Brussels, 19/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are also youth development goals, according to the European Youth Forum. European youth organisations, and the main development policy players met on 15 October to debate the role young people might have in shaping Europe's development policy and in achieving the MDGs. The starting point for the discussions was that half the world's population is under 25 years of age and almost 90% of children live in developing countries. It stands to reason that young people should be more heavily involved in development policy because they are the ones best placed to define their needs at local level. Yet, youth cooperation and development policy is still an embryonic stage, as was shown at the last UN summit on MDGs in New York in September, the Forum pointed out. Only one single reference is made to young people in the final statement of heads of state. Youth representatives believe that youth organisations must be involved in the concrete political processes begun at European and world levels, for example, by contributing to deciding the priorities for the next 10 EU thematic and geographic programmes relating to funding for aid instruments or to the debates leading to new development goals after 2015, linking into the World Programme of Action on Youth. “Only with youth on board can achievement of the MDGs really be possible,” said Tine Radinja, President of the European Youth Forum. (I.L./transl.rt)