Policies and Programmes Involving Youth

A/RES/68/130No 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 2014.

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?

5 topics

Education Gender Equality Youth Youth Employment Youth Policy

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2015.

2015A/70/156Ways to promote effective structured and sustainable youth participation report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

22 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the World Programme of Action for Youth, and emphasizes that all 15 priority areas of the World Programme of Action for Youth are interrelated and mutually reinforcing;

Reiterates that the primary responsibility for implementing the World Programme of Action for Youth lies with Member States, and urges Governments, in consultation with youth and youth-led organizations and other relevant