Youth

According to the World Youth Report (2020), there are 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 years, accounting for 16 per cent of the global population.

Youth is a priority group for UNESCO. Recognizing their creativity, innovation and capacity to make change happen in the world, we firmly believe that young people are crucial actors, leaders, and partners. UNESCO is committed to accompany them in fighting inequality, contributing to sustainable development and building peace.

For over 20 years, we have been working with thousands of young people worldwide by establishing and supporting youth-led initiatives and networks, strengthening youth capacities, fostering their knowledge production, and creating dialogue spaces between youth, policymakers and other partners. We have also been actively and meaningfully engaging youth in our programmes in all of UNESCO’s field of competence, from design to implementation and follow-up.

Young people embody hope for better, innovative, and more effective solutions to the world’s challenges! UNESCO is working actively to ensure that their voices are heard because they matter.