CRI听力:Chinese teenager singer promotes quality education at ECOSOC Youth Forum

The 6th UN Economic and Social Council - ECOSOC - Youth Forum - taking place Monday and Tuesday local time at the UN headquarters in New York - has been focusing on "the Role of Youth in Poverty Eradication and Promoting Prosperity in a Changing World."

On the second day of the event, Wang Yuan, a member of China's well-known teenage band TFBOYS, delivered a speech at the plenary session of the ECOSOC Youth Forum, expressing his hope for young people, regardless of their gender and race, to gain equal access to quality education by 2030.

During his address, the teenage singer gave an overview of the achievements of the 'Imagine 2030' campaign, launched by the UN System in China in October 2016 to draw young people's attention to the UN's Sustainable and Development Goals.

"I was fortunate to work with the United Nations China subgroup on Youth to advocate for the 'Imagine 2030' campaign, which aims at encouraging the young generation in China to reflect and think about the world we want to see in 2030, the year the Sustainable Development Goals are expected to be achieved. This campaign meaningfully engaged a large number of young people, including millions of left-behind children and other marginalized young people, and provided them with an opportunity to express their views and share their imagination to inspire our world."

Wang Yuan went on to say that with the support from many young people across the country, the campaign had recorded over 500 million views online in the past few months. Inspired by the campaign, understanding Sustainable Development Goals has now become a fashion among the young people.

The teenager boy band member also drew attention to a sketch he submitted during the 'Imagine 2030 Campaign', which he said conveys his belief and support for young people's equal access to quality education.

"I submitted a cartoon drawing project. My passion for 2030 is that every young person, regardless of their gender and race can access good quality education, girls have the same potential to achieve amazing things as boys."

This year, roughly 700 young people from across the world participated in the ECOSOC forum to discuss the role of young people in advancing the implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

At the two-day annual event, participants took part in wide-ranging discussions on key topics including poverty eradication, youth employment and economic empowerment, gender equality, health and well-being, and climate change.

For CRI, this is Qian Shanming from the UN Headquarters in New York.