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Lucy Warwick-Ching

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

A series of FT View editorials and daily online debates will make the case for a new deal for the young. Beginning on Monday 26 April, they will address housing, pensions, jobs, education, the climate and tax over the course of the week.  Click to register for the events and see all the other articles

Growing inequality between generations has been exacerbated by the pandemic and has left many people in their teens, twenties and thirties feeling like they have got a raw deal.

The Financial Times wanted to bring those young people into a discussion about shifts in asset prices, pensions, education and the world of work so we launched a global survey. We asked people aged between 16 and 35 to tell us what life has been like for them in the pandemic, and which problems need fixing most urgently.

The survey was only open for one week but we had a record number of responses, with 1,700 people replying to the callout and spending an average of 30 minutes each on their responses.

While the majority of respondents were from the UK and US, others who shared their views were from Europe, Brazil, Egypt, and Asia-Pacific. Many of the respondents, though not all, were graduates who worked in sectors such as law, banking, media, education, science and technology. Many did not want to share their full names or personal details for fear of professional and personal repercussions.

People spoke of the difficulties — and benefits — of being young in today’s difficult economic times compared with their parents’ generation, and about issues relating to housing, education, jobs, pensions and the environment.

The responses formed the starting point for an in-depth analysis of the problems faced by young people today by Sarah O’Connor, our employment columnist. It is the first article in an FT series on what policies would make the economy work better for today’s youth.

Here we highlight some of the many hundreds of comments we received from readers:

Cramped housing

I absolutely cannot relate to mid career professionals being glad to be at home in their leafy three bedroom houses with gardens, when I have to have mid afternoon calls with the sound of my flatmates frying fish for lunch in the background. — A 20-year-old female reader living in London

The burden of student loans

Student loans feel like a unique problem for our generation. I can’t think of a similarity in the past when youth had such large financial burdens that can’t be discharged in most cases. Not that cancellation is necessarily the right choice. I knew what I signed up for, but what was the alternative, work in a coffee shop while the rest of my generation bettered themselves?

Mortgages and car payments just aren’t comparable to the $100k in loans I’ve been forced to deal with since I was 22. The rest seems similar. We have climate change and equality, my parents generations had communist totalitarian governments, nuclear war and . . . equality. — Matt, who works in Chicago, US

Mismatched ideas

The older generation has never understood that while our pay has increased it has been wiped out by extortionate rise in property prices. The older generation also thinks young people only enjoy spending money on experiences rather than saving money, which is not true. — A 30-year-old engineer living in the UK

Living with uncertainty

Older generations don’t feel the uncertainty we younger generation live with. Now it is more common for us to have more temporary jobs, for example, the gig economy. This uncertainty makes planning for future harder and makes taking risks impossible. — Ahmed, a lecturer living in Egypt

Scrap stamp duty on housing

The government needs to sort out house prices and stop inflating them. It should also scrap stamp duty and introduce annual property taxes instead. — A 25-year-old investment banker living in London

Emotionally better off than my parents

I know I’ll be better off than my parents. My mom came from an Italian immigrant family with seven siblings. I’m one of the first people to graduate from college with a four-year degree and one of the only people employed. Neither of my parents really ‘did’ therapy through their adult lives despite needing it, whereas I’ve had a therapist since my second year in college.

I think a common misperception about being better off is the focus on wealth — being better off also means being more emotionally and mentally healthy, which I know I am already better off than many of my family members. — Alicia, a financial analyst living in America

London feels increasingly full of anxious, burnt out 20- and 30-something-year-olds who spend half their income on a cramped flat with a damp problem and spend their weekends in the foetal position on their landlord’s Ikea sofa, endlessly scrolling through the latest app.

We have so much more than our parents did at our age, but also so much less. — A 25-year-old woman from the UK

Artificially high property prices

Current policies like Help to Buy are making things worse for young people in Britain. The prices of new builds are artificially inflated as builders know HTB can only be used on new builds! £450,000 for a one bed flat in London? Jog on. It’s insane. — Chris, in his late twenties living in London

Gen X doesn’t understand Gen Y

Generation X, doesn’t understand Generation Y, who doesn’t understand Generation Z — Andreas, a young doctor from Bulgaria

Regulate financial markets

I also have a feeling that regulating the financial markets would create more stability which would reduce the constant fear of a market meltdown — Kasper from Finland

Who is accountable?

Sustainability (renewable energy, mindful meat consumption, plastic usage awareness, social responsibility, ESG) are utmost key, and older generations seem to miss this. It feels they have put us in a stage where there is no going back, and there is no accountability whatsoever. — Renato, a risk manager from Brazil

Soaring rents

Many items that are considered a luxury to older generations, holidays, clothes, going out to eat, for example, are cheaper these days, but buying a house or renting is so much more expensive compared to when my parents were young. A lot of young people can afford the former not the latter, but for many older generations it seems the opposite was true, which creates contrasting views from each side about who has it worse. — Sophie, in her mid-twenties, from London

Young vs old

A number of older people I know are relatively sympathetic to a lot of the issues we face. There is a young versus old narrative pushed by certain sections of the media which, at least for many older people with families, has rung hollow with me. Generally they do recognise that we live in a more competitive world than they grew up in, for university places, jobs, housing etc. If anything I feel older generations probably understand younger people better than we understand them — Alex, a student solicitor in London

Cannot afford to buy a house

There is no acceptance that working from home is not feasible for younger people where you’re in significantly smaller accommodation. My company released an internal communication informing us how to be more efficient working in shared accommodation or working from your bedroom at the same time as starting consultation on closing all offices and homeworking permanently. — Lewis, who is working and studying in Bristol, UK

I have a mildly dystopian view

I feel older generations don’t understand the value of money, and it feels strange because my parents have lived a frugal life and I am doing well enough for myself, yet, given the economy, I feel compelled to save, while they don’t understand why I think thrice before every purchase.

On the issue of non-renewable resources, I feel that my parents have a particularly different mindset compared to mine; I have a mild compulsion to turn off any running tap or switch if it’s not being used. They have this comfort and faith that there will be enough for the coming generations, while I have a mildly dystopian view of the future Water/Resource Wars — Pia, a woman in her twenties in India

Steep housing costs

At my age on an apprentice’s salary my dad owned his own house and was buying and flipping more houses. I’ve got a masters degree, earning about 40 per cent more than the national average and I’m still struggling to find anywhere. They just don’t seem to understand, my dad refused to believe me until I showed him the tiny studio flats selling in my area for almost £300k — A data scientist in his late twenties, working in the UK

My generation is worn out

In many ways I think I am better off than my parents were. I’ve been able to travel and live in different countries. I had more choices than women before me. Where I live, I can love whomever I want to love. I do not have a physical job that wears down my body. But I guess each generation faces different challenges.

My generation is perhaps more likely to be mentally worn out. Housing is less affordable and returns are relatively less certain and I don’t have a pension or a pensions saving account that is protected from double taxation. — Deborah from the Netherlands

Change the voting system

It is probably an unrealistic policy change, but I would like to see some kind of weighting system applied to future voting (be it elections or referendums). The older you are, the fewer years you have left to live and the less you will have to suffer from poor long-term choices.

Brexit is a good example of this. Foolish and impressionable members of the older generation selfishly voted to leave the EU — a decision which will cause long-term damage for my generation well after they are deceased. Older people’s votes should have counted for less in the referendum. — David, working in fintech in London

Introduce a ‘meat licence’

I would introduce a “meat license” which every adult in the UK would require before they purchase/consume meat. To get this license, once a year they would have to go to an abattoir and slaughter a cow or pig. Once they have done this, they are allowed to consume as much meat as they want during the year.

