12 August 2020 –
“The Youth of a Nation are the trustees of Posterity.” – Benjamin Disraeli
International Youth Day seeks to raise awareness to the cultural and legal issues faced by youth throughout the world. The United Nations defines youth as people between the ages of 15 and 24 years, although locally, youth can be interpreted in a more flexible manner.
In 1995, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) adopted the World Programme of Action for Youth with the intention of establishing guidelines and policies for action and support that would lead to a brighter future for tomorrow’s youth. The World Programme of Action for Youth, which consists of 15 priority areas, including education, employment, hunger and poverty, health, environment and drug abuse, paved the way for the UN’s declaration of International Youth Day in 1999. Since its inception on August 12, 2000, International Youth Day has served to increase the quality and quantity of opportunities available to the youth to actively participate in society.
In 2009, the UN Economic and Social Council further expanded each of the 15 youth priority areas by developing goals and targets for monitoring youth progress, an expansion that now serves as the basis for International Youth Day’s annual theme. Each year, the theme is selected based upon immediate and relevant issues that youth are facing today. The youth is leading the change, and International Youth Day ensures that they have the ability, skill, motivation and recognition to continue to do so.