The youth bulge in developing nations across the globe is a hot topic of discussion now as the international community begins laying out its next set of goals for the post-2015 decade. To address the challenges facing youth in 2013 however, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has partnered with three countries in the Asia-Pacific region, India, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste to begin working towards creating a better future for the youth populations there.
In order to accomplish this, UNESCO is supporting four major conferences and/or events across these countries in order to spark meaningful conversations about the issues facing their local youth today, and possible solutions. First, UNESCO will be supporting a Conference on Youth Migration and Development in Chennai, India, to evaluate the relevancy of the Millennium Development Goals in this area, and to discuss current and future policies regarding youth migration patterns and causes.
Secondly, in Indonesia, UNESCO will be organizing a Training Session on Youth Participation and Advocacy. The purpose of the session will be to spend four days training young men and women in Jakarta in an attempt to jump-start their adult life skills and educate them on how to become more active and affect change in their communities.
Third, a National Dialogue on Inclusive Youth Policy will be held in Indonesia to further emphasize the role of young men and women on the national political scale. Lastly, in Timor-Leste, UNESCO is supporting a National Consultation on Policies and Laws Affecting Women and Youth.
These conferences are all going to work in tandem, it is hoped, to reinforce the need to recognize youth in the world’s developing countries as important and influential. Part of the post-2015 development goals being drafted by the United Nations thus far are highly emphatic on this point as well. As it is expected that nine out of ten young people on earth will be living in a developing country by 2025, the UN believes it is time to really give them a voice.
– Morgan Forde
Source: UNESCO
Photo: Dhaka Tribune