This would encourage others to switch to alternatives that are available or at least reduce meat waste which is a tragically growing issue in the rich world. — Dan, working in London, UK

Replace student fees

Instead of tuition fee loans and maintenance loans I would give all young people a lump sum at regular intervals for their first several years post 18. They could use this towards going to uni, getting training, buying a house, etc. It would help diversify the paths people take post 18 whilst redistributing wealth. — A man in his mid-twenties living in Sheffield, UK

*Comments have been edited for length, style and clarity

Feel free to join the conversation by sharing your thoughts and experiences in the comment section below.

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World Youth Report 2018

The World Youth Report on “ Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” , prepared by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), examines the mutually supportive roles of the new agenda and current youth development efforts. The report provides insight into the role of young people in sustainable development in the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and related frameworks, in particular, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development and the World Programme of Action for Youth.

The Report considers the role the 2030 Agenda can play in enhancing youth development efforts and examines how evidence-based youth policies can help accelerate youth-related objectives. It explores the critical role young people have in the implementation of sustainable development efforts at all levels.

Advancing Youth Development

Far from being mere beneficiaries of the 2030 Agenda, young people have been active architects in its development and continue to be engaged in the frameworks and processes that support its implementation, follow-up and review. The adoption of the 2030 Agenda represented the culmination of an extensive three-year process involving Member States and civil society, including youth organizations, in the development of specific goals and targets—and marked the beginning of a 15-year journey to achieve sustainable development by 2030.

Today, there are 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 years, accounting for 16 per cent of the global population.1 The active engagement of youth in sustainable development efforts is central to achieving sustainable, inclusive and stable societies by the target date, and to averting the worst threats and challenges to sustainable development, including the impacts of climate change, unemployment, poverty, gender inequality, conflict, and migration. While all the Sustainable Development Goals are critical to youth development, this Report focuses primarily on the areas of education and employment, underlining the realization of targets under these Goals as fundamental to overall youth development. Issues related to other Goals—including gender equality, good health, reducing inequality, combating poverty and hunger, and action on environmental issues and climate change—are also addressed briefly within the scope of the Report.

Download the Executive Summary  (PDF)

Download the Full Report  (PDF)

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
• Chapter 2: Youth Education
• Chapter 3: Youth Employment
• Chapter 4: Youth Education and Employment: Exploring the Nexus
• Chapter 5: Where’s the Evidence?
• Chapter 6: Youth Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
• Conclusions
• Statistical Annex

How to get involved

Youth are the torchbearers of the 2030 Agenda – young people all over the world are contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.  Here are a few easy ways you can get involved:

1. Get involved in a local NGO

Participating in a local NGO is a worthwhile way of supporting sustainable development efforts. For inspiration, read about the NGOs featured as case studies in the Report – from Restless Development, which helps youth participate in national decision-making processes related to the SDGs, to The Butterfly Project, which gives young women in India the confidence to demand change in their local communities, there is an incredible range of NGOs all doing amazing work globally to advance the SDGs.

2. Get engaged in local politics

The engagement of young people in local politics is crucial to raising awareness of youth-related issues and demanding change.  Read about the Not Too Young to Run campaign, an initiative anyone can join to support young people’s right to run for office:   http://www.nottooyoungtorun.org/

3. Join Youth4Peace to help promote and maintain international peace and security

Youth4Peace is an UN-led initiative that supports young people’s participation in peacebuilding.  It recognizes that young people play active roles as agents of positive and constructive change and helps them achieve this.  Get involved here:  https://www.youth4peace.info/

Case Studies

• Restless Development (Box 6.12 pg 108) Restless Development, a youth-led development agency, partnered with the Commonwealth Secretariat in 2016 to prepare  Youth-Led Accountability for the SDGs: A Guide to National Action .  The  Guide  provides practical ways for leveraging youth opportunities to participate in government processes for reviewing existing national plans and adapting the Sustainable Development Goals to national contexts.  It has helped youth in Commonwealth countries around the world to engage in decision-making processes and forward change. ‘Without youth power, the global goals will fail’  –Primrose Manyalo, Global Network Building Manager for Restless Development.
• YP Foundation – The Butterfly Project (Box 6.7 pg 103)  ‘SUPPORTING YOUNG WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION’: Through its Butterfly Project, the YP Foundation seeks to empower marginalized and vulnerable young women in India with the confidence and skills to tell their own stories and demand change.  Initiated in 2006, the Project provides a forum in which these young women can address issues of identity, human rights, sexual and reproductive rights, and discrimination through digital media.  Disenfranchised young women and girls have used the strength of their own digital stories to become powerful community advocates for equity, gender equality, and freedom from violence in their interactions with decision makers including families, community leaders and key stakeholders. ‘We talked about menstruation and puberty, and build our capacities around these issues, because talking about these issues in our society is a taboo’   – Tulsi (21yrs), Butterfly Project participant.   ‘Ever since I started coming here, I have learned many new things, about male and females, about violence and about how much power men and women have’  – Aart (16yrs), Butterfly Project participant.
• The Goals (Box 6.5 pg 101)  ‘RAISING AWARENESS ONLINE, DRIVING ACTION OFFLINE’: Focusing on turning the first connected generation into the first sustainable generation, TheGoals.org uses an innovative and transformative crowd-learning approach that goes beyond traditional e-learning.  It creates a fun and engaging learning experience that connects young people worldwide, encouraging them to explore global challenges and take local action.  It offers courses on each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, allowing youth around the world explore, create, share knowledge, and provide feedback to each other as part of the learning process. ‘Turning the first connected generation into the first sustainable generation’  – TheGoals.org Team Member
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Global Issues Are Taking a Major Toll on Young People’s Mental Health

Economic, climate and technology woes are weighing on young adults, a report finds. It recommends overhauling how we approach mental health care.

By Christina Caron

Chloé Johnson, 22, has been feeling hopeless lately.

She’s struggling to focus on classes at her local community college in Dallas while also working full-time, making $18 an hour as a receptionist.

Her car broke down, so the $500 that she had managed to save will now go toward a down payment for a used vehicle.

And she was recently passed over for a promotion.

“Right now it just feels, like, very suffocating to be in this position,” said Ms. Johnson, who was diagnosed last year with bipolar II disorder, depression and A.D.H.D. “I’m not getting anywhere or making any progress.”

It’s an endless loop: Ms. Johnson’s mental health has worsened because of her financial difficulties and her financial problems have grown, partly because of the cost of mental health treatment but also because her disorders have made it more difficult to earn a college degree that could lead to a more lucrative job.

“I’ve failed several classes,” she said. “I burn out really easily, so I just give up.”

The mental health of adolescents and young adults has been on the decline and it’s partly because of “harmful megatrends” like financial inequality, according to a new report published on Tuesday in the scientific journal The Lancet Psychiatry. The global trends affecting younger generations also include wage theft , unregulated social media , job insecurity and climate change , all of which are creating “a bleak present and future for young people in many countries,” according to the authors.

Why focus on global trends?

The report was produced over the course of five years by a commission of more than 50 people, including mental health and economic policy experts from several continents and young people who have experienced mental illness.

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Advancing social justice, promoting decent work ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations

Decent work, brighter futures

This report represents the 20th anniversary publication of the ILO’s Global Employment Trends for Youth (hereafter “GET for Youth”). As an anniversary edition, this GET for Youth looks back on what has been achieved since the dawn of the twenty-first century while also looking ahead to what may lay in store for youth employment in an era characterized by crises and uncertainties.

Press release

• Number of youth not in employment, education, or training a cause for concern, despite falling jobless rate

Yes, at least at the global level and in terms of the youth unemployment rate and also in terms of the youth employment-to-population ratio. In 2023, 64.9 million young people aged 15 to 24 were unemployed worldwide. This is the lowest number to date in the twenty-first century and nearly 4 million fewer than the number of unemployed youth in 2019 (before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic). Standing at 13 per cent in 2023, the global youth unemployment rate does not just reflect a full recovery from the COVID-19 peak; it is also at its lowest level in the past 15 years.

