Youth empowerment is the best investment communities have today to face the challenges of the future.

 

In fact, youth today, is a major resource for not only economic development but for social changes as well. Young people are hungry for better options.

 

“They are rejecting the status quo and demanding a better future. Many of them are claiming their right to a decent living, and they are willing to take risks to do so. We have seen in recent times the high numbers of young people taking risks around the Mediterranean, trying to reach a better life,” Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA.

 

Despite holding such importance, millennial often face hurdles on a daily basis, with their energy still not being channelized in the right direction. This challenge is not restricted to governments, but also to a whole community structures, social norms and employment methods.

 

“The world now has the largest generation of young people in history. I place great hope in their power to shape our future,” Ban Ki-Moon

 

Youth empowerment is an attitudinal, structural, and cultural process whereby young people gain the ability, authority, and agency to make decisions and implement change in their own lives and the lives of other people, including youth and adults.

 

Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, young people are among the most vulnerable clusters of the population, affected by poverty, lack of appropriate education, unemployment, social inequality and environmental degradation. Many young people still lack access to information, equal opportunity to receive quality public services, free platforms to express their opinions, sufficient skills and knowledge to pursue career goals and benefit from opportunities in the labour market.

 

States policies should provide platforms for young people to exercise authentic participation, voice up their concerns and share their vision.

 

Youth should be enabled to become drivers of change by promoting them to use their maximum potential as citizens and as economic subjects and ensuring youth transition well into adulthood with the skills, capacities and sustainable livelihoods to take care of their children.

 

“When we give young people decent jobs, political weight, negotiating muscle, and real influence in our world, they will create a better future.” Ban Ki-Moon