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Supporting Adolescents and Youth

Overview

• The UNFPA vision for youth
• Critical transitions
• Diverse lives
• More time and opportunities

More than 1.5 billion people are between the ages of 10 and 25. This largest-ever generation of adolescents is approaching adulthood in a world their elders could not have imagined. Globalization, the AIDS pandemic, global warming, electronic communications and a changing climate have irrevocably altered the landscape.

The scenario is mixed. As young people share ideas, values, music and symbols through mass media and electronic technology, a global youth culture has emerged. Many young people are organizing themselves and networking through formal and informal channels.

But more than half of young people live in poverty, on less than $2 per day.  Often they lack access to the technology and information. Many also face social inequality, poor schools, gender discrimination, unemployment and inadequate health systems. They deserve better. And investing in them is an investment in the future leaders of families, communities and nations.

The UNFPA vision for youth

UNFPA promotes and protects the rights of young people. It envisions a world in which girls and boys have optimal opportunities to develop their full potential, to freely express themselves and have their views respected, and to live free of poverty, discrimination and violence.

To achieve this, UNFPA works across sectors and with many partners to:

• Empower adolescents and youth with skills to achieve their dreams, think critically, and express themselves freely.
• Promote health, including by giving them access to sexual and reproductive health information, education, commodities and services.
• Connect young people to livelihood and employment programmes.
• Uphold the rights of young people, especially girls and marginalized groups, to grow up healthy and safe to receive a fair share of social investments.
• Encourage young people’s leadership and participation in decisions that affect them, including the development plans of their societies.

UNFPA’s holistic, multi-sectoral, collaborative approach reflects a vision that sees the lives of young people in totality rather than fragments. At the policy level, the Fund frames adolescent and youth issues within the larger development context of poverty reduction.  At the programme level, it advocates for an essential package of social protection interventions for youth that includes education, sexual and reproductive health services and support for establishing livelihoods. At both levels, the Fund encourages  intergenerational alliances that pair the energy, perspectives and motivation of young people with the experience and know-how of adult coaches and facilitators.

Critical transitions

Adolescence is a period of many critical transitions: physical, psychological, economic and social. As childhood is left behind, pressures to forge a unique identity and to become responsible adults intensify. These transitions are mixed with challenges and choices, which are strongly influenced by gender expectations of societies and families. Successfully navigating through these transitions depends, in part, by the support young people receive from families, communities and society at large.

Diverse lives

Although young people are all in transition, their experiences are by no means similar. The experience of young people to safely and successfully navigate their transition to adulthood are diversified by age, sex, marital status, schooling levels, residence, living arrangements, migration and socio-economic status.  Young people often represent a disproportionate number of those affected by crises. Programming for the diversity of young people can yield better results in helping young people grasp opportunities and overcome challenges with positive results.

More time and opportunities

In general, young people in the developing world have longer intervals between childhood and assuming adult roles. Compared to a generation ago, today’s young people are more likely to spend adolescence in school and to delay marriage and childbearing. This means they have more time and opportunities to acquire information and skills that can help them reach their full potential. The growing numbers of young people, along with the longer period of being unmarried (and in many cases sexually active) also means there will be a need for continued investments in education, skills training and health services, including to protect sexual and reproductive health.