakistan attaches to the youth agenda, is intended to fund the youth-led development projects of the CYC in its early years. The Commonwealth Youth Council was formally launched during the 9th Commonwealth Youth Forum held on the margins of the Commonwealth Summit. Earlier, Sharif while addressing the first executive session of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka said that the aspirations and dynamism of the people of Pakistan has strengthened his resolve to steer country towards a new and bright future. The newly established autonomous youth-led body would serve as the representative voice of 1.2 billion young people in the Commonwealth, and would provide a framework for youth-led development initiatives, the Government of Sri Lanka has offered to host the Secretariat of CYC. The premier also held a bilateral meeting and discussed issues of common interests with his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Summit. Sharif, who is representing Pakistan in the Summit along with his delegation while speaking on the agenda item relating to "Climate Change Financing," stated that climate change was a defining reality of our times and called for a multi-pronged and revitalized global partnership for generating the needed financing to confront its effects. The President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse chaired the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting on Friday where heads of states and representatives of around 53 states were attending the Summit.