(Photo: China Daily)

SHANGHAI, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has launched a new project in Shanghai to promote youth leadership and communication under the Belt and Road Initiative.

In partnership with Beifang International Education Group (BIEG), UNFPA launched the project Tuesday to support the exchange of knowledge, facilitate mutual learning among young people, and promote dialogue between youth and decision makers.

The two-year-long project will provide young people in China with training sessions on leadership, communication skills and decision making, and offer them intern opportunities in UNFPA or other institutes. There will also be international or regional conferences and workshops to promote communication among youth from countries along the Belt and Road.

"We believe that when empowered, young people become effective drivers of change. UNFPA works across the world in more than 150 countries, including China, to ensure that all young people have the information and services to guarantee their healthy development," said Babatunde Ahonsi, UNFPA Representative in China.

A youth-friendly club will be established in Shanghai Lida University, a member university with BIEG, to support the project.

The project will carry out activities in other cities of China and along the Belt and Road.

BIEG is a platform for sharing resources, improving operations and promoting internationalization in higher education, with over 10 university or college members in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing, as well as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hunan and Guangdong provinces.