The recovery period thus represents a shift in the gender dynamics of young people’s transition to employment, with a greater degree of disadvantage falling to young women. If the current pace of change was to continue, the gender gap in youth employment to population ratio would not reach zero until well into the twenty-second century.

But the recovery gains for youth and their labour market prospects are already ebbing and recovery has not been universal or even. While Central and Western Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, Northern, Southern and Western Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa all experienced youth unemployment rates during the recovery period that were at a multi-decade low, there remains the long-standing challenges faced by young people in the Arab States and North Africa, where youth unemployment rates remain critically high. The search for work by young jobseekers is a challenge everywhere, but more so in middle-income countries. 

Sustainable Development Goal target 8.6 called on countries to: “By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training” (NEET). With the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the unprecedented jump in youth NEET rates across the globe that resulted, few countries in the world could claim to have met that target.

33 per cent of the world’s youth live in a country that is “off track” in its progress to meet SDG target 8.6. What is most concerning is that the countries that are showing a regressive trend in reducing youth NEET rates are low-income countries and situated in subregions where rates were already among the world’s highest.

Only in East Asia, Eastern Europe, North America, and Northern, Southern and Western Europe – that is, in primarily high-income countries – were youth NEET rates below 15 per cent.

Although youth employment and unemployment – both in absolute numbers and shares – have signaled recovery, many young people today feel anxious about the economy and their job prospects. Some signs of an increased sense of anxiety or unease among youth include:

• Worries about job loss
• Worries about job stability
• Lack of social mobility across generations
• Insufficient economic opportunities
• Limited financial independence
• General happiness levels among youth declining in some regions

Both temporary paid work and self-employment are correlated with informal employment, which is itself known to put workers in disadvantaged circumstances (compared to formal workers) in terms of income, hours, safety and protection under the law. Globally, more than one in two workers (57.8 per cent) are still in informal employment in 2024

Temporary paid workers (with a contract duration less than 12 months) now make up about one fifth to one quarter of employment among young adult workers. There has been a shift away from self-employment and into temporary paid employment in nearly all regions and country income groups. Insecure forms of work are the only option for most youth in developing regions. 

Temporary employment have risen particularly in East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and South Asia. And young women are more likely than men to work in insecure forms of work except in Eastern Europe where the overall share of young adult workers in temporary work declining. 

How the real wages of young adults move in comparison to the adult cohort aged 30 and over also varies across countries. In countries where there is strong demand for entry-level work and a limited supply of job applicants, real wages for the young adult cohort should rise faster than for adults aged 30 and over. This is what is seen in Indonesia, Pakistan, Poland, Türkiye, the United States and Viet Nam, and Mexico in the most recent year. However, in Australia, Brazil, Colombia and Spain, the wage premium lies with the older cohorts, despite the declining youth share of the population, falling youth employment rates and rising education levels. 

The persistence of this wage gap (also known as a wage discount) can relate to the over-representation of young workers in part-time and temporary work, in certain types of occupations and/or economic sectors, and in the informal economy. 

Over the past two decades, significant shifts have taken place in terms of the sectoral distribution of employment, including youth employment, highlighting the structural transformations that have taken place in the global economy. From 2008, services took over as the largest employer of young people worldwide. Within services, three aggregated subsectors have been responsible for two thirds of the increase in the sector’s share: wholesale and retail trade; accommodation and food services; and other business services.

The share of youth employment accounted for by agriculture declined to 30.5 per cent by 2021, while the share accounted for by services rose to 45.9 per cent. The share of global youth employment accounted for by industry hardly changed over the two decades, rising from 21.3 per cent in 2001 to 23.6 per cent in 2021. Within the industry sector, manufacturing accounted for a diminishing share of youth jobs between 2001 and 2021, while construction has come to play a more dominant role, for young men in particular.

Educational attainment among young people is on the rise, but this does not necessarily mean that the benefits of such educational improvements have remained constant. 

Educational attainment is growing, and young people stay in school longer now than in previous decades. In the year 2000, just 38 per cent of the global youth population was engaged in some form of schooling or training. By 2023, the share had increased to nearly one in two (48 per cent). 

Young people’s participation in school/training has increased since the start of the twenty-first century with the exception of those in low-income countries. Among young people aged 15 to 24, the average share of youth attending school/training (regardless of their economic activity status) within the high-income country group was 62.6 per cent in 2023, more than 20 percentage points higher than the share of youth in school/training in the low-income country group. The shares of youth attending school/training were 40.1 per cent in low-income countries in 2023; 49.4 per cent in lower-middle-income countries; and 50.7 per cent in upper-middle-income countries. 

More young adults aged 25 to 29 in high-income and middle-income countries are choosing to stay in (or return to) school at the post-secondary levels. By contrast, the share has declined slightly in low-income countries. For those who can afford it, prolonged schooling can serve as a cushion against labour market entry during turbulent times. Conversely, in lower-income countries, economic crises tend to pull young people out of school/training instead. 

The returns from higher education depends on a variety of interacting factors. In order for educational premiums to be realized, there must be sufficient availability of appropriate jobs for those with higher levels of qualifications. Moreover, higher returns for tertiary education can be something of a double-edged sword, potentially also leading to increasing inequalities in labour market outcomes.

For all but young men in lower-middle- and low-income countries, the youth NEET rate of those with less than a tertiary-level education is higher than that of the tertiary educated. The results are especially striking for young adult women, confirming that young women gain more from tertiary education – in terms of reduced NEET rates – than young men do. It is also evident that benefits associated with higher levels of education – in terms of the reduced likelihood of being NEET – are greater in high-income countries than in developing parts of the world. 

While the gender-based differences in the youth NEET rate benefits accruing to more educated young women and men, respectively, remain substantial, they have actually fallen during the new millennium. In low- and lower-middle-income countries, young people (ages 15 to 29) with an advanced education are much more likely to be unemployed compared to young people with only a basic education. The difference was nearly fourfold in low-income countries in 2023 (with the unemployment rate of youth with advanced degrees at 21.0 per cent compared to 5.8 per cent for those with basic education) and nearly double in lower-middle-income countries. 

For young adults in low- and middle-income countries, the benefits of attaining a tertiary education emerge in the resulting quality of employment (lower incidences of both informal work and low-paid work), rather than in the quantity of employment. Such results hint at a continuing failure in these economies to create high-skilled jobs at a pace that is sufficient to meet the growing supply of tertiary graduates.

Tertiary-educated young adults continue to have firm advantages over lesser educated young adults in the realm of job quantity, but there has been an erosion in returns related to job quality, most notably in high-income countries. Given the costs of higher education in some countries (with associated debt), young people may be logical in questioning whether such costs are worth the price. At the same time, employers facing labour shortages are also found to be increasingly open to the idea of recruiting directly from secondary schools.

On the whole, youth-targeted active labour market programmes (ALMPs) are shown to be effective in improving labour market outcomes. Their impacts are larger in low- and middle-income countries and for young people who are at the greatest risk of labour market exclusion, including young women and youth from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Overall, interventions linked to skills training and entrepreneurship were found to have larger impacts on labour market outcomes for youth than investments put towards employment services and subsidized employment. In low- and middle-income countries, entrepreneurship support and employment services report larger impacts, while in high-income countries, skills training and wage subsidies lead to larger impacts, on average.

ALMPs that combine various components and intervention types, include soft skills and provide a certificate upon completion of the programme lead to better labour market outcomes of youth, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Regional briefs

• Asia and the Pacific
• Europe and Central Asia
• Middle East and North Africa
• Sub-Saharan Africa

The report in figures

• Explore the main figures from the report

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A business journal from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

How Youth Can Help Solve the World’s Toughest Problems

March 30, 2018 • 15 min read.

Innovative ideas from young people are driving the successful targeting of poverty, hunger, climate change and health issues.

The World Bank's Mahmoud Mohieldin and Wharton senior fellow Djordjija Petkoski look at how strategic partnerships and innovative ideas from young people are playing a crucial role in tackling global issues.

