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The World Youth Report 2007 argues that to benefit from young people’s capabilities, societies must ensure that opportunities for youth to be engaged in development processes are nurtured and protected.  The report notes that the ability of youth to contribute to the development of their societies can be constrained not only by lack of capacity among youth, but also by the limited opportunities for participation in development as the global economy and social and political institutions undergo major change. For this reason, there is a pressing need for policies that not only build youth potential, but also open doors to youth participation in areas such as employment, civic engagement, political participation and volunteerism. An enabling environment must be created to provide youth with opportunities to be heard and seen as active players on the development stage.

The report also provides regional overviews summarising the major youth development trends in the fifteen priority areas of the World Programme of Action for Youth. The report explores major issues of concern to youth development, including employment, education, health, poverty and violence. It finds that there are many unique aspects to the progress that youth have made and the challenges that they continue to face around the world. A common constraint everywhere, however, is the absence of an enabling environment for youth development and participation. Factors such as inadequate investments in education, high private costs of obtaining quality education and health care, and shrinking labour markets in which youth are often the last hired and first fired all present youth with real obstacles to meaningful participation in the development of their communities.

The core areas identified by this report as requiring attention — education, employment,
poverty reduction, health, and promoting the rights of young women — apply to all world regions
to varying degrees. The report presents a set of recommendations for each of these core areas, including:

• improve technical, secondary and higher education, maximizing the use of new technologies
• increase microfinance and entrepreneurship programmes to benefit young people
• empower young people as key contributors in poverty reduction strategies
• ensure the provision of youth-friendly basic health services, including sexual and reproductive health care
• eliminate discrimination of girls and young women and ensure equal participation at all levels of society.

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