United Nations Programme on Youth
The United Nations Programme on Youth is the focal point within the United Nations system on matters relating to youth issues is the Programme on Youth, in the Division for Social Policy and Development, United Nations Department of Economic and social Affairs. It has been set up to: enhance awareness of the global situation of youth and increase recognition of the rights and aspirations of youth; promote national youth policies, national youth coordinating mechanisms and national youth programmes of action as integral parts of social and economic development, in cooperation with both governmental and non-governmental organizations; and strengthen the participation of youth in decision-making processes at all levels in order to increase their impact on national development and international cooperation.
How did the Programme on Youth begin?
The United Nations has long recognized that the imagination, ideals and energies of young women and men are vital for the continuing development of the societies in which they live. The Member States of the UN acknowledged this in 1965 when they endorsed the Declaration on the Promotion among Youth of the Ideals of Peace, Mutual Respect and Understanding between Peoples.
Two decades later, the UN General Assembly observed 1985 as International Youth Year: Participation, Development and Peace. It drew international attention to the important role young people play in the world, and, in particular, their potential contribution to development and the goals of the United Nations Charter. That same year, the Assembly also endorsed the guidelines for further planning and suitable follow-up in the field of youth, which are significant for their focus on young people as a broad category comprising various subgroups, rather than a single demographic entity.
In 1995, on the tenth anniversary of International Youth Year, the United Nations strengthened its commitment to young people by directing the international community's response to the challenges to youth into the next millennium. It did this by adopting an international strategy — the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond.
As part of a small reorganization of the Division for Social Policy and Development in 2001, the UN Youth Unit was renamed to the United Nations Programme on Youth. It had no impact on the mandate of the UN Secretariat on youth issues.
 The United Nations Programme on Youth Website
Related Links
International Youth Day, 12 August every year
World Youth Reports Website
UN Youth Events
UN Youth Associations
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