Strategic partnerships and innovative ideas from young people are playing a crucial role in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 with the ambitious aim to end poverty and hunger, reduce inequality and tackle climate change. In a conversation with Knowledge at Wharton, Mahmoud Mohieldin, senior vice president for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations, and Partnerships at the World Bank Group, and Djordjija Petkoski, a senior fellow at the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at Wharton, discuss why programs such as Ideas for Action , a joint initiative of the World Bank Group and the Zicklin Center, are important tools to engage young people in development issues.

An edited transcript of the conversation follows.

Knowledge at Wharton: Mahmoud, where do things stand in terms of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

Mahmoud Mohieldin: If you measure it by the number of presentations and submissions to the United Nations System through ministers of finance and development, it is on the increase. Many more countries have committed to presenting their plans for the 2030 agenda this year. That will bring the total of submissions and presentations to more than 110 countries. That’s more than half of the membership of the U.N., which is 193 countries.

If you look at the practical level — at how many countries have done better in terms of designing their own national plans, designing their own budgets to deal with the SDGs — I would say not all of those who submitted have done that. There is always a difference between what’s actually happening and the official presentations and the measure of that is how many countries have incorporated the SDGs in their budgets. You will be surprised to see that only a very small number of countries have done that so far. The justification could be that it’s only the third year since the launching of the SDGs, that some of the lines of business are continuing, but without naming or renaming them under the new SDGs. But coming from a finance institution, we take matters more seriously when we see that government plans are reflected in their budget priorities.

The third level, which is more important than the other two, is the local level. To what extent have you seen improvements in people’s lives, or in the policies and institutions addressing their concerns since the launch of the SDGs in 2015? The SDGs are about more inclusive growth, better social development, and better consideration for environment and climate change issues. Again, not all countries have done that at the local level.

“Coming from a finance institution, we take matters more seriously when we see that government plans are reflected in their budget priorities.” –Mahmoud Mohieldin

There are some good, bright cases. I was in Colombia recently and saw good progress there. There are other Latin American countries, including Mexico, which have taken this issue seriously. There are countries in the East, like China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan, which have good investments in the connection between the central level and the local level. India has done well on that front, as well. In Africa, there are many issues that are constraining governments, but countries like Rwanda are doing very well. This doesn’t mean that others are not doing well. I’m trying to give examples of exceptional progress in terms of the commitment of the leadership and translating this commitment into localized solutions.

Knowledge at Wharton: Are you happy with the progress until now?

Mohieldin: It depends on the performance at the country level. It’s not my happiness but the people’s happiness that matters here. If there is improvement at the local level, if people are more engaged, and if one can see better impact on reduction of poverty, improvement on health and education services, and the rest of the 17 goals, every development agency and its staff like me are happy with the progress.

Knowledge at Wharton: Djordjija, one of the initiatives that you and the Zicklin Center have been collaborating on with the World Bank Group and other partners is Ideas for Action, which is a way to inspire young people to come up with ideas to make the SDGs a reality. How is that program coming along?

Djordjija Petkoski : Last year we were surprised because we doubled the proposals. This year we tripled the proposals. This clearly demonstrates tremendous interest from young people to be part of this process, to own the process, and at the same time, to come up with actionable ideas. What Mahmoud was referring to is that the government is signaling commitment to these issues, but the implementation will not happen just because the government engages. You have to engage the private sector. You have to engage young entrepreneurs. And that is what we want to do. In addition to students, we have young entrepreneurs and young professionals. They are not only putting pressure, they are also making the CEOs of their companies comfortable that they have young people working for them who can come up with innovative ideas.

We have over 2,100 proposals. The number of teams was four times higher than that. We had examples of business associations like the German-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce which utilized the network of companies to engage the young professionals to generate ideas. In Eastern Europe, a pharmaceutical company called Hemofarm used this as a platform not only to generate ideas to make itself more sustainable, but also to communicate to the government that corporations can get engaged if they have additional and critical knowledge of how to deal with these issues.

Knowledge at Wharton: What are some of the reasons that drove this increase in participation?

Petkoski: I think it’s the philosophy of the program — that it is not just about competition. It is a platform for learning, a platform for exchanging knowledge and for building critical local partnerships. We have made some major breakthroughs, for example in Egypt, and that was driven by the Ideas for Action Egypt Club. A major breakthrough in Nigeria was driven by the Ideas for Action African Club.

Knowledge at Wharton: Mahmoud, how does the Ideas for Action program fit in with what you and the World Bank are trying to achieve with the SDGs?

Mohieldin: One of the main things that came out from the U.N. discussions on the SDGs and one of the main things that we are pushing at the Bank is the issue of partnerships. It’s one of the goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda. In our case, it’s about how to rely on our own competitive advantage when it comes to finance or knowledge, but realizing as well that others have their own competitive advantages in their fields. For example, partnership with Wharton as a place of excellence for knowledge and academia, partnerships with the business sector, partnerships with young people who have their own ideas and their own ways of challenging the status quo.

“Implementation will not happen just because the government engages. You have to engage the private sector. You have to engage young entrepreneurs.” — Djordjija Petkoski

The Ideas for Action initiative actually started from here. I was invited by Djordjija four years ago to one of his classes. Based on the exchange of ideas and discussions, I called him on my way back to Washington, D.C., and said, “Why don’t we start having all of these ideas deinstitutionalized rather than having them come out from a seminar or a lecture? Let’s not limit it to Wharton. Let’s make it a big platform.” And so the idea developed. This is the fourth year. We have thousands of participants from around the world, from more than 120 countries, coming with their proposals.

Knowledge at Wharton: Do you think that it is primarily the developing countries that should be focusing on the SDGs, or is this also something for the developed countries to focus on?

Mohieldin: The main thing about the SDGs, in comparison to its predecessor the MDGs or the Millennium Development Goals which ended in 2015, is that the previous goals were mainly focusing on the developing countries, on human development. They had only eight goals. The new and the more challenging aspect of the SDGs is its universality. They are addressing the challenges in the poorest of the countries as well as the challenges of progress and maintaining what you have and improving on it in the most advanced of the economies.

Knowledge at Wharton: Djordjija, how do you select which are the best ideas that should be focused on and prioritized?

Petkoski: Those who make the selections are very motivated to do it. It’s an opportunity for them to understand the ground realities. People from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) or the World Bank who select the projects in a particular country get a pretty clear idea of what, from young people’s perspectives, are priorities for these countries. There are different layers of selection, and in each layer the young people get feedback on how to improve their proposals. So it’s a mutual learning process. The final proposals end up in the book which is published by the World Bank. So, yes, the selection takes time. But if you don’t look at it as a mechanical process, but as a process of learning and providing feedback for those who are participating, it’s very fulfilling.

Knowledge at Wharton: How do you see the role of innovation, and science and technology in the implementation of the SDGs and also in the ideas that are proposed through initiatives like Ideas for Action?

Mohieldin: The STI, or science, technology and innovation, were included in the documents of Addis [Addis Ababa Action Agenda], which are basically the documents relating to the implementation of the SDGs. There is a full chapter on that. Addis happened in July 2015. But because of the fast changes that are happening in the areas of science and technology and innovation, and the discussions about the implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, if you were to write this chapter today, it would be completely different in terms of how to handle it, the kinds of partnerships required. In the Addis Agenda, it would seem that it was primarily the responsibility of the government — perhaps to partner with centers of excellence and the private sector. In reality, you can see who is driving the change. Yes, government is involved in different aspects. It can incubate and support and give a good platform for the flourishing of new ideas and better technological solutions. But it is the private sector businesses and academia which are behind all of these new ideas.

I think rather than dealing with STI as a separate sector, it should be mainstreamed and integrated in every aspect of work, including how to get better data by using big data solutions and other means to get better evidence of what works and what doesn’t work. In finance, we must consider how we look at the use of technology — mobile money, crowdfunding, new technologies like blockchain with its good and as well as controversial outcomes. Or, how can technology enable a hospital or a clinic in a remote village to get the best ideas and solutions in health care from the U.S.?

