Young people in theArab States
Some reflections based on the UN’s
World Programme of Action for Youth
Joop Theunissen
Focal Point on Youth
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
What is youth?
A statistical definition: 15-24 years
A period of transition from protection in childhoodto self-determination in adulthood
Why does the concept change?
Changes in historical age
Changes in social age
How do youth fit in globally?
Children (<15)
1.8 billion
30%
Youth (15-24)
1.1 billion
18%
Adults (25-64)
2.8 billion
46%
Elderly (65>)
0.4 billion
7%
Total
6.1 billion
100%
Over 1.1 billion youth – 85 per cent in the South
Asia and the Pacific
659 million
Africa
161 million
Latin America and theCaribbean
101 million
Middle East and NorthAfrica
34 million
North America
42 million
Europe
100 million
Ten priorities of the United Nationsfor youth – agreed in 1995
1.Education
2.Employment
3.Hunger andpoverty
4.Health issues
5.The environment
6.Drug abuse
7.Delinquency
8.Leisure
9.Girls and youngwomen
10.Participation indecision-making
UN World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond,
General Assembly resolution 50/81
Hunger and Poverty
How many young people live in poverty?
Undernourished: up to 160 million
On <$1 per day: 206 million
On <$2 per day: 515 million = almost half of allyouth!
World Youth Report 2005, Table 1, page 5
How many in poverty: MiddleEast and Northern Africa region
2 million under $1 per day
12 million under $2 per day
7 million on poor nutrition
Coping with poverty
Labour: “forced” entrepreneurship and self-employment in the informal sector
Migration of young workers:
Domestic: rural-urban migration(50-50 point rural/urban population was reached in 2002)
International migration(175 million migrants in 2002)
Education – The Good News
The “best-educated generation” ever:
Since 1995, more children than ever completeprimary school
Four out of five eligible youth are insecondary education
Some 100 million youth currently in tertiaryeducation
Education – The Bad News
Large differences globally:
130 million children currently not in school
133 million youth are illiterate
Large gender differences
Large differences between groups ofcountries
Employment
88 million young people were out of workin 2004 (up from 58 million in 1995)
Youth are almost half of the world’sunemployed
Globalization forces young people tobecome increasingly competitiveinternationally
Participation in decision-making
Youth participation promotes social integrationand cohesion in society
2 trends:
New forms of participatory structures: awayfrom membership-based organizationstowards looser, network-based structures
Yet, still very active spontaneous studentmovements that can bring about socialchange
Young people and health
Reproductive health risks
Maternal health:
Behavioral risks
1 million deaths worldwide on accidents, violence,alcohol, tobacco and drugs
Risk of poverty-related disease
Pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, measles, HIV/AIDS
HIV: 2.5 mln deaths per year; 39 mln infected so farworldwide, 20 mln died so far; 10 mln youth infected;
Malaria: 1 million deaths per year
TB: 1.7 million deaths per year
Girls and young women
Gender-basedstereotyping, includingdiscrimination
Unequal treatment inthe worlds of educationand work
Access to reproductivehealth services toprevent STDs andpregnancy
Violence againstwomen; femaleinfanticide, genitalmutilation; sexualabuse and exploitation
Five “New” Youth Issues since1995
World Youth Report 2003:
Youth and Globalization
Youth and ICT
HIV/AIDS
Youth and conflict prevention
Intergenerational relations
Youth and Globalization
Economic globalization – two views:
Benefits young people: they are quick adapters
Hurts young people: they are being exploited
Social aspects of globalization:
young people come closer together: local issues becomeglobal issues vice versa: glocalization
it has created a more uniform youth culture -> see nexttopic.
Information andcommunication technology
Traditional forms of socialization of young peopleare being challenged
New technology brings a uniform culture of
Information
Pleasure
Autonomy
A new global youth culture, increasingly media-driven
Young people and conflict
Young people are offenders and victims -they kill and are being killed, more than anyother group.
They play a disproportionate large role!
Youth and the MDGs
An opportunity:
Youth are a dividend to build long-term socialcapital to reach the MDGs and economic andsocial development.
A challenge:
Worldwide 200 million youth in poverty, 88million unemployed, 10 million with HIV/AIDS
Youth are a tremendous resource that needs to beunleashed.
Thank you!
More information:
www.un.org/youth
youth@un.org