International Conference on Youth Policy and Research

Vienna, 23 September 2009

In memory of the late Bill Angel

founder of the international Youth Policy Network:

Piotr Uhma (ICNYP)

Dear Mona Angel,

Madam State Secretary
Ladies and Gentlemen!

I am extremely honoured that today, on behalf of all the people involved in the youth policy
movement and on behalf of the International Council on National Youth Policy I can pay
tribute to Bill Angel, the indefatigable advocate of activeness of youth and breaking the
generation gaps in thinking and acting for the benefit of youth. I am happy that with the Bill
Angel Award we can honour this great man and friend, in the building he worked for so many
years, here in Vienna, the city he loved so much.

The death of Bill Angel on the 10th April, 2008 was a time of great sadness for many of us
who have benefited from his wisdom, example and friendship. For many years, Bill Angel
headed the youth unit at the United Nations (both here, in Vienna and New York), where he
ensured a continuous focus on the importance of youth development.

Bill Angel had extensive experience in the field of social development, not only in youth
policy, but also in crime prevention, juvenile justice, ageing, women’s rights, and social
planning. For more than 20 years he worked for the United Nations in various capacities, but
it is true that it was the youth sector that became his focus, his passion and I don’t hesitate to
say – his vocation he is and will be remembered for.

I remember our meeting in Warsaw, in 2000, a couple of months before he retired from the
United Nations and our meeting with his former supervisor and friend, my countryman, Mr.
Henryk Sokalski, Assistant Secretary General of the UN, when it became evident for me that
Bill had chosen youth and youth policy as the area of great potential, despite other career
positions he was offered in the UN. What else but passion and commitment would push a
person to gather all the documents and publish them in the ground-breaking book entitled the
International Law of Youth Rights, the largest publication on youth I know of --1143 pages!

From 1996 to 2000, he served as Chief of the United Nations Youth Unit, where he planned
and coordinated several annual meetings of the U.N. system on youth and three U.N. World
Youth Forums.

There was no such a forum before Bill Angel. Not of that scale, not with such an agenda. The
Declaration of Ministers signed in Lisbon, for which Bill was the godfather, was a completely
new opening, the bridge of understanding between the government and youth, between the
authorities and social organisations.

“We hereby adopt and commit ourselves as Governments to implement measures and
to foster the further implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth to
the Year 2000 and Beyond, with the active participation of youth, ensuring that young
people's unique perspective is reflected in our national policies and programmes.”

Let the Chair allow me to repeat the last words of this declaration once again: ensuring that
young people's unique perspective is reflected in our national policies and programmes.

Bill Angel was not an official. He was a man passionate about his work and he believed in
cooperation between two such diverse communities.

I remember when together with Bill I took part in the first advisory mission on the youth
policy in Kosovo, where we had to face the local policy under conditions of still burning
conflict. Bill said: “There is no prescribed formula”. Every strategy for youth must be suited
to the local needs and situation. From Vienna to Qatar, from Nairobi to Kosovo, from Iran to
the US. There is no prescribed formula.

Upon retiring from the UN, Bill created the ICNYP – the International Council on National
Youth Policy as an international NGO promoting the importance and understanding of
national youth policy formulation, implementation and evaluation. His tireless voluntary
efforts created interest and support across the globe for the importance of integrated national
agendas, policies and strengths around the contributions and issues of young men and women.

It is no wonder that the former UN staff become involved in consulting services. But with
Bill, it was difficult to call it consulting. The ICNYP, the organisation he founded, was fully
based on the positive emotions bestowed by Bill upon us all. I vividly remember the second
floor of his flat in the beautiful 19th District, which he converted into a study, from where he
managed a global organisation, merely with his PC and a small inkjet printer!

He was successful because he liked to like people; he liked to think positively about people.
He was the heart and mind of this organisation. The heart, because he felt, the mind, because
he thought.

He was the mentor, leader and great mate, appreciated all over the world. He was also an
eminent expert, admired and respected by the world. Though they say no one is irreplaceable,
surely Bill Angel will not be replaced quickly.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!

The Board of ICNYP is committed to remembering and honouring the legacy of Bill Angel. I
am happy to announce that the International Council on National Youth Policy has created the
annual William Angel Award for Best Practice in National Youth Policy Formulation and
Action, which will be awarded in Vienna starting from 2010.

Figures of this dimension never leave us. They live on in people’s ideas and aspirations, in
their achievements and successes. For Bill Angel youth and youth policy was his dream, his
goal. And Bill will not just live on in our memories – we will work towards this goal.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.