International Youth Day is celebrated every year on August 12 to raise awareness about cultural and legal issues related to the youth. The day was marked by the United Nations, and it was first observed on August 12, 2000.
Governments and related authorities mark it as an opportunity to work on issues related to youth via cultural events, workshops, concerts, and meetings involving local and national government executives. Interestingly, it is also labeled as the celebration of the potential of youth as global partners.
According to the 2020, United Nations World Youth Report, 1.21 billion – more than 15 percent of the global population is between the ages of 15 and 24. As mentioned earlier, International Youth Day’s main objective is to deal with the crucial matters of the world involving young people whether it is social justice, climate change, global peace, education, and different things.
The theme for International Youth Day 2022 is “Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All ages”. The idea of International Youth Day was appreciated by the UN General Assembly on August 12, 1999, to recognize and promote the importance of youth participation in world affairs.
UNFPA (United Nations Population Funds Association) report suggests that ageism leads to discrimination like other social ills of racism and sexism. Thus, it can have a detrimental effect on individuals and society.
“We celebrate young people’s efforts and contributions big and small toward righting the world’s wrongs and pulling others along with them. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders who know that nothing will change if they stand by; change only happens when they stand up,” stated the UNFPA.
Historically, the idea to mark International Youth Day was proposed in 1991 ahead of the first session of the World Youth Forum of the United Nations System in Vienna, Austria. Thereafter, it took almost nine years to start this initiative.
DO YOU KNOW?
Half of the people on our planet are 30 or younger, and this is expected to reach 57% by the end of 2030.
Survey shows that 67% of people believe in a better future, with 15 to 17 year-olds being the most optimistic about this.
The majority of people agree that the age balance in politics is wrong. More than two thirds (69%) of people across all age groups agree that more opportunities for younger people to have a say in policy development/change would make political systems better.
Globally, only 2.6% of parliamentarians are under 30 years old, and less than 1% of these young MPs are women.