United Nations (UN’s) International Youth Day is annually celebrated on 12 August to raise awareness regarding issues that are faced by the world’s youth.
i.The purpose is to spread the message that action is needed from all generations to achieve Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leave no one behind.
- The theme for 2022’s edition of International Youth Day-“Intergenerational solidarity: creating a world for all ages.”
This theme builds on the momentum from two side events organized by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and partners earlier this year on 1) ageism in health and employment and 2) ageism in politics on the margins of the 60th Commission for Social Development and the 11th edition of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) Youth Forum, respectively.
Background:
i.Young people, who attended the first session of the UN’s World Youth Forum in Vienna, Austria, in 1991, suggested the idea of International Youth Day be declared to help raise money for the United Nations Youth Fund.
ii.In 1998, At the first session of the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, hosted by the Government of Portugal along with the UN in Lisbon proclaimed the 12th August of every year will be celebrated as International Youth Day.
iii.The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) endorsed this proclamation in its resolution A/RES/54/120 in December 1999.
- The first International Youth Day was observed on 12th August 2000.
Significance:
i.The day is an opportunity to raise awareness of the challenges and hardships facing the world’s youth.
ii.International Youth Day is conducted through workshops, meetings and cultural activities to inspire the youth.
- The day recognises and celebrates the contributions of young volunteers and activists pushing for positive change around the world.
iii.The 2022 International Youth Day will also raise awareness on certain barriers to intergenerational solidarity, notably ageism, which impacts young and old persons, while having detrimental effects on society as a whole.
Global Report on Ageism report:
The Global Report on Ageism launched by the United Nations in March 2021.
i.It highlights how young people continue to report age-related barriers in various spheres of their lives such as employment, political participation, health and justice.
ii.The report also identifies intergenerational interventions as one of the three key strategies to address ageism.
‘Be Seen, Be Heard campaign’
i.The campaign seeks to create long-term structural changes to decision-making to be more inclusive of young people.
ii.It aims to celebrate youth leadership, amplifying young voices in public life, and raising awareness and intergenerational collaboration in decision-making spaces around the world.
Youth of India:
- According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), youth make up 66% of India’s total population.
- With more than 808 million of the total population below the age of 35, India has the largest number of youths in the world.
