International Youth Day 2016 - “The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production”

International Youth Day (IYD) is an awareness day designated by the United Nations to draw attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth. It is observed annually on 12 August. It is meant as an opportunity for governments and others to draw attention to youth issues worldwide. During IYD, concerts, workshops, cultural events, and meetings involving national and local government officials and youth organizations take place around the world.
The theme of the 2016 International Youth Day is “The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production”. It focuses on the leading role of young people in ensuring poverty eradication and achieving sustainable development through sustainable consumption and production.
Children are the future of the world and to have a successful future we must invest in them, giving them the opportunities and the education they need and deserve. The youth makes up 43% of the world’s population i.e. There is large potential force out there that can change the world. Youth are powerful agents of positive change, essential to taking forward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Sustainable consumption entails the use of products and services that meet the basic needs of communities while safeguarding the needs of future generations. The development and promotion of individual choices and actions that increase the eco-efficiency of consumption of all and minimize waste and pollution is critical to achieving equitable socioeconomic development.
The Sustainable Development Goals are: End poverty in all its forms everywhere, end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture, ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss, conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources, promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all, achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation, revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. Etc.
Youth Perspective in poverty eradication is built on the understanding that young people are not merely a target group but also initiators, participants, decision-makers and leaders. Eliminating
poverty requires that young people must be recognized as a resource for change in society. This is where young people have a critical role to play. If countries are to succeed in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, leaving no one behind along the way, governments must seek out an active and substantive engagement of young men and women from diverse backgrounds in national-level planning, implementation, and monitoring. The overall success of the SDGs depends on youth engagement because young people are:
1. Critical thinkers: Youth have the capacity to identify and challenge existing power structures and barriers to change, and to expose contradictions and biases.
2. Communicators: Young people can be partners in communicating the agenda to their peers and communities at the local level, as well as across countries and regions.
3. Innovators: Young people often have direct knowledge of and insights into issues that are not accessible to adults. Youth best understand the problems they face and can offer new ideas and alternative solutions.
4. Change-makers: Young people also have the power to act and mobilize others. Youth activism is on the rise now, strengthened by broader connectivity and access to social media.
5. Leaders: When young people are empowered with the knowledge of their rights and supported to develop leadership skills, they can drive change in their communities and countries.
Millions of people are already transforming the way we produce, consume, behave and communicate. It is not enough to hope for a better tomorrow -- we must act now.