The Global Call On Youth - 3 June 2014
The Global Call On Youth - 3 June 2014
The Global Call On Youth - 3 June 2014
This Call reflects an emerging global consensus on concrete proposals for target areas on
youth in the post-2015 development agenda. It is based on the top five thematic priorities of over
1.3 million young people who voted in the MyWorld2015 survey out of a total 2.1 Million respondents
– Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship, Health, Good Governance, and Peace and Stability.
Convened by the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, a team of youth-led
organizations and UN entities worked from January 2014 to May 2014 to consolidate the proposed
target areas with the participation of:
Over 1700 youth organizations in the Crowdsourcing Platform of the Global Partnership on
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Youth in the Post-2015 Development Agenda,
The UN Major Group on Children and Youth,
Global networks of international NGOs, youth organizations and regional youth platforms,
including the International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organisations (ICMYO, a network of
26 international youth-led NGOs and regional youth platforms), and the Alliance for
International Youth Development (AIYD) (a coalition of 24-international non-profit, private
organizations, and foundations),
United Nations Inter-agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD, consisting of 40 UN
entities).
Intergovernmental organizations: The Commonwealth and Ibero-American Youth
Organization (OIJ)
National youth structures, including National Youth Councils,
The Global Partnership for Youth in the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the
signatories of this call invite Member States to incorporate the following youth-
focused target areas in the post-2015 development agenda:
Ensure universal access to quality primary and post-primary education and expand
equitable access to tertiary education
Ensure all young people achieve recognized and measurable learning outcomes with quality
formal, non-formal and vocational education and training that equips them with the relevant
knowledge and skills to lead safe, healthy and productive lives, to meet the demands of the
job market and to foster global citizenship.
Reduce the number of youth not in employment, education or training and increase access to
decent work and livelihoods amongst young people by providing access to learning
opportunities, putting in place school-to-work transition policies, strengthening public private
partnerships for better skills-matching, enhance access to financial and non-financial services
to increase opportunities for youth-led entrepreneurship, and promote inclusive and
sustainable economic growth.
Ensure young people’s meaningful and inclusive participation in decision making processes,
governance and peacebuilding, and develop, implement and adequately fund cross-sectorial
youth policies and review mechanisms, in the framework of the World Programme of Action
for Youth
Improve the physical, social and mental health of adolescents and youth, promote healthy
behaviours for reducing the risk of Non-Communicable Diseases and substance abuse, and
increase access to affordable, acceptable and quality-assured adolescent- and youth-friendly
health services and information
Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights,
including HIV, modern methods of contraceptives, and comprehensive education on human
sexuality, with a particular focus on adolescent girls;
Promote human rights and gender equality and eliminate all forms of violence and
discrimination against adolescents and youth, including adolescent girls and young women,
including child, early and forced marriage and harmful practices.
Strengthen collection and analysis of data on adolescents and youth, disaggregated by age,
sex and marital status, to promote monitoring, evaluation, accountability and transparency
and support advocacy and policy making.
Let’s remember, the world’s demographic and development realities mean that the success of the
post-2015 development agenda hinges on fulfilling the human rights and meeting the development
needs of all young people. Connected to each other like never before, they are driving social
progress, inspiring political change and building resilience. Countries with populations composed of
large proportions of adolescents and youth can reap a demographic dividend for national
development, resilience and sustainability, by investing fully in young people. Countries will need to
promote human rights, eliminate all forms of discrimination, address all forms of inequalities, including
gender inequality, so adolescents and youth can reach their full potential and in turn shape the
development of their families, communities, and countries. Young people – their experience of
engagement or of alienation, their inclusion or their marginalization – will determine whether their
societies prosper or fail.
Let’s ensure, as the global community gathers to review progress made towards the Millennium
Development Goals and puts forth an ambitious and achievable vision for the Post-2015 Development
Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, that youth priorities and targets are duly included.
Equity and equality must be at the centre of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Investing in young
people – particularly the marginalised - could ensure the success of the agenda more than anything
else. A failure to do so could jeopardize it altogether. The Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, in
partnership with the United Nations entities and all the signatories of the Global Youth Call, urge the
international community to put young people at the centre of this agenda. The time for action is now.
