The Role of Youth

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.