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

In 1981 the UN Youth Unit, located in Vienna, Austria within the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs (CSDHA) of the Department of International Economic and Social Affairs (DIESA) was established as the Secretariat of the International Youth Year: Participation, Development and Peace, which was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1985. The Year 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.

Following the International Youth Year, the Youth Unit was reconstituted and was eventually moved to New York in 1993, as part of the reorganization that created the Division for Social Policy and Development within the Department of Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development.

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.

In 1997, the Youth Unit became part of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). The Focal Point on Youth is the focal point on youth for the UN system and the permanent chair of the Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development.