The youth are the future of a nation and their sound development andIn 1999, in its resolution 54/120, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon 1998) that 12 August be declared International Youth Day.
The UNGA also recommended that public information activities be organised to support the Youth Day as a way to promote better awareness of the World Programme of Action for Youth, adopted by the General Assembly in 1995 (resolution 50/81).
So, every year, on 12 August, the world observes International Youth Day as, it was on this day, the United Nations recognised the youth as an integral part of the society. On the same day, the UN also acknowledged that it’s important to effectively harness the energy of the young and in a productive manner.
With inputs from youth organisations and members of the UN Inter-Agency Network in Youth development, The Focal Point on Youth selects a theme for the day each year and events are organised to encourage youth around the world to raise awareness about their situation in their respective countries.
Around the world, and in India, there are entities and mechanisms that constantly work to empower their youth. A very important segment of the society, the youth are often overlooked and not paid attention to. However, with little efforts and focus in the right direction, the youth can achieve a lot and contribute to the society.
Finding solutions
The Indian government prepared a new draft of the National Youth Policy earlier in 2022. The draft contained some very important clauses for youth empowerment in India.
The policy has been designed to address the problems faced by the young today in India and offer sustainable and far-reaching solutions. The draft identifies the objectives and priority areas that are considered important for empowerment of youth in India.
The policy, that is work in progress, has laid focus on long-term and sustainable development of the youth in India and envisions a ten-year period to achieve the goals set for youth development.
Like most over-encompassing and comprehensive policies and plans, the policy for the youth in India is also closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim being, to be able to tap on the immense potential of youth in India, in order to further progress of the nation.
The policy has identified five priority areas and special emphasis has been laid on social inclusion to ensure marginalised sections of the society are included as well. The five priority areas for youth empowerment are social justice, education, employment and entrepreneurship, youth leadership and development and, lastly, health, fitness and sports.
Sustainability at the core
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals were etched out in 2015 by UNGA as part of the post-2015 Development Agenda, which, in order to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that ended in 2015, sought to create a future global development framework.
The Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet now and into the future.
The priority areas highlighted in the National Youth Policy for youth empowerment are closely linked with the SDGs. The SDGs are as follow:
No poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, inequality, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life on land, peace, justice and strong institutions and partnerships for the 17 goals.
Any new world order has to overlap with plans and actions for youth empowerment as they are the future of this planet. And, sustainability is at the centre of this all because reckless human actions over the past couple of centuries have degraded the planet and short-term quick solutions are not helping anymore.
Sustainable, long-term action plans hold the key and SDGs emphasise the interconnected environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development.
Empowering tools
One of the most important tools for empowering the youth is by providing them with quality education. Efforts are being made to develop an education system or tweak the existing one to make it more in sync with the National Education Policy.
Most importantly, education should be such that it imparts key life skills to the youth and opens up career opportunities for them. Education should be such that it enables the youth to provide for themselves and those dependent on him or her.
Additionally, education modules should be such that the youth are empowered and skilled to not only provide for themselves but also enable them to generate employment by different means. These may include micro-region-specific strategies, foster entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship, among others.
What’s important is that education should empower the youth to revive rural economy, where applicable, and support the more recent, informal and emerging gig economy i.e., a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs.
Legally sound
Another important aspect of youth empowerment is ensuring the safety of the youth and enabling a justice delivery system that is quick and holistic. Those most affected in the absence of these empowerment tools are the youth from marginalised groups and the vulnerable ones. It’s very important that there is quick delivery of justice and adequate rehabilitation support is provided to those affected.
When it comes to inclusion also, there’s still a lot of scope for improvement. Youth from the marginalised, vulnerable and disadvantaged groups often lag behind in availing leadership opportunities. There’s a need to involve them in leadership and volunteering opportunity to empower them so they can lead the way and mentor more leaders for the future. There has to be an ecosystem of like-minded individuals and groups empowered with enabling and mobilising technology to support such initiatives.
Health is also an extremely important factor that affects youth empowerment. Any individual, male or female, cannot perform to his or her best capability if the health of the person is not in order.
India’s astronomical population puts pressure on existing healthcare systems and facilities. The health and well-being of the youth especially young women is an important variable in the equation.
Ensuring and strengthening preventive and palliative healthcare for the youth for mental health, reproductive health in case of young women, substance abuse disorders, sexual health, etc. is crucial.
Technology has been one of the biggest enablers in the recent past and when it comes to youth empowerment, the role of technology is equally important. Mobilising technology and data to improve healthcare delivery for the youth and initiating specific interventions to provide them access to quality healthcare is needed.
The youth are the future of a nation and their sound development and empowerment is crucial for the bright future of the country. There’s a need to amplify the needs and problems of the youth and to understand the importance of sustainable solutions. If not addressed in time, problems affecting the youth can impact an entire generation and affect the growth of a nation as well. National and state entities must focus on providing holistic and futuristic solutions and draft policies and legislation accordingly.