World Youth Day
A celebration of youth participation!
Fast Facts
- The World Programme of Action for Youth, generated by the UN General Assembly in 1999, hopes to empower young people to get involved in the decision-making process.
- Young people aren’t just passive bystanders or victims of development and government decisions anymore! Every day youth have more and more opportunities to contribute to all levels of society and truly Be The Change!
Did you ever wish you had the chance to be seen, be heard and get involved in the development going on in your world?
Well, you spoke out and the United Nations heard! On August 12th join your government, Free The Children, the United Nations and many other organizations as we come together to celebrate the theme of World Youth Day 2007: Be Seen, Be Heard: Youth Participation for Development.
Young people are directly impacted by global development, and in turn have a lot to contribute. At Free The Children, our goal is to empower and inspire youth toward getting involved and taking action on the issues that concern them the most—just like the story of a twelve-year-old boy I’m sure we all know! We are so happy that the focus of his year’s World Youth Day echoes our sentiments and is geared towards encouraging the participation of youth in the processes and decisions that so greatly affect their lives.
 Be seen, be heard! Kim Plewes speaks to her peers about how youth are making a difference World Programme of Action for Youth
On December 17th, 1999, during a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, it was decided that every August 12th be designated World Youth Day.
[1] With the goal of persuading governments, organizations and the media to recognize and enable the positive, productive impact youth can have on their societies, the General Assembly created the World Programme of Action for Youth.[2]
With this resolution, the United Nations, like Free The Children, wanted the world to acknowledge that young people from all over have an essential and vital role to play in development and social change. It recognizes that the interests of young people are not simply restricted to video games, shopping and television; they also include participation in all levels of society and decision-making.[3]
In the words of singer/songwriter John Mayer, “One day our generation is gonna rule the population!” So get involved, learn, spread awareness and take action now. World Youth Day is a great opportunity for us to show the world that young people have important contributions to make. Let’s show the world that we want to serve as a force for positive change!
 Youth at the Take Action Academy learning how they can take action Ways You Can Get Involved
- August 12th, 2007, World Youth Day: Be Seen, Be Heard, Youth Participation for Development. A great chance to start a Youth in Action group or get your already-existing group together for some summer global citizenship!
- The Adopt a Village campaign is an excellent tool for spreading empowerment throughout the globe. Not only will you work toward educating your peers locally, but also toward enabling youth all over the world to receive access to education, clean drinking water and sustainable income, giving them the courage and skills to stand up in their own countries!
- Get involved locally! The greatest thing about youth participation in development is that it doesn’t matter where in the world your passion lies—development is happening everywhere! This World Youth Day, take the opportunity to learn more about poverty, housing projects and community centres in your own area.
Helpful Hints from Helpful Links
Read the full United Nations: World Programme of Action for Youth and learn more about World Youth Day.
Learn more about what’s happening across the globe in celebration of World Youth Day
UNAIDS, “AIDS Epidemic Update, Dec 2006,” http://data.unaids.org/pub/EpiReport/2006/2006_EpiUpdate_en.pdf (as accessed March 13, 2007)
http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm
World Health Organization, “Millennium Development Goals: Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases,” www.who.int/mdg/goals/goal6/en/index.html (5/25/2006)
Free The Children is the largest network of children helping children through education in the world, with more than one million youth involved in our innovative education and development programs in 45 countries. Founded by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has an established track-record of success, with three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and partnerships with the United Nations and Oprah’s Angel Network. |
