On 5 March 2022, the Executive Board of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) convened a Ministerial Coordination Meeting with the Ministers of Youth and Sports of some OIC Member States on the sidelines of the 5th Ethnosport Forum in Baku, the Republic of Azerbaijan. The said special meeting of the ICYF Executive Board witnessed the participation of the Ministers and deputy ministers of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, Niger, The Gambia, Iran, Kyrgystan, and Representatives of Ministries of Youth and Sports of Türkiye, Lebanon, as well as the President of the Word Ethno Confederation, the ICYF Executive Board Members, the Acting Director-General of ICYF-ERC and delegates from prominent youth institutions.

The participants conveyed their respective appreciations to the Host Country for the generous hospitality given, hailed the convening of the timely meeting, as it was a unique opportunity to commonly address the challenges faced by the youth and then stressed on identifying the root causes as to why the young people are still lagging in the domain of development, notably education, culture, technology and sports.

The Ministers and deputy ministers underscored the importance of having a mutual platform in which young people can contribute to policy discussions through their innovative ideas, priorities, and solutions. Moreover, the representatives of the Member States applauded ICYF’s broad efforts, in implementing several programs, training courses, and workshops that are in line with the OIC Youth Strategy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)for the last three years.

In this regard, the Meeting called for innovative ways to foster close cooperation among the Member States, youth organizations, in overcoming issues and divergence that is existing among nations. Furthermore, they unanimously advocated the need of emboldening the roles and responsibilities of the ICYF through the endorsement of the ICYF resolutions at the forthcoming Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers (ICYSM), consultation policy, institutional support to its various set of programs and organizing joint programs that address the needs of the youth in the OIC region and beyond.