International Year of Youth
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In December 2009, the
United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
adopted resolution 64/134 proclaiming the year commencing 12 August 2010 as the International Year of Youth. The resolution calls upon
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
s,
civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.young people Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...
to dedicate themselves to fostering progress, including the attainment of the UN
Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...
(MDGs), which seek to slash a host of social inadequacies, ranging from
extreme poverty Extreme poverty, deep poverty, abject poverty, absolute poverty, destitution, or penury, is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, includi ...
and hunger to maternal and infant mortality to lack of access to
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
and
health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
, all by 2015.


Theme: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding

Under the theme "Dialogue and Mutual Understanding", the resolution aims to encourage dialogue and understanding across generations and promote the ideals of
peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
, respect for
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
and freedoms, and solidarity.


Global level


United Nations Member States

In its resolution 64/134, the
UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
decided "to organize under the auspices of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
a world youth conference as the highlight of the Year" and invited "the President of the General Assembly to conduct open-ended information consultations with Member States with a view of determining the modalities of the conference, which is to be funded by voluntary contributions." In April 2010, H.E. Mr Jean-Francis Régis Zinsou, the Permanent Representative of the
Republic of Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Republic of Dahomey, Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burki ...
, agreed to serve as Facilitator for the consultations on the organization of the conference to be held in 2011. Consultations of the General Assembly began in May 2010.


United Nations System

In addition to the UN conference on youth, the UN is coordinating its efforts to celebrate and promote International Year of Youth. The United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development is coordinating the activities of the UN system for the International Year of Youth, with the UN Programme on Youth leading this effort. The United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development works to increase the effectiveness of UN work in youth development by strengthening collaboration and exchange among all UN entities working on youth. Members of the Network adopted the UN Framework Approach for the International Year of Youth in February 2010, to provide a concrete framework for collective efforts and to set the strategic objectives for the Year. The Framework identifies three key objectives and provides specific actions essential to implement the objectives, which are: 1. Create Awareness: increase commitment and investment in youth * Increase recognition of youth development as a smart investment by the
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
and
private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...
s; * Advocate for the recognition of young people’s contributions to national and
community development The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activists ...
and to achieving the Millennium Development Goals; * Promote understanding of inequalities amongst youth and how to effectively address the needs of the most disadvantaged; * Foster research and knowledge building on youth to better inform youth policies and programmes. 2. Mobilize and Engage: increase youth participation and partnerships * Institutionalize mechanisms for youth participation in decision-making processes; * Support youth-led organizations and initiatives to enhance their contribution to society; * Strengthen networks and partnerships among Governments, youth-led organizations,
academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
, civil society organizations, the private sector, the media and the UN system, to enhance commitment and support for holistic youth development. 3. Connect and Build Bridges: increase intercultural understanding among youth * Promote youth interactions, networks and partnerships across cultures; * Empower and support youth as agents of
social inclusion Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across discipline ...
and peace. The progress achieved during the Year will lay the foundation for further work in youth development, including the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The Framework has been disseminated to the UN system, including to Regional Commissions and Country Teams. Organizations celebrating the Year are invited to use the Framework to guide their activities.


History of Youth at the United Nations

In 1965, United Nations Members States first acknowledged that the contribution of young people – defined by the United Nations as those between the ages of 15 and 24 years – is essential for the development of society when they endorsed the "Declaration on the Promotion among Youth of the Ideals of Peace, Mutual Respect and Understanding between Peoples". Twenty years later, the General Assembly observed the year 1985 as the "first
International Youth Year The year 1985 was proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Youth Year (IYY). It was held to focus attention on issues of concern to and relating to youth. The proclamation was signed on January 1, 1985, by United Nations Secretary Gen ...
: Participation, Development and Peace". In 1995, Member States strengthened their commitment to young people by adopting the "World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY)", which provides a policy framework and practical guidelines for national action and international support to improve the situation of young people by increasing their access to opportunities for constructive participation in society. In 2007, the General Assembly expanded upon the WPAY by adopting additional issue areas, bringing the total to fifteen areas of priority focus which are: education,
employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...
, hunger and poverty, health,
environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
,
drug abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...
, juvenile delinquency, leisure-time activities, girls and young women, participation,
globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
, information and communications technologies,
HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
/
AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
, youth and
conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
, and inter-generational relations.


National level

International Years are customarily celebrated at the national level and steered by National Committees, usually consisting of government entities such as Ministry of Youth or
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
, National Youth Councils, civil society organizations, representatives of the UN system and other relevant stakeholders.


See also

*
International Youth Year The year 1985 was proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Youth Year (IYY). It was held to focus attention on issues of concern to and relating to youth. The proclamation was signed on January 1, 1985, by United Nations Secretary Gen ...
(since 1985)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:International Year Of Youth
Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...
2010 in international relations 2011 in international relations Youth