"Let us acknowledge and celebrate what youth can do to build a safer, more just world. Let us strengthen our efforts to include young people in policies, programmes and decision-making processes that benefit their futures and ours. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon International Youth Day, 12 August 2010 YOUTH

The UN defines youth as people between the ages of 15 and 24 years

...or 18 per cent of the worlds population Youth number 1.2 billion

Currently, 62 per cent of youth live in Asia...the next largest proportion, 17 per cent, live in Africa

In 1985, to improve the situation of young people globally, the General Assembly adopted the World Programme of Action for Youth

to the Year 2000 and Beyond was adopted by the GA in 1995

The UN Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development coordinates activities of the UN system

Investing in youth is smart economics and crucial for development

Investment must begin during early childhood and adolescence, when life-long patterns of behaviour begin

UN agencies analyze the state of children and youth

Comprising 25 % of the working age population, youth accounted for 40 % of the world's unemployed EMPLOYMENT is one of its priority areas of work

.... the highest number ever In 2009 about 81 million young people were unemployed

FAOs Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools programme in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Hunger and Poverty 64 per cent of African and 84 per cent of Asian youth live in countries where 1/3 rd of the population survive on less than $2-a-day

School Meals have become a safety net for the poor

is a challenge for young people in developing countries EDUCATION

more than 25 per cent of the continents youth are illiterate In Africa

UNICEF-supported Go to School Initiative quadrupled the number of school enrolments from 2002 to 2009 in Southern Sudan

Measures to protect them from forced marriages, trafficking and sexual abuse are inadequate Girls and young women face special challenges

In Armed Conflicts girls and women are disproportionately targeted In 2008, few girls and women participated inthe Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration programmes, fearing stigmatization

For the last two decades, the UN has been at the forefront of efforts to protect children and youth in armed conflict

AIDS is one of the most formidable challenges to the world

Among youth infected with the HIV virus, 80%, or 4 million people, live in sub-Saharan Africa70% are female

. The United Nations supports youth in combating Climate Change...through educational programmes, adaptation initiatives and participation

More than any other generation, you have a voice... You understand the power of instant communication. I appeal to you to use that power for the common good. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Model UN Conference, 13 May 2010