Knowledge at Wharton: Djordjija, from your perspective of the Ideas for Action program, how do you see the role of academic institutions in making these kinds of initiatives successful?

Petkoski: Let me step back before directly answering that question. Recently, the Zicklin Center organized an event related to blockchain. There was an interesting presentation from a colleague from MIT who said, “Most of the destructive innovations in this space come from people between 24 and 28 years old.” So you ask the question, “What kind of education did they get before they got there?”

“Rather than dealing with science and technology and innovation as a separate sector, it should be mainstreamed and integrated in every aspect of work.” –Mahmoud Mohieldin

I think from an academic perspective we have at least two challenges. One is to go beyond the traditional boundaries, because in the space of blockchain you see people from the technology side and also lawyers to make sure that they don’t get in trouble. But business people are not there. I would argue that there is a disconnect between the most exciting technological solutions and the real needs on the ground that they can address. I think that Silicon Valley is already feeling it. There are no major new ideas coming from there because there is no major change in terms of identifying the problems that can be handled.

On the academia side, one big benefit of this whole initiative is that while we capture the reality on the ground, we also get an understanding of what are the gaps in terms of knowledge and skills that these young people face when they deal with these ground realities. For academics, identifying these gaps is a good reminder that they need to be more focused and careful about how we are preparing the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs.

Knowledge at Wharton: Mahmoud, could you share your thoughts on how innovation and science and technology cannot only empower women, but also bring about greater gender parity around the world?

Mohieldin: The problems related to inequality, discrepancy and unfairness against women are not just in the developing countries, but in many of the advanced economies as well. One of the new initiatives that we are trying to develop and launch during the spring meetings of the World Bank and the IMF in April this year is to link the SDGs to women entrepreneurs. The program is called SDGs and Her. It is in partnership with the Zicklin Center and the Wharton Business School, and with the U.N. System, through the participation of the United Nations Development Programme, U.N. Women, a variety of economic commissions of the U.N. System and the business sector.

We are focusing on the roles of women as entrepreneurs and how through their own micro-enterprises they are investing their time, their efforts and their talents in order to bring some solutions to the poverty of their families and the poverty of their neighborhoods.

Knowledge at Wharton: Djordjija, how would this fit in with the work that you’re already doing for Ideas for Action? Where would you like to see this initiative go?

Petkoski: There is a tremendous complementarity because many proposals we receive are from young girls and women. Also, through this engagement, we would like to utilize [Ideas for Action] not just as a competition for good ideas or for recognizing women who have been successful so far, but also for utilizing the resources that Wharton and other academic institutions have — to provide a platform where they can better equip themselves to take a leadership role.

You cannot separate the fact that women are not equally paid — in parallel we have to address: Are they equally equipped? Do they have an opportunity to get access to knowledge that will make them more creative and more productive? And it’s not just about the women, it’s about their families, about encouraging their daughters to get in this space. So, from our perspective, this is something we would like to take up strongly.

Knowledge at Wharton: Over the next 12 to 24 months, how would you like Ideas for Action and the SDGs and Her initiative to progress, and what contribution would you like to see them make to the SDGs around the world?

Mohieldin: Next year will be the fifth year for Ideas for Action, so we hope for more progress in terms of both quantity and quality. We are happy with the enormous progress in quantity, and we hope to reach not just the 120 plus countries, but the whole membership of the World Bank and the U.N. System.

We are also very much impressed by the quality. We need more in terms of having ideas that can become workable and scalable solutions. Regarding SDGs and Her, while it is following in the good footsteps of the Ideas for Action, given the importance of the role of women — especially young women — and micro-enterprises in the economy, we need to see a big start for this initiative.

Petkoski : I would like to go beyond the heroic entrepreneurs, people who have changed the world, solved global problems. We would like to see more progress at the local level, initiatives which are driven at the local level, solving specific local problems, because that will be a key contribution to solving the bigger problems.

What I’m really after is more in terms of implementation, and through that implementation, shaping the ecosystem inside the country, and even below the local level, so that more ideas — not necessarily generated through Ideas for Action — have a chance to succeed.

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Youth digital engagement crucial for achieving SDGs: Guterres

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As the world celebrates International Youth Day on Monday, the UN chief is emphasising the importance of empowerment and equality for young people to reach the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Under the theme, From Clicks to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development , the Day focuses “on the pivotal role of youth in harnessing technology to advance sustainable development.”

International Youth Day is recognised each 12 August and highlights youth issues and the extraordinary potential of young people as a force for social good.

It was proposed to the UN General Assembly in 1991 by the World Youth Forum and officially established in 1999 to promote awareness and offer support.

Achieving SDGs

UN Secretary-General António Guterres pointed to the ways young people have been using digital tools effectively to tackle local and global challenges including climate change and mental health issues, praising “digital natives” in the younger generations.

Data from the UN in 2022 reveals that digital adoption and innovation are led by the 15 to 24 demographic. Yet, there are still recognisable disparities in low-income countries and among women who have less access to the Internet.

The UN chief said achieving the SDGs requires a “seismic shift” which will require “ bridging digital divides, boosting investments in education, critical thinking and information literacy ” as well as tackling gender biases in the tech industry and encouraging young people to expand digital solutions.

“As Artificial Intelligence reshapes our world, young people must also be front and centre in shaping digital policies and institutions ,” Mr. Guterres said.

A UN statement further said that “by celebrating the digital contributions of youth, we can inspire further innovation and collaboration towards achieving sustainable development.”

Summit of the Future

At next month’s Summit of the Future , world leaders will gather to establish ideas and solutions for a more sustainable future for all.

The UN is encouraging all governments to use this opportunity to advance

youth participation at the summit at every level.

“You can count on the UN Youth Office and the entire UN family to stand with and for young people,” Mr. Guterres said. “Together, let us draw on their energy and ideas to shape a more sustainable future for all.”

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Why children and youth hold the key to a sustainable future

In a world where climate change-induced environmental emergencies, such as floods, extreme temperatures and fires, are increasingly becoming the norm, the future can often look uncertain.

This future is particularly uncertain for children, youth and future generations, who experts recognize as the most vulnerable group to the impacts of climate change.

"Children and youth are the most impacted by today's global environmental crisis, and are the most threatened by our current trajectory,” said David Boyd, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment.

As the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report 2021: The Heat is On shows, if the current trajectory is to be changed - and the global temperature rise kept well below 2°C, with the target of 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels, in line with the Paris Agreement - the triple threat of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution and waste needs to be tackled.

“We must remember that children’s lives are interlocked with the environment, whatever happens to the environment effects children,” said Jonas Schubert, a human rights officer with Terra des Hommes , a UNEP implementing agency.

UNEP has just released guidelines and principles highlighting the importance of protecting the environment for future generations and ensuring that children have access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

Children and youth are the most impacted by today's global environmental crisis and are the most threatened by our current trajectory.

The Principles and Policy Guidance on Children’s Rights to a Healthy Environment in the ASEAN Region  focuses on the ten Southeast Asian states that make up the ASEAN region but carries wider ramifications for children globally.

"Every child on Earth is exposed to some combination of the climate crisis, pollution or the decline of biodiversity. Children from poor, vulnerable and marginalized communities face the worst environmental threats," said Boyd.

By endorsing STEP-UP , a Joint Commitment by UN entities, UNEP has committed to promoting the rights of children, youth and future generations to a healthy environment. It has also pledged to involve them in meaningful participation in decision-making at all levels on climate action and climate justice.

UNEP has long championed the rights of youth to a sustainable environment and has increasingly involved them in the process. A child-friendly version of the Principles and Guidance on Children’s Right to a Healthy Environment in the ASEAN Region was recently released in response to one of the ten Principles, which stated that children must have “access to age-appropriate, gender-sensitive, localised and contextualised information.”

