What is Youth 21?
The Youth 21 initiative supports the youths in taking leadership roles in the 21st century. The first time when youths came forward and demanded that world leaders listen to them was 20 years ago at the World Earth Summit in Rio.
According to the UN Habitat, it has been 14 years since the first Ministers conference was held in Portugal, whereby the Braga Youth Declaration Called for the better representation of youth globally.
On the 25th January 2012, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon announced that youth will be the focus for the next 5 years and he was going to appoint a Special Advisor on Youth.
The UNDP and UN-Habitat, with the financial support from the Government of Norway are presently hosting a 4-Day meeting from 15th to 18th March, with the objective to better understand and advocate for the engagement of youth in governance.
More on the Youth 21 Initiative HERE.
The video below shows the message of the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon on the Youth 21 Initiative, where he recognises the importance of including youth in our programmes and policies. He also encourages governments to include young people in their work and in all UN work.
I think that there have been a lot of emphasis laid upon the inclusion of youths in governance and policy making etc., but still there are so many policies on youths that exist but they are not being implemented. Will the appointment of the Special Advisor on Youth help in solving this problem? Will the government from different countries take action and include youth in important decisions that will impact them? Will different category of youth (urban youth, rural youth, unemployed youth, youth in different sectors etc.) be considered separately? How will this become a reality at National Level?
