PSSO Chair Sherwin Latosa, Philippine Delagate to Sri Lanka

PSSO, Inc. Chairperson Sherwin Latosa attended the 2014 World Conference on Youth last May 6-10, 2014 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo, Sri Lanka and participated in various anchored discussions and activities relating to mainstreaming youth in the post-2015 development agenda.

This world conference aimed to: create an inclusive youth participation platform that enables young people to review the progress on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals; share ideas, experiences and innovative approaches for effectively contributing to the post-2015 development agenda and its implementation; facilitate a process that increases awareness on and implementation of the World Programme for Action on Youth (WPAY); facilitate effective partnerships with youth, youth-led organisations and youth movements to further strengthen inclusive youth participation in the decision-making processes and implementation of the post-2015 development agenda; and contribute to the establishment of a permanent youth engagement mechanism that ensures consistent follow- up with young people and further boosts their participation and partnership in the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda at national, regional and global levels.

Latosa, the only Philippine delegate coming from outside of Luzon, joined the rest of the 1500 participating youth - half of them young people, aged 18 to 29, and 350 of them came from marginalized backgrounds. There were also 350 more young people belonging to under-represented groups were selected by the International Youth Task Force and about 100 youth delegates who are Sri Lankan nationals were selected.

The Government of Sri Lanka sponsored all young people attended the conference and was considered as one of the most well represented youth events at the global level.

The conference ended with the realization of the Colombo Declaration on Youth.