In February last year, UNEP released the GEO-6 for Youth report . The first fully interactive e-publication, written by youth for youth to engage, educate, and lead youth towards environmental action.

Also in February, UNEP supported The Global Youth Environment Assembly (YEA) , which was organized by the UN Major Group for Children and Youth . One of the key aims of this assembly was how youth could engage with policymakers ahead of UNEA-5 .

Before COP26 , the Youth4Climate event drew together 400 youth climate leaders from 186 countries to adopt a collective declaration to present to ministers before COP26.

“To successfully ensure a sustainable future for every child and future generations, we must involve them in designing and implementing solutions,” said Boyd. 

For more information, please contact Soo-Young Hwang: [email protected]  

Further Resources

• Principles and Policy Guidance on Children’s Rights to a Healthy Environment in the ASEAN Region
• STEP-UP- A joint commitment by Heads of United Nations Entities
• Emissions Gap Report 2021: The Heat is On
• GEO-6 for Youth report
• UN Major Group for Children and Youth

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Youth offer solutions to global problems, if leaders take action now

• 18 July 2017

MUBENDE, Uganda/UNITED NATIONS, New York – Today, the world faces daunting challenges, from persistent poverty to entrenched inequalities. Yet one key solution is just over the horizon, if countries and leaders take action now.

In many poor, developing countries in Africa and South Asia, demographics are changing, with large numbers of young people entering working age and falling numbers of dependents. These are potential conditions for a so-called demographic dividend – economic growth that can occur when proportionally more people are working, which enables families to save and invest more money. On a large scale, these changes can lift whole communities out of poverty.

But there can be no dividend if governments do not first invest in the health, education, employment and human rights of young people.

“By tapping into the massive transformative capabilities of youth, entire nations stand to ramp up their prospects,” said Peter Thomson, President of the United Nations General Assembly, at a high-level meeting on the issue yesterday at UN Headquarters in New York. “We must invest more of our resources in the training of young people so they can serve as innovators, entrepreneurs and agents of change.”

Youth leaders at the event echoed Mr. Thomson’s call to action.

“Let young people contribute with our skills, our education, our ideas and our active engagement,” said Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth.

The solution: Empowered young people

Efforts to empower, educate and employ young people can have a cascading effect on the rest of society.

Edith Nambalirwa, a 20-year-old in the Ugandan town of Mubende, offers a powerful illustration of this. Struggle is common in her community, which faces severe poverty , high HIV rates ,  high incidence of teen pregnancy and low levels of school completion .

Ms. Nambalirwa has experienced her share of difficulties. “I lost my dad when I was young, and I’ve faced so many challenges,” she told UNFPA. But today, she has a robust hairdressing business, and she is a role model for other young people.

This is because, three years ago, she participated in UNFPA’s Youth Enterprise Model (YEM) , a programme that teaches young people about protecting their health and starting small businesses.

Through vocational schools and community outreach sessions, YEM is giving youth information about financial literacy and sexual and reproductive health , including how to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections like HIV. Information is also disseminated over the radio and through an SMS toll-free hotline.

Ms. Nambalirwa says the information enabled her to focus on growing her business. She recently relocated the salon to accommodate her expanding client base.

And she has become a peer educator, sharing what she has learned with the young people who visit her business, even convincing one client with HIV to continue taking anti-retroviral medication.

“For the young girls, it’s easy because I’m young and they are also young. They can talk to me and tell me their problems,” Ms. Nambalirwa said.

“I want to be an example for youth. I want to help my Uganda,” she added. “If I cannot do it with money, let me do it with knowledge.”

Commitments, inclusion needed

But the efforts of individuals are not enough. Government commitments are needed if countries are to harness the skills and ingenuity of their youth, emphasized the ministers, advocates and UN officials at yesterday’s high-level event.

And countries must not only improve education, health care and job opportunities. They must also address gender inequality to ensure all young people have the means to emerge from poverty.

“We want our government to be committed both internationally and nationally to the issues of girls and young people,” said Nur Hidayati Handayani of the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights.

And young people themselves must have a say in the decisions affecting them.

“Let young people be active partners, not passive beneficiaries,” Ms. Wickramanayake said.

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Addressing the Youth Employment Challenge: Beyond the Skills Gap

Commentary by Nicole Goldin

Published September 15, 2014

For many young people, it’s back to school time; though too many millions are out of school altogether. Yet as global youth unemployment rates hit crisis levels, we recognize that even those in school are falling short in gaining the necessary skills to enter the increasingly competitive local and international workforce. Addressing the “soft” and “hard” skills gap with innovative and traditional workforce readiness is arguably seen as the prime solution and the top priority of both the public and private sectors.

Yet as important as education and skills acquisition is, understanding and meeting the youth employment challenge means recognizing that there is no single cause or solution. Indeed, it means addressing the skills gap. But, it should also mean a more dynamic approach that assesses and addresses other gaps that permeate both the supply and demand sides of the employment coin. This more comprehensive analytical and evaluative framework – a youth employment gap analysis - includes among others, matters related to wellbeing, youth and employer expectations, informational access, entrepreneurial sustainability, and policies and systems. Understanding and addressing the broader dynamics sustaining these gaps will require deeper analysis and greater engagement and alignment between public and private sector stakeholders, including business, government, educators, NGOs, and young people.

The Information Gap

Information gaps can have adverse effects on both employers and potential employees, and exacerbate the skills mismatch; youth may be unaware of employment opportunities suitable for their skill sets, while employers are unaware of the unique, innovative, and local potential workforce at hand. Greater access to information may not only bridge this fundamental market gap, but may also help to address the stigma and misconceptions youth and communities hold about certain employment opportunities and pathways.  In emerging economies, information gaps are often especially acute though, technology is increasingly helping alleviate these challenges, especially among youth. Souktel , for example, created a mobile-based job matching service where employers disseminate job opportunities through SMS messages, and potential employees are able to submit their CVs through simple SMS. 

The Entrepreneurship Gap

The continued constraint in securing a job is increasingly leading youth to be entrepreneurial.  Yet youth are challenged by limited access to necessary capital to begin and sustain enterprises.  On the supply side, the private sector is key in supporting incubation and engagement in innovative finance models, such as loan guarantees for youth-led enterprises.  And once SMEs are established, the public sector is a crucial force in facilitating the expansion of these small companies through policy and provision of an enabling business environment that pays attention to the unique needs of young business owners.  On the demand side, the private sector has enormous opportunity to support entry to local and global value chains to ensure entrepreneurial success and longevity.

The Policy and Systems Gap

Many of the most talked about interventions are programs that while necessary, are insufficient to scale.  The extent of the crisis needs comprehensive and integrated policies, institutions and systems that build human capital and strengthens skills, stimulates job creation, promotes youth employment, and supports decent work.  At the same time, it can be difficult to build consensus between multiple players with different motivations in the workforce and employment system.  For example, while governments might seek to build a more mobile workforce, the private sector may seek to promote specific skills acquisition through tailored training initiatives.

The Job Accessibility Gap

With job opportunities increasingly urban-based, inadequate or unsafe transportation infrastructure further compromises youths’ access to employment opportunities.  To fill this gap enterprising young people and thoughtful employers are providing transportation, shared ride platforms, or offering relocation support to help ensure that talented youth are not sidelined because they are unable to get to a work site.   Safer transport could also help to curb instances of traffic accidents and fatalities, the leading global cause of youth mortality.  Government incentives and shared investments with donors and the private sector could further boost business and job creation in more rural, agricultural, and inaccessible communities.

