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WORLD ASSEMBLY OF YOUTH Press Release from 12 August 2009 on INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY: “SUSTAINABILITY: OUR CHALLENGE, OUR FUTURE”.
Message from:
Rt. Hon. Datuk Seri Mohd Ali bin Rustam, President of the World Assembly of Youth (WAY)
I am glad to be a part of the development of our youth in the past and today. As we celebrate this year’s International Youth Day, let us recall our accomplishments and our pasts in order to look better at our future and the challenges of the sustainability of them. This year’s theme for the International Youth Day, “Sustainability: our challenge, our future” is of great importance not only to the youth of today, but also to the generations to come.
To sustain is to prolong or lengthen or extend. We have all wished to sustain something in our lives. This International youth Day’s theme entails our lives, our tomorrow and the challenges it takes for us to sustain them as a whole. Our lives, our environment and our economy are intertwined and for our youth today, they come together on this day to learn how to balance them and sustain them for better generations to come.
As man, over the years we have tried to find solutions to problems for as long as we have lived. Crisis after crisis has come and gone, and we learn from our pasts. As we do, it is my prayer that we teach our future. So, as we learn from and of our environment, our societies and our economical issues, we shall rise up to sustain them by empowering our youth on this day and all days to come, so that we may see a brighter future in our nations and at the world at large.
I warm heartedly wish all of you a happy International Youth Day, and I urge all the youth around the world to participate in helping fellow youth to stand up as one, hold hands and work at achieving a prosperous tomorrow. May we all play our part.
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Message from:
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of United Nations (UN)
The theme of this year’s International Youth Day -– “Sustainability: Our Challenge. Our Future” –- is a global call to action for young men and women. Our world faces multiple interconnected crises with severe and far-reaching impacts that fall disproportionately on the young.
In 2007, for example, youth comprised 25 per cent of the world’s working age population yet accounted for 40 per cent of the unemployed. The global economic downturn means that, in the near term, youth unemployment will continue to climb. Unemployment rates tell only part of the story, especially for the vast majority of youth who live in developing countries. For them, informal, insecure and low-wage employment is the norm, not the exception.
Climate change, meanwhile, continues to compromise economies and threaten tremendous upheaval, saddling young people everywhere with an unjust “ecological debt”. This is a potentially crushing burden. At the same time, I am encouraged by the contributions that young people have made to the debate on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Their views and proposals can help build the momentum necessary to “seal the deal” in Copenhagen later this year.
Indeed, young people have proven themselves to be key partners in sustainable development. They have got involved in international forums such as the Commission on Sustainable Development, and have helped their Governments and communities to formulate poverty reduction strategies, entrepreneurial schemes and many other policies and initiatives.
Young people often lead by example: practising green and healthy lifestyles, or promoting innovative uses of new technologies, such as mobile devices and online social networks. They deserve our full commitment -- full access to education, adequate health care, employment opportunities, financial services and full participation in public life. On International Youth Day, let us renew our pledge to support young people in their development. Sustainability is the most promising path forward, and youth can lead the way.
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Message from:
Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO
In the midst of a series of unprecedented crises affecting the lives of young people all around the world, the theme for this year’s International Youth Day “Sustainability: our challenge, our future” could not be more relevant.
Sustainability refers to three facets of life which are all affected by the current turmoil: the environment, society and the economy. We need urgently to reflect on the challenges they pose for youth. If we do not, their opportunities for development, secure livelihoods and social cohesion will be compromised.
Representing more than 18% of the world’s population, young people have strong potential for contributing to efforts to address these crises: in addition to being the best educated generation so far, they are ambitious, flexible and able to adapt to changing realities. Yet, more than 200 million of them live on less than US$1 a day, 88 million are unemployed, 160 million are undernourished, 130 million are illiterate, more than 10 million live with HIV/AIDS, and young women continue to face barriers in many areas of development. Considering this demographic window of opportunity, it is important to work with youth as equal partners in embracing the challenge of sustainability.
In cooperation with governments, youth organizations, research networks, key development partners the media and the private sector, UNESCO seeks to foster an enabling policy environment for youth development and to support youth-led action, by strengthening knowledge acquisition and management on youth issues, fostering relevant evidence-based research and policy development and encouraging youth participation in decision-making. Reaffirming its commitment to youth, UNESCO has institutionalised a Youth Forum as an integral part of the General Conference, the Organization’ s highest decision-making body. The Forum, which will meet again from 1 to 3 October 2009, will be dedicated to the theme “Investing out of the crisis: what role for young people?” It will allow youth from each Member State to contribute to the development of the Organization’ s programme and action and provide them with the opportunity to voice their opinion on this highly topical challenge and UNESCO’s
role in tackling it.
On International Youth Day 2009, I therefore call on governments, civil society and the private sector to intensify their efforts to work with youth in addressing these challenges; and I encourage all young people to channel their energy and creativity into securing peace and sustainability for future generations.
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Message from:
Mrs. Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA Executive Director
It is often said that young people are our future. They are our present, too. It is today, and not tomorrow, that we must invest in young people and include them in solving the great challenges of our times.
Today, more than a billion and a half people are between the ages of 10 and 25—the largest-ever youth generation—and they are approaching adulthood in a world their elders could not have imagined. The world has been hit by the food, financial and climate crises and many young people are eager to help steer our world into greater balance.
To ensure their full participation, we must invest in their health, education and leadership. This is especially true for adolescent girls, many of whom face discrimination, and are denied opportunities and life choices. Today, more than half a billion adolescent girls live in the developing world and they represent a huge untapped potential. If educated, healthy and empowered, they can build a better life for themselves, and their families and nations.
Fifteen years ago in Cairo, at the International Conference on Population and Development, governments agreed that meeting the needs of current generations should not come at the expense of future generations. And, to achieve sustainable change, they agreed to invest in education and health for all, including reproductive health, to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality, and to involve young people in finding solutions to the issues that affect their own lives and our common future.
Today, I call on governments and policymakers to embrace young people as partners, leaders and agents of change. Now is the time to make greater investments in young people, especially adolescent girls, so they can reach their full potential. Investing in young people today is an investment in a sustainable future.
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Message from:
Miss Ediola Pashollari, Acting Secretary General of World Assembly of Youth (WAY)
This year’s theme for the International Youth Day, “Sustainability: our challenge, our future” creates a platform for youth to aid environmentally, socially and economically.
Today we are faced with the ever growing question of what tomorrow might bring, and how to tackle the challenges we are faced with each new day. Despite of the growing worry and luck of hope due to the crisis of our environment, our social lives and the daily economical ups and downs we face, the theme puts all this in the spotlight to bring sustainability among the youth today who are our hope for tomorrow.
We all play a part in our lives today to obtain a balance among the three facets of sustainability. Though the negative effects of unsustainable behavior are still profound in our societies in different ways, we can still stand up to better our future. It is therefore our goal to empower and educate the world youth on ways to embrace the challenges of sustainability today as they participate in developing the world today and tomorrow.
The World Assembly of Youth is committed towards this end through the education and empowerment of youth around the world by providing information, offering dialogue sessions and support to enable them express their feelings and ideas on the way forward.
It is therefore our humblest and heartfelt appeal to all youth of the world to team up, organize, celebrate and take action to promote this day as we help sustain each other for a brighter future.
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