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World youth report 2003

Report on the global situation of young people

Authors: T. Hoikkala; J. Mustonen; L. Chisholm; A. Furlong; R. Curtain; R. Thomson; R. Dryzek; G. Roberts; A. Salagaev; M. Irby; J. Tolman; H. Helve; G. Lansdown; S. Miles; J. Suoronta; V. Lopez; L. Ebrahimian; R. Lane
Publisher: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, 2003

Full text of document

The World Youth Report provides an overview of the global situation of young people. Its purpose is to highlight the major challenges and opportunities youth are presented with today and to review key global youth issues.

The overview of the report reviews the history of United Nations youth themes and priorities, explains how the World Programme of Action for Youth functions as a policy framework, and outlines the prospects for, and possibilities deriving from, a global youth policy.

The reports’ 15 chapters highlight particular areas of concern and derive from the collection of papers presented at the United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Global Priorities for Youth, held in Helsinki 2002.

The first 10 chapters focus on the priority areas identified by the World Programme of Action for Youth, reflecting the global agenda established by various international instruments:

  • education
  • employment
  • hunger and poverty
  • health
  • environment
  • drug abuse
  • juvenile delinquency
  • leisure activities
  • girls and young women
  • participation

The remaining five chapters address some of the newer issues that were later identified as additional priorities for youth and led to an expansion of the normative basis of global youth policy:

  • globalization
  • information and communication technologies
  • HIV/AIDS
  • conflict prevention
  • intergenerational relations

Four themes are identified which create a general context for the different chapters in the report, these include:

  • the normative basis of global youth policy: what are priority areas?
  • youth as a transitional concept
  • a global youth question: discussions of inequality, economic and social effects of globalization on youth
  • current trends in the discussion of global youth policy: peace, development and participation, and new dimensions of youth rights and youth empowerment

[Adapted from authors]