28 March 2016: A thematic working group including 12 UN agencies, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched a joint report on the region’s youth. The report emphasizes that investing in youth, who make up 60% of the global population of 15- to 24-year olds, will be crucial for successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Young people around the region contributed to the report, which was released in December 2015.

The report, titled ‘Switched On: Youth at the Heart of Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific,’ provides an overview of social and economic challenges affecting youth, including issues of poverty, adolescent pregnancy and the digital divide. The report proposes five sets of recommendations, grouped under the categories of people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. On planet, for example, the authors call for involving youth in the protection and management of natural resources, and urgent action on climate change, through: facilitating access to adequate and resilient housing, and basic services in urban areas; expanding access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), especially in rural areas; preparing youth as disaster risk reduction (DRR) ambassadors; and ensuring that youth are aware of sustainable consumption.

Shamshad Akhtar, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and Tomoko Nishimoto, International Labour Organization (ILO) Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, launched the report in Bangkok, Thailand, on 28 March 2016. Youth representative Ploycarat Nana called for dismantling barriers to youth political participation and ending violence and discrimination against women and girls, as top priorities for policy makers. [ESCAP Press Release] [Publication: Switched On: Youth at the Heart of Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific] [IISD RS Story on ESCAP’s December Reports]