The Incentives and Expectations Gap

The gap between employer and young employees’ expectations, can also be problematic. The way in which the private sector manages its expectations of young employees, and youths’ expectations of their employers, are important but often overlooked considerations in workforce turnover.  Adjustments in employer expectations to recognize and utilize the skills that youth actually have, can help foster more inclusive and sustainable employment outcomes.  While young people may need to adjust their expectations for compensation, duties and level of authority as they build up their experience.  At the same time, negative perceptions associated with sectors with significant employment opportunities, such as agriculture and hospitality, may be an even more present challenge in societies where youth are particularly influenced by their parents’ beliefs and values. Employer incentives, and greater knowledge among young people and their families about career pathways, can be useful in drawing and sustaining youth interest in a broader set of jobs.

The Wellbeing Gap

It has been argued that employment outcomes are closely linked to other aspects of youth’s lives.  The inaugural Global Youth Wellbeing Index , released in April by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the International Youth Foundation confirms this. Data analysis reveals that individual indicators within its economic opportunity sub-index, are correlated; and also affirm the connection between performance on education, health, safety and security, and information and communications technology indicators and success in employment and economic opportunity. Of the nearly 70% of the world’s youth represented in the Index, 85% were found to be living in countries with below average or low levels of composite wellbeing; pointing towards the need for more coordinated, integrated and cross-sectoral approaches.

Our collective prosperity and security rests to a large extent on the ability to harness the potential and productivity of today’s youth generation. Yes, we need to do more to ensure they are equipped with the skills and competencies that the job market demands.  But, we should not do this in a vacuum. If we neglect the broader set of constraints impacting youth employment, including and beyond those discussed here, success against this global challenge will continue to elude us. Nicole Goldin is a senior associate in the Project on Prosperity and Development at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. Commentary  is produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this publication should be understood to be solely those of the author(s). © 2014 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. All rights reserved.

Nicole Goldin

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ICU Global Youth Essay Competition 2024 (Win a trip to Japan)

Deadline: October 9, 2024

Applications are open for the ICU Global Youth Essay Competition 2024 . International Christian University (ICU) and Japan ICU Foundation invite youths from around the world to share their views on how to make society better. Each year, essay topics are selected in the areas of human rights and current events. 

Essays must focus on one of this year’s topics. Select one of the following questions from the areas of human rights and current events.

• ICU’s mission is to nurture students who will contribute to world peace. Although they say “world” peace, in reality all issues faced by humanity, local and global, are deeply interconnected, and “peace” may mean different things depending on the situation. Give an example of a global issue affecting your local community, why it interests you, and how you would act to bring peace to that situation.
• Their name, International Christian University, shows their commitment to being “international” and maintaining an open, welcoming campus. They believe in the spirit of Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “everyone has the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.” Are there people around you who do not/are unable to participate in the cultural life of your community? Why do you think that is and how would you act to ensure that their cultural life is accessible to everyone?

There are no right answers to these questions; they are not looking for essays that propose the “correct” solutions that already exist. They want to learn about YOUR original ideas. As you write, start by reflecting on your own experience, think about what the problem is, and then write your own opinion.

• Top Prize (1 winner):  Two round-trip airline tickets to Tokyo in the summer of 2025 for the winner and a guardian. A visit to ICU will be incorporated into the trip. In lieu of the airline tickets, the top prize winner has the option of receiving 100,000 yen.
• Second Prize (1 winner):  50,000 yen gift card
• Third Prize (10 winners):  A copy of the “ Illustrated Universal Declaration of Human Rights  in French, English, and Japanese” translated by ICU students.
• Special Prize (1 winner)  for those who have not been educated in English for more than 1 year: same as 3rd prize

Eligibility

• Open to youths from around the world.
• Applicants must be aged 14-18 as of October 9, 2024 (inclusive) and must currently reside outside of Japan. University/college students as of October 9, 2024 are ineligible to apply.
• Essays must be written in English.
• No more than 650 words, excluding essay title and bibliography
• Essays must have a title. Create a title that best describes the essence of your essay. The title does not count towards the word limit.

Evaluation Criteria

A group of judges from ICU and the Japan ICU Foundation will evaluate all essays using the following factors:

• Supporting arguments
• Originality
• Execution of writing (Audience/Coherence/Clarity/Grammar/Style)

All essays will be checked for plagiarism as well as AI generators checker.

Application

All essays must be submitted online through Submittable platform. The application form will open from August 9 until October 9, 2024.

Click here to apply

For more information, visit ICU Global Youth Essay Competition .

Jude Ogar is an educator and youth development practitioner with years of experience working in the education and youth development space. He is passionate about the development of youth in Africa.

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The concerns and challenges of being a U.S. teen: What the data show

American teens have a lot on their minds. Substantial shares point to anxiety and depression, bullying, and drug and alcohol use (and abuse) as major problems among people their age, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of youth ages 13 to 17.

How common are these and other experiences among U.S. teens? We reviewed the most recent available data from government and academic researchers to find out:

Anxiety and depression

Serious mental stress is a fact of life for many American teens. In the new survey, seven-in-ten teens say anxiety and depression are major problems among their peers – a concern that’s shared by mental health researchers and clinicians .

Data on the prevalence of anxiety disorders is hard to come by among teens specifically. But 7% of youths ages 3 to 17  had such a condition in 2016-17, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health. Serious depression, meanwhile, has been on the rise among teens for the past several years, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health , an ongoing project of the federal Department of Health and Human Services. In 2016, 12.8% of youths ages 12 to 17 had experienced a major depressive episode in the past year, up from 8% as recently as 2010. For 9% of youths in 2016, their depression caused severe impairment. Fewer than half of youths with major depression said they’d been treated for it in the past year.

Alcohol and drugs

Anxiety and depression aren’t the only concerns for U.S. teens. Smaller though still substantial shares of teens in the Pew Research Center survey say drug addiction (51%) and alcohol consumption (45%) are major problems among their peers.

Fewer teens these days are drinking alcohol, according to the University of Michigan’s long-running Monitoring the Future survey, which tracks attitudes, values and behaviors of American youths, including their use of various legal and illicit substances. Last year, 30.2% of 12th-graders and 18.6% of 10th-graders had consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. Two decades earlier, those figures were 52% and 38.8%, respectively. (In the Center’s new survey, 16% of teens said they felt “a lot” or “some” pressure to drink alcohol.)

But the Michigan survey also found that, despite some ups and downs, use of marijuana (or its derivative, hashish) among 12th-graders is nearly as high as it was two decades ago. Last year, 22.2% reported using marijuana in the past 30 days, versus 22.8% in 1998. Past-month marijuana use among 10th-graders has declined a bit over that same period, from 18.7% to 16.7%, but is up from 14% in 2016.

Marijuana was by far the most commonly used drug among teens last year, as it has been for decades.  While more than 10% of 12th-graders reported using some illicit drug other than marijuana in the late 1990s and early 2000s, that figure had fallen to 6% by last year.

The Michigan researchers noted that vaping, of both nicotine and marijuana, has jumped in popularity in the past few years. In 2018, 20.9% of 12th-graders and 16.1% of 10th-graders reported vaping nicotine in the past 30 days, about double the 2017 levels. By comparison, only 7.6% of 12th-graders and 4.2% of 10th-graders had smoked a cigarette in that time. And 7.5% of 12-graders and 7% of 10th-graders said they’d vaped marijuana within the past month, up from 4.9% and 4.3%, respectively, in 2017.

Bullying and cyberbullying

Issues of personal safety also are on U.S. teens’ minds. The Center’s survey found that 55% of teens said bullying was a major problem among their peers, while a third called gangs a major problem.

Bullying rates have held steady in recent years, according to a survey of youth risk behaviors by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About a fifth of high school students (19% in 2017) reported being bullied on school property in the past 12 months, and 14.9% said they’d experienced cyberbullying (via texts, social media or other digital means) in the previous year. In both cases, girls, younger students, and students who identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual were more likely to say they’d been bullied.

As for gangs, the share of students ages 12 to 18 who said gangs were present at their school fell from 20.1% in 2001 to 10.7% in 2015, according to a report on school safety from the federal departments of Education and Justice. Black and Hispanic students, as well as students in urban schools, were most likely to report the presence of gangs at school, but even for those groups the shares reporting this fell sharply between 2001 and 2015, the most recent year for which data are available.

Four-in-ten teens say poverty is a major problem among their peers, according to the Center’s new report. In 2017, about 2.2 million 15- to 17-year-olds (17.6%) were living in households with incomes below the poverty level – up from 16.3% in 2009, but down from 18.9% in 2014, based on our analysis of Census data. Black teens were more than twice as likely as white teens to live in households below the poverty level (30.4% versus 14%); however, the share of white teens in below-poverty-level households had risen from 2009 (when it was 12.1%), while the share of black teens in below-poverty-level households was almost unchanged.

Teen pregnancy

Far fewer U.S. teens are having to juggle adolescence and parenthood, as teen births continue their long-term decline . Among 15- to 19-year-olds, the overall birthrate has fallen by two-thirds since 1991 – from 61.8 live births per 1,000 women to 20.3 in 2016 , according to the CDC. All racial and ethnic groups have witnessed teen-birthrate declines of varying degrees: Among non-Hispanic blacks, for example, the rate fell from 118.2 live births per 1,000 in 1991 to 29.3 in 2016 .

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Drew DeSilver is a senior writer at Pew Research Center .

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Bridging the Gap: How Self-Awareness Can Unleash Youth Potential

• Opinion by Bisma Qamar ( new york )
• Thursday, August 22, 2024
• Inter Press Service

NEW YORK, Aug 22 (IPS) - Imagine a world where every young person has the tools they need to succeed, regardless of their age, area of residence, ethnicity, college name, or the title on their resume. It's a world where dreams are limitless, and potential knows no bounds.

Individuals often find themselves trying to fit into a puzzle piece where do not belong as the mere definition of success has been set on a few parameters one may feel obliged to achieve such as go to that high ranked school, get the right internship, make it to those networking events and land a perfect job – but what happens when one wishes to take a detour in their own path?

Self-awareness leads to Self-efficacy

Great emphasis has been given onto the crucial aspect of more inclusivity for youth as they are the future leaders for tomorrow, but why not equip them to become the leaders of today?

By understanding our self —our thoughts, feelings, strengths, weaknesses, values, and motivations—we build the foundation for believing in our ability to achieve our goals. Opportunities are everywhere, but the question lies how often do we know which and when to grasp?

On average, it has been seen individuals in the first 5-7 years post-graduation are seen to pivot in their careers most. In order to help young individuals achieve their true aspirations, instilling courage, building resilience, and developing self-awareness through effective career mapping tools, genuine mentoring, and making resources and platforms more accessible to them can have a great impact in shaping their journeys.

When youth are equipped with this knowledge, they can make informed decisions about their future, choosing paths that lead to genuine fulfillment rather than marking another tick on a pre-defined list of what they are told to follow by others, and that is where true empowerment lies.

Crossroads to Success

It becomes over whelming to stay focused and reflect on what is it that you truly want in a world full of endless opportunities, waking up to dynamic changes evolving them. The art of staying focused, specific and in alignment to one's aspirations can lead to more effective career paths, in which youth would be able to emerge as true change makers in their respective areas.

This disconnect between one's goals and the pathway chosen can lead to frustration, burnout, and a sense of unfulfilled potential resulting in a greater percentage of youth detouring from where their true potential really lies and giving up earlier than expected.

By allowing open dialogue, effective mentoring, offering diverse exposure and encouraging self-reflection in terms of one's passion can greatly impact and empower a young individual to rise above and become the true authentic version of themselves.

Re-defining the norms:

As the secretary general stated earlier on the occasion of international youth day how crucial it is to make youth more included in all areas of decision making and how upskilling them with the relevant tools and knowledge is the way towards achieving creating an impact. Over the last decade, the word empowerment has seen to grow in importance and emphasis. It is now time to redefine what we mean by empowering others and are we actually putting it into action or have left it as another tick on the check list on the road of inclusivity.

Embrace the Detour

Taking that one step forward has always been the most hardest, as it carries the weight of expectations, fear of failure, fear of missing out and the constant chants of what will people think? In the midst of stepping towards that one forward and remaining in status quo is what truly shapes the future ahead.

As John Green stated "It is so hard to leave until you leave and then it is the easiest thing in the world". Normalizing detours and motivating youth to challenge the status quo is what truly empowers them, rather than merely giving them the ability to make decisions and choose but with only the same colored balls in the box to choose from.

As we look towards building a more inclusive, innovative, peaceful and hopeful society ahead of us, we must acknowledge the fact that youth are no longer waiting to get a seat at the table, rather they are crafting their own tables to bring genuine change which would not be limited towards a few, but towards all and empowering youth for youth.

Bisma Qamar is a youth activist in the field of learning and development. As a specialist in communication & branding, she works on bridging the gap between talent and opportunities by upskilling individuals on personal and professional development across corporate organizations and academic institutions.

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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights Reserved Original source: Inter Press Service

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Many Languages, One World® International Essay Contest Winners Unveil Action Plans for a Sustainable Future at the United Nations General Assembly

Nearly 60 students from around the world gathered at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 29 July to present their action plans for building a sustainable future through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The event was the culmination of the weeklong Many Languages, One World ® Global Youth Forum, held at Hofstra University in New York from 25 to 29 July.

The students were winners of the 3rd annual Many Languages, One World international essay contest and they came from 54 universities in 36 countries. Each year the contest is organized by United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and ELS Educational Services, Inc., and challenges college and university students around the globe to write an essay examining global citizenship, cultural understanding and the role that multilingualism can play in fostering both. Entrants are required to write essays in one of the six official United Nations languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish), which can be neither their first language nor their primary language of instruction. More than 9,000 individuals from 165 countries took part in the initial phase of the contest this year.

Nearly two dozen UN staff members across four departments used their language skills, serving as judges for the contest. Jason Pierce was a reader for the English language essays and impressed by the quality of the students' writing: The essays have reaffirmed my belief that multilingualism can help to overcome cultural barriers, serve as a unifying force, and lead to global citizenship.

Students who participated in the contest are pursuing undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees. Their fields of study include language and linguistics, medicine, architecture, computer science and technology, business, and sustainable research management.

The Youth Forum is a transformative experience for many of the students, like Amani Naburi from Tanzania: Many Languages, One World is definitely one of the most influential platforms to create change and to inspire a better world. Imagine 60 young and vibrant minds from around the globe, who are aspirants of varied sectors, discussing global issues and coming up with collective solutions. Imagine these minds, trying to be curious about each other's cultures, challenges and opportunities, and craving to identify similar patterns between themselves.

Cristina Gallach, Under Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information at the United Nations, opened the event by underlining the importance of multilingualism in our lives: Communication and continuous dialogue are core tools for peaceful societies, and multilingualism is not only a means we use to share information about the work of the UN, it also reflects our respect for diversity and inclusion that lie at the heart of our work.

The President of the General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, echoed these sentiments: Multilingualism and diversity can provide us with different ways to view the world. They can help us to be humble and more tolerant of others. And they can expand the reservoir of ideas and innovation that we need to implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

Ahmed Alhendawi, the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, who addressed the students on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, pointed out the students' important role in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: To realize this bold vision, we need the power, energy and ideas of today's young people, who are part of the largest generation of youth in history.

Mark Harris, President Emeritus of ELS, noted that the number of contest entrants tripled this year, reaching forty more nations than 2015, a sign of the growing importance of multilingualism in a globalized world. Susan Adams, Senior Advisor to the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP), highlighted the collaboration between UNAI, ELS and IAUP in their efforts to promote Global Citizenship education as a means of improving the world.

Learn more about Many Languages, One World and sign up for updates here . If your college or university is interested in becoming a member of United Nations Academic Impact you can enrol here.

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