Standing at the brink of a future filled with possibility, on the verge of maturity, young women and young men encounter the risks, responsibilities and opportunities of adulthood. If they are lucky, lessons learned in childhood will serve them well. Sound decisions and the ability to act in their own best interests will protect them–and caring adults will continue to support, guide and give young people what they need to stay safe and healthy. But many adolescents are not this fortunate. Millions of teenagers lack the information and services to help them prevent unwanted pregnancy, abortion and sexually transmitted disease.

From one day to the next, a future of promise can be lost. That loss is a tragedy for the individual and for society as well, which suffers when potential fails to be achieved. Consider collectively the impact of 15 million teenagers giving birth each year, many of them with bodies and minds far too young for motherhood. Consider, too, that half of all new HIV infections are among young people: five people between the age of 10 and 24 every minute.

The time between childhood and maturity is a time of rapid change when adolescents may be caught up in events but lack the tools to control what is happening. When unprotected sex hap- pens too early, the consequences can be severe –as the families and friends will recall of girls who have died in childbirth or whose unwanted pregnancies led to unsafe abortions.

Areas of Opportunity

Young people: Most promising of all the resources required to improve life for young people–today and in the future–is the energy, intelligence and enthusiasm of young people themselves. At 1.04 billion, today’s is the biggest-ever generation of young people between 15 and 24, and this age group is rapidly expanding in many countries. The world has an unprecedented opportunity to benefit from their energy and ambition.

At age 15, Jennifer, is a committed activist for the needs of youth: "Among the lessons I have learned is that we should speak for ourselves, but listen to others and realize that we are all facing the same problems. The resulting cooperation will lead to common solutions."

Until recently, adolescents were seen as a healthy segment of the population and received low priority for health services. But biology and society bring on additional health problems: those resulting from unprotected sex, violence and substance abuse. For many young people, services for "married only" come much too late. Today, people are reaching puberty earlier, marrying later and spending a longer time between childhood and adulthood. Young people–a group with special health needs–find their health needs neglected or ignored the world over.

Because so much of the developing world’s population is young–one third is under 15–population will continue to grow even if everyone in the world only replaces themselves. Fast population growth keeps many developing countries from escaping poverty, because economic growth cannot match pace.

But there is better news: the combined benefits of better education and better reproductive health services are tremendous. In poorer countries, people will live longer, have fewer but healthier children, and young people will be a smaller but more educated part of the population. The population momentum can be slowed significantly if young people are enabled and encouraged to have children later in life. For individual adolescents, reproductive health care protects both health and future.

If the millions of young people entering the workforce today can contribute fully to economic development, developing countries stand to benefit substantially. The education, health and life choices offered to young people today determine the economic and social prospects of all countries in the 21st century.

Equal Rights: Women today generally have more choices than their mother’s generation had: in education, marriage and employment, as well as in family size and spacing. The benefits of schooling and wage work are striking: as women they are more likely to seek medical care, to maintain their family's health, to have greater say in decisions affecting their lives, and to marry later with more resources and skills. Still, too many girls have little or no say about what happens next in their lives. Cultural traditions may push them into early marriage and childbearing. Some may be forced into bad situations or behave in ways that society looks down on. Most discover that their brothers have a lot more control than they do over decisions that shape the future: education, employment, sexual relationships, marriage, having children. Many girls and young women know they have a right to all of life's options and opportunities and are taking charge of making change.

Toyosi, 16, says her work as a peer educator in Nigeria has shown her that "we can become anything we want to be, how to take care of our-selves as girls and how to interact with people, including boys. We watch films and know all about sex and pregnancy. I know my body very well."

Education: Education provides young people with the skills they need for adult life, from the basic skills needed for future employment to the skills that make it possible to respond to life’s challenges, to make sound decisions and to feel self-confident.

Girls need these skills as much or more than boys do. But domestic work or parental fears about protecting their "virtue" sometimes pre-vent girls from attending school. They miss out on learning skills they could use to earn a better living or to take control of their lives: no math or reading lessons, and certainly no learning about sexuality and reproductive health.

Parents and teachers and trusted older family members can be among the best sources of information and the strongest advocates of girls attaining education. Yet most young people say they find it awkward or impossible to discuss their concerns at home. "Start talking to us early," teens say, before sex is a big deal.

Reproductive Health Information and Services: "Reproductive health is universally accepted as a human right," says Dr. Sadik of UNFPA, "and this right extends to young people. Now, we have to work to make sure that reproductive health is a reality for all the world’s young people."

Accurate information and accessible health care services are rarely to be found when adolescents need them most. Obstacles to sex education also get in the way of young people’s ability to take charge of their health, whether they are married or unmarried. Such information and services are the right of all young men and young women, and it is the responsibility of adults to protect this right.

Overcoming adult reluctance to provide information and services is a prerequisite to progress. While approaches must consider the force of tradition, morality and religion, the common ground for parents is a concern for the well-being of their children, who are so quickly changing into young women and young men.

Complicating the situation is the reluctance of many adolescents to use health services. They may not realize they need medical help or know that care is available, where they can go, how much it costs, and whether they would be treated with respect and confidentiality. When asked, "youth-friendly" services are what young people say they want.