by Ms. Nanda Krairiksh
　　Chief of the Human Resources Development Section of ESCAP

 
　　I would like to talk about the "special relationship" that ESCAP has with the All-China Youth Federation.
　　There has been a long history of ESCAP-ACYF collaboration dating back to the period before the proclamation of International Youth Year in 1985.
　　I had just joined ESCAP for a few years and participated as part of the ESCAP delegation to the IYY Friendly Gathering, which was organized by ACYF at the Fragrant Hills Hotel in 1984.
　　That was my first exposure to the work of ACYF and I was very impressed with the level of organization for the IYY Friendly Gathering, which brought together both youth work personnel as well as young people from all over the world.
　　I moved around the United Nations system and in 1994, the youth programme of ESCAP, which had been under another programme, was moved to the Human Resources Development Section where I was working.
　　We started to work closely again with ACYF, more specifically in the co-organization of the First Asia-Pacific Intergovernmental Meeting on Human Resources Development for Youth, which was held in October 1996 in Beijing.
　　Since that time , ESCAP has cooperated with ACYF in other projects. We recently conducted an ESCAP HRD Course for Youth Development in October of this year for youth workers. The Course provided skills and knowledge to youth workers on project management and evaluation.
　　While I could not attend myself, I understand from my colleagues who serviced the Course that it was a very rewarding experience for them. They were especially impressed with the level of the participants that ACYF brought together for the Course.
　　On another project, ESACP is working with ACYF, including the Yuannan branch office, on a project to protect the rights and interests of children and youth. This three projects commenced in 1998.
　　Under this project, ESCAP and ACYF will be co-organizing from 7 to 9 December the "Yunnan Workshop will review the situation of abused children and youth and will undertake a needs assessment of the health and social services that are required to facilitate their reintegrating into society"
　　Next year, under this project, we will be conducting a subregional training course on medical and psycho-social service for abused and exploited children and youth. ACYF will be invited to participate in this training course which will be held in June 2000 in Pattaya, Thailand.
　　ESCAP will also be initiating a five year project on promoting youth health starting in the year 2000.It will, to date, be our largest regional project.
　　In conclusion, based on our experience in working with ACYF, we feel strongly that the approach and work of ACYF represents a "best practice" for countries of the Asia-Pacific region to emulate.
　　There is no other youth organization in Asia and the Pacific with the same level of outreach and infrastructural network as ACYF. There are also very few other organization that can claim to have such a large impact on its constituency s ACYF.
　　It has indeed been a privilege for ESCAP to work with ACYF during these past years towards our common goal of developing the human resources of youth. And we look forward to many more years of collaboration with ACYF.