Meeting the Challenges of Youth

United Nations ESCAP
HRD Section

Meeting the Challenges for Youth

Regional youth meeting held in China

In October 1996, ESCAP organized a regional meeting on HRD for youth in Beijing. This was the first regional meeting on youth to be held by the United Nations in the Asia and Pacific region in over 11 years since the observance of International Youth Year in 1985. The issues discussed are shown below.

In a resolution adopted by the member states of ESCAP during its 52nd session held in April last year, ESCAP called upon its members and associate members to integrate the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond into their youth policies, plans and programmes. This programme of action was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly upon conclusion of its 50th anniversary session in December 1995. The ESCAP resolution also requested the secretariat to convene a regional meeting of senior officials to consider the means of promoting HRD among youth through the implementation in Asia and the Pacific of the Programme.

In response to this mandate, the Human Resources Development Section of ESCAP organized the Asia-Pacific Meeting on Human Resources Development for Youth, held from 22 to 26 October in Beijing. The meeting was being jointly organized with the All-China Youth Federation (ACYF) with financial support from the Government of China and other sources. The meeting reviewed the regional HRD situation of youth in the context of the World Programme of Action, and also the Jakarta Plan of Action on Human Resources Development in the ESCAP Region.

The meeting focused on four areas from the World Programme of Action with direct relevance to HRD. These are education, health, employment and promotion of participation in decision-making for youth. It concluded with the formulation of programmes for regional cooperation to promote HRD for youth.

Discussions of each of those priority areas resulted in a series of practical proposals for action for possible implementation by the year 2000, each focusing on regional cooperation to promote human resources development among youth in Asia and the Pacific. The proposals are summarized below.

Education

Promoting continuing education through distance learning -- This proposal would target marginalized and out-of-school youth to provide basic life skills, including literacy and numeracy skills, through continuing education, applying distance learning technologies.

Improving the quality of secondary, technical and vocational education and training -- This proposal would seek to enhance acquired competencies to empower youth for effective participation in the world of work and community life.

Health

Promoting reproductive health of youth -- The proposal would pursue a series of youth-oriented reproductive health promotion activities, involving the participation of youth.

Eliminating sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of youth -- The proposal would, involving the participation of youth, undertake a series of activities to combat the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of youth.

Employment

Preparing youth for the world of work -- This proposal would introduce and strengthen career and vocational education and counseling programmes for youth.

Matching youth education and skills with employment opportunities -- This proposal would seek to ensure that the employment skills imparted to youth fit the employment opportunities arising within the changing labour market.

Participation

Developing youth participation indicators (YPIs) -- This proposal would develop a series of youth participation indicators (YPIs) to facilitate the analysis of, and thereby promote, youth participation in the planning, implementation and evaluation of national youth and related policies.

Strengthening national youth coordination mechanisms -- This proposal would provide regional support to the establishment and strengthening of national youth coordination mechanisms as the institutional cornerstone of action to promote youth participation in decision-making and development.

The adopted proposals were commended by the participants for the attention of the World Youth Forum of the United Nations System as practical means of energizing increased regional, inter-regional and global cooperation in human resources development.