The Role of Youth
Youth is the time of life between the childhood and
adulthood (maturity). The age in which a person is considered a “youth”, and
has specific rights and obligations under the law is from 13-14 years old to up
29 years old.
Nowadays youth is increasingly seen as a crucial
segment of society. Youth is now believed to be a vital part of society, influencing,
often forming and shaping its concepts, culture and policies. Their attitudes,
values, mind-set, and priorities will determine the development of the society
in the future.
Young people have always been dynamic in their
approach to life. Due to their age and immature understanding, youths are
always in search of ideal and values to get inspiration and basis for their
life. They are ready to change themselves and have proved that they can be
powerful agents of change. Today`s youth have a greater vision of the purpose
of their life and what role they themselves can play in their own development.
New generation youth has more awareness of their responsibility towards the
development of the society.
The awareness of their role in the world is probably
the main reason for establishing numerous youth organizations and movements.
Youth movements provide an opportunity for young people to put their feelings
and ideals into action, to make an impact on the world around them; by helping
others and by building their land; and not least importance , to form
connections with other young people around the globe whose ideals match and complement their own.
Around the world there are hundreds and thousands of
voluntary youth organizations. These organizations have various objectives, but
there are some which are common to most of them, that is fostering and taking
actions for mutual understanding and respect, democracy and human rights of
people in general, and if youth in particular both locally and globally.
Some of youth organizations are adult-led and have
government and financial support, for example: The World Organization of the
Scout Movement, The World Association of
Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, The World
Alliance of Young Men`s Christian Associations
(YMCA), The World Young Women`s Christian Association (YWCA). There are
also dozens of regional youth organizations, such as European Youth Forum or
Asian Youth Council, representing the interests of youth in different regions
of the world.
The United Nations Organization has several programs
particularly for young people. UNESCO`s objectives is to help empower young
people, responding to their expectations and ideas, fostering useful and
long-lasting skills. The United Nations Environment Program aims to provide
leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by
inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality
of life without compromising that of future generations.
Apart from adult-led organizations, there are many
youth-led organizations.