UNESCO Youth Programmes
UNESCO with, by and for 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.
Youth Climate Action Network
The UNESCO Youth Climate Action Network is an innovative platform connecting youth climate networks from all over the world.
What is the UNESCO Youth Climate Action Network?
The UNESCO Youth Climate Action Network is an innovative platform connecting youth climate networks from all over the world to enhance cooperation and upscale youth-led climate action and research.
The network was launched in 2019 during COP25 in Madrid to bring together active and passionate young climate leaders and support them to build a sustainable future.
Because youth perspectives matter: UNESCO toolbox for youth policy and programming
Young people fear for their future. Pandemics, conflict, climate change, inequality – these are the issues defining their reality.
Yet their potential to provide solutions to the multiple crises is not realized. From low representation and tokenistic approaches, to institutional obstacles to participation and limited civic spaces, young people are disconnected from influencing decisions and actions that affect their lives. They need real opportunities to participate in decision-making and contribute to practical solutions.
Policy-makers, public officials and practitioners – as well as development sector and civil society actors – can and should create such opportunities for youth. This Toolbox is a comprehensive go-to resource to make that possible. It is intended to support these stakeholders in designing and implementing effective policies and programmes to address the multidimensional needs of youth at national and local levels.
It consists of:
- A guide for participatory youth policy design;
- Intergenerational dialogue tools on holistic youth development and youth civic engagement; and
- A training tool on meaningful youth engagement.