Young people today…
With 1.8 billion strong, the world is home to the largest generation of young people aged 10 to 24 in its
history
Close to 90 percent of the world’s youth live in developing countries, where they tend to make up the
largest proportion of the population
More than 500 million youth aged 15 to 24 live on less than $2 a day
Some 74 million youth are unemployed, and more than 600 million jobs need to be generated globally
by the year 2030
Young people aged 15 to 24 people are almost three times more likely than older segments of the
population to be unemployed, and in some countries the youth unemployment rate exceeds 50 per
cent
Some 69 million adolescents of lower secondary school age remain out of school
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In developing countries, 1 in 3 girls is married before her 18 birthday and across the world, more than
half of all sexual assaults take place against girls younger than 16
1.5 billion persons, the majority of them under the age of 30, live in conflict or in fragile situations
Young people are under-represented and excluded in decision-making processes: Fewer than 2% of
parliamentarians around the world are in their 20s and only 12% are in their 30s.
Despite significant progress made since the MDGs were adopted, this generation of young people has been left
behind. They are still denied the opportunities that they need to realize their full potential
SUMMARY OF OUTCOMES:
FROM CONSULTATION TO CONSOLIDATION YOUTH PRIORITIES
Education:
Ensuring basic literacy and numeracy skills for young people in low-income countries could lift 171
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million people out of poverty , resulting in a 12 per cent cut in global poverty. Despite large gains
made in primary education in the past decade, 69 million adolescents of lower secondary school age
remain out-of-school. These efforts are further undermined by the low quality of education systems:
over 250 million children of primary school age are unable to read or write even after four years of
schooling. In the least developed countries, one quarter of young men aged 15 to 24 and one third of
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young women aged 15 to 24 are illiterate . Yet, educational outcomes for youth have a direct impact
on economic growth and stability: ensuring adolescent girls complete education beyond primary level,
for example, could add 1.5% per year to the GDP of countries, while ensuring their participation in the
job market through education and training could add up to 4.4% per year. The following have been
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identified as key target areas for education with a focus on the most marginalized :
Ensure universal access to quality primary and post-primary education and expand equitable
access to tertiary education;
Ensure all young people achieve recognised and measurable learning outcomes at all levels,
made possible through the provision of safe, relevant and quality education by a sufficient
number of adequately and well-trained, supported teachers and education infrastructure;
Ensure all young people have access to quality formal, non-formal and vocational education
and training, which can be provided through governments and partnerships with civil society
organisations, private sector and youth organisations as to equip them with the relevant
knowledge and skills to lead healthy and productive lives, to meet the demands of the job
market and to foster global citizenship;
Ensure access to technical and vocational education and training, ICT, comprehensive
education on human sexuality and life-skills, human rights, peacebuilding, sustainability,
entrepreneurial skills, global citizenship, and education for sustainable development and
lifelong learning opportunities;
Increase national budget allocation to education and strengthen the accountability and
responsiveness of national governments.
Increase employment rates of young women and men, with targeted measures for
disadvantaged youth, by putting in place school-to-work transition policies;
Ensure a better match between the skills of young people and the changing needs of the
labour market, by strengthening partnerships between governments, social partners,
educators and the private sector;
Provide access to learning opportunities to develop knowledge and skills, including
professional, technical, entrepreneurial and vocational training, for work and life, as well as
information on business opportunities, new markets and national/international networks of
investors
Ensure young entrepreneurs’ access to tailor-made financial and non-financial assistance in
pre- and post-creation phases;
Ensure equality, including gender equality at work, including eliminating the gender pay-gap;
Ensure universal global access to adequate social protection, including social protection
floors, and decent work and livelihoods for young people in the formal and informal sector in
accordance with ILO labour standards.
Health:
Adolescence is a critical life stage characterized by rapid physical, emotional and social development,
during which every person develops the capabilities required for a productive, healthy and satisfying
life. Health and development during this period affects health in adult years. Nearly two thirds of
premature deaths and one third of the total disease burden in adults are associated with conditions or
behaviours that began in youth, including tobacco use, a lack of physical activity, unprotected sex or
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exposure to violence . Globally, approximately 20% of youth aged 15-24 experience a mental health
condition each year. An estimated 1.3 million adolescents died in 2012, mostly from preventable or
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treatable diseases. According to the “Health of the World’s Adolescents,” the top three causes of
death among adolescents include road traffic accidents. An estimated 1.3 million adolescents died in
2012, mostly from preventable or treatable diseases. According to the “Health of the World’s
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Adolescents,” the top three causes of death among adolescents include road traffic crashes, HIV
and suicide. Young girls continue to carry the heaviest burden of death and disability due to
complications relating to pregnancy and childbirth, including unsafe abortions, with complications
relating to pregnancy and childbirth the leading cause of death among 15 to 19 year old girls in low
and middle income countries. In order to ensure all adolescents and youth enter adulthood with the
highest attainable standard of physical, social and mental health, the following have been identified as
key target areas for health:
Eliminate all forms of violence against children and youth, including in schools, the household,
public spaces, detention centres and online.;
End all forms of violence and discrimination against girls and young women, including sexual
violence, child, early and forced marriage and harmful practices, trafficking and other forms of
gender-based violence;
Promote young people’s participation as an essential condition for safe and secure societies;
Ensure that humanitarian and development efforts address young people’s needs and protect
their human rights;
Ensure that all young people participate in peace and human rights education, either through
formal or non-formal education, and have access to opportunities for cross-cultural exchange
and volunteerism;
Ensure equitable distribution of development gains to young people to promote safe, peaceful
and secure societies.
- World Program of Action for Youth for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond
(A/RES/50/81);
- The Future We Want: the outcome document of the Rio+20 UNCSD
(A/RES/66/288), July 2012;
- Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-
2020: Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries,
May 2011;
- Outcome Document of the High Level Meeting of the General Assembly on
Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding (A/RES/65/312), July 2011;
- ILO Resolution on “The youth employment crisis: A call for action”;
- Colombo Declaration on Youth “Mainstreaming Youth in the Post 2015
Development Agenda”, 2014; http://wcy2014.com/pdf/colombo-declaration-
on-youth-final.pdf
- San José BYND2015 Declaration on Youth and ICT;
- Growth and Employment in the Post-2015 Agenda: Messages from a Global
Consultation, September 2013;
- Final Report on the Global Thematic Consultation on Governance and the
Post-2015 Development Framework (2013);
- UNDG Report: A Million Voices (2013);
- Quito Youth Declaration of the Regional Meeting for the Latin American and
Caribbean Youth (2014);
- Outcome Document of Dubai Regional Arab Youth Meeting (2014);
- ILO Resolution on “The youth employment crisis: A call for action”;
- Growth and Employment in the Post-2015 Agenda: Messages from a Global
Consultation (September 2013);
- Final Report on the Global Thematic Consultation on Governance and the
Post-2015 Development Framework (2013);
- Communique of the 8th Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting (2013), and
the Youth Declaration of the 2013 Commonwealth Youth Forum (2013);
- The Magampura Commitment to Young People (2013) issued by
Commonwealth Heads of Government;
- The Commonwealth Youth Development Index;
- IFMSA Health Priorities Document;
- Youth Voices on a Post-2015 World.viii
ANNEX III LIST OF ENDORSING ORGANISATIONS OF THE GLOBAL YOUTH CALL
1,050 organizations have endorsed the Global Call on Youth (please see the table)
The call has also been endorsed by the following networks and structures:
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The online thematic discussions were moderated by the following organizations: Education: UNICEF, the Global education
First Initiative (GEFI); Employment and Entrepreneurship: ILO, UNIDO and the Major Group on Children and Youth (MGCY);
Health: UNFPA, UNAIDS and the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA); Governance: UNDP,
the International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organisations (ICMYO), Restless Development and Plan International;
Peace and Stability: UN-HABITAT, the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) and the United Network of Young
Peacebuilders (UNOY)
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Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2010, Education Counts
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United Nations Technical Support Team Issues Brief: Education and Culture
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The ‘most marginalized’, includes but is not limited to girls, adolescents and youth with disabilities; indigenous and
minority ethnic groups; young people in poverty; key populations affected with HIV; working children; those living in
disadvantaged areas, in informal settlements or on the street; alternative care settings; refugees and migrants; and those
affected by emergencies and conflict.
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WHO http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/adolescent_health/facts/en/index.html
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World Health Organization 2014
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World Health Organization 2014