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Grim Statistics on World's Poor Youth Show Millions at Risk
UN REPORT New York. Republished courtesy of UN News Service
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More than 500 million youths worldwide live on less than $2 a day, 113 million are not in school, 88 million are unemployed and 10 million have HIV/AIDS, all significant challenges for reaching the 2015 goals of reducing poverty by half, increasing literacy, and improving the health of people around the world, a United Nations report released today says.
Amid this grim picture portrayed in the < "http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/wyr05.htm"> World Youth Report 2005, there are positive signs. Since 1995, the number of children completing primary school has continued to increase, while the current generation is the best educated in history.
Premarital sexual relations appear to be increasing, according to the report, but early pregnancy has declined in many countries. HIV/AIDS is the primary cause of death, followed by violence and injuries. Youth have been disproportionately involved in conflicts over the past decade, and legal protections have not been enforced.
The report was published just two days ahead of a daylong General Assembly session devoted to the issue of youth. Nearly 48 young delegates from two dozen countries are registered to attend, as well as 300 youth organizations.
Speaking to reporters at a press briefing held in conjunction with the report's release, Johan Scholvinck, Director for Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), said, "The year 2015 is the year when we are supposed to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but large numbers of youth live in poverty."
He told to an audience of mostly young delegates attending the briefing that action taken now will benefit not only them but also children who will grow to be youths in 10 years. "You should not be talked down to, like I am doing," he said, "but should be participants in your own future."
Nguyen Hong Nhung, a student leader and freelance journalist from Vietnam who also spoke at the briefing said that the upcoming plenary sessions represented an "opportunity to raise our voices, and to understand that youth are now very important."
2005-10-04 |
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