Policies and Programmes Involving Youth

A/RES/66/121No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 27bSocial development, including questions relating to the world social situation and to youth, ageing, disabled persons and the family, published in 2012.

What other versions does this mandate have?

18 versions · 1990–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/180

2025A/RES/80/180Policies and programmes involving youthLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/179Policies and programmes involving youthCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/137Policies and programmes involving youthCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/74/121Policies and programmes involving youthCompare with previous version
2018A/RES/72/146Policies and programmes involving youthCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 topics

Gender Equality Hiv/Aids Prevention Information Technology Women's Education Youth Youth Employment Youth Health Youth Policy

What does this mandate say?

22 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the World Programme of Action for Youth, including its fifteen interrelated priority areas, and calls upon Member States to continue its implementation at the local, national, regional and international levels;

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General entitled “International Year of Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding”;

Also takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth: United Nations system coordination and collaboration related to youth”, and welcomes the recent increased collaboration among the United Nations entities in the area of youth development;

Expresses deep concern that the attainment of the social development objectives may be hindered by the multiple and interrelated crises, including the ongoing impact of the financial and economic crisis, volatile energy and food prices and ongoing concerns over food security, as well as the increasing challenges posed by climate change and the loss of biodiversity;

Recognizes that young people in all countries are both a major human resource for development and key agents for social change, economic development and technological innovation, and affirms that investment in youth development and education is crucial for sustainable social and economic development;

Reaffirms that the strengthening of international cooperation regarding youth, including through the fulfilment of all official development assistance commitments, the transfer of appropriate technology, capacity-building, the enhancement of dialogue, mutual understanding and the active participation of young people are crucial elements of efforts towards achieving the eradication of poverty, full employment and social integration;

Urges Member States to promote the full and effective participation of young people and youth-led organizations in relevant decision-making processes, including in developing, implementing and monitoring policies, programmes and activities at all times, especially in times of crisis;

Also urges Member States to specifically address youth development in their economic and financial recovery measures by emphasizing youth employment and promoting entrepreneurship, volunteerism and the development of formal, informal and non-formal educational and training systems in line with the needs of young people and their societies, and encourages all relevant stakeholders, including academia, the private sector, trade unions and financial institutions, to promote social responsibility and to develop partnerships in this regard;

Calls upon Member States to promote the well-being of young people, particularly the poor and the marginalized, through comprehensive policies and action plans and, in particular, to address poverty, employment and social integration as fundamental aspects of their national development agendas, and encourages the international community and the United Nations system to support Member States in this regard;

Stresses the potential of information and communications technology to improve the quality of life of young people in order to enable them to better participate in the global economy, and in this regard calls upon Member States, with the support of the United Nations system, donors, the private sector and civil society, to ensure universal, non-discriminatory, equitable, safe and affordable access to information and communications technology, especially in schools and public places, and to remove the barriers to bridging the digital divide, including through the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms and international cooperation, as well as to promote the development of locally relevant content and implement measures to equip young people with the knowledge and skills to use information and communications technology appropriately and safely;

Also stresses that young people are particularly vulnerable in the labour market in times of crisis, and, in order to meet the needs of youth in a rapidly changing labour market, recognizes that promoting full employment, decent work and entrepreneurship requires investing in education, training and skills development for young women and men, strengthening social protection and health systems, applying internationally agreed labour standards, paying special attention to young people employed in the informal economy and the progressive and effective elimination of child labour;

Recognizes that youth employment and job opportunities for youth contribute to social stability, cohesion and inclusion and that States have an important role in addressing the demands of youth in this regard, notes that the Global Jobs Pact provides recommendations and policy options for States, and invites donor countries, multilateral organizations and other stakeholders to support national efforts aimed at enhancing employment for youth;

Urges Member States to address the challenges of girls and young women, as well as gender stereotypes that perpetuate discrimination against girls and young women and stereotypic roles of men and women that are preclusive of social development, by reaffirming the commitment to the empowerment of women and gender equality, as well as to the mainstreaming of a gender perspective into all development efforts, recognizing that these are critical for achieving sustainable development and for efforts to combat hunger, poverty and disease, and to strengthen policies and programmes that improve, ensure and broaden the full participation of young women in all spheres of political, economic, social and cultural life, as equal partners, and to improve their access to all resources needed for the full exercise of all their human rights and fundamental freedoms by removing persistent barriers, including ensuring equal access to full and productive employment and decent work, as well as strengthening their economic independence;

Recognizes the ongoing impact of the financial and economic crisis on the quality of life and health of young people, and in this regard encourages Member States to promote health education and health literacy among young people, including through evidence-based education and information strategies and programmes in and out of schools and through public campaigns, as well as to increase the access of youth to affordable, safe and effective health care by paying special attention to, and raising awareness regarding, nutrition, including eating disorders and obesity, the effects of non-communicable and communicable diseases and sexual and reproductive health, as well as measures to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and AIDS;

Urges Member States to increase efforts, including to address the ongoing social impact of the crises, to improve the quality of education and promote universal access to education, particularly for young women, out-of-school youth, youth with disabilities, indigenous youth, youth in rural areas, young migrants and youth living with HIV and affected by AIDS, without discrimination on any basis, to ensure that they can acquire the knowledge, capacities, skills and ethical values needed, including by appropriate access to scholarships and other mobility programmes, non-formal education, and technical and vocational education and training, in order to further develop their contributions to societies as relevant actors to promote development;

Also urges Member States to take concerted actions in conformity with international law to remove the obstacles to the full realization of the rights of young people living under foreign occupation to promote the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals;

Further urges Member States to take effective measures in conformity with international law to protect young people affected or exploited by terrorism and incitement;

Urges Member States to promote equal opportunities for all, to combat all forms of discrimination against young people, including that based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, and to foster social integration for social groups such as young persons with disabilities, young migrants and indigenous youth on an equal basis with others;

Encourages Member States to consider including youth representatives in their delegations at all relevant discussions in the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council and its functional commissions and at relevant United Nations conferences, as appropriate, bearing in mind the principle of gender balance and non-discrimination, and, inter alia, to consider establishing a national youth delegate programme, and emphasizes that such youth representatives should be selected through a transparent process which ensures that they have a suitable mandate to represent young people in their countries;

Calls upon donors, including Member States and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, to actively contribute to the United Nations Youth Fund in order to facilitate the participation of youth representatives from developing countries in the activities of the United Nations, taking into account the need for greater geographical balance of youth representation, as well as to accelerate the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth and to support the production of the World Youth Report, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to take appropriate action to encourage contributions to the Fund;

Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to strengthen the United Nations Programme on Youth within the existing resources of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat so as to meet the increasing demands on the Programme;

Requests that the United Nations entities enhance their coordination and intensify efforts towards a more coherent, comprehensive and integrated approach to youth development through, inter alia, the Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development, calls upon the United Nations entities and relevant partners to develop additional measures to support national, regional and international efforts in addressing challenges hindering youth development, and in this regard encourages close collaboration with Member States and other relevant stakeholders, including civil society, particularly youth-led organizations.

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