United Nations – Today’s youths are the best-educated generation in history even though 130 million worldwide are still illiterate, according to a new U.N. report that urges greater investment to ensure universal primary schooling.
The U.N. World Youth Report 2005, which provided a snapshot of the 1.2 billion young people from ages 15 to 24, found that more than 500 million youths live on less than $2 a day and a record 88 million who were seeking work are unemployed.
The report, produced by U.N. staff in collaboration with experts and young people, relied on global statistics from recent years provided by the United Nations, the World Bank and other sources.
Because of reporting differences in various countries, the figures give a broad overview of the world’s youths but are not definitive.
The study highlighted the stark differences in the lives and opportunities of young people in poor African and Asian nations versus those in richer Western countries.
The statistics and trends point to one key message – investments in young people need to be increased to implement the 1995 World Program of Action for Youth and to meet the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. They include cutting extreme poverty by half, ensuring universal primary education and stemming the AIDS pandemic, all by 2015.
“Investing in young people is especially important to have a growing economy,” said Johan Scholvinck of the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The report said investments must focus on the 1.8 billion youngsters currently under the age of 15 because they will be the 15-to-24-year-old generation in 2015, when the Millennium Development Goals are supposed to have been reached.
The report portrayed a generation of young people who are increasingly seeking the bright lights of cities and who are more influenced by the global media than by their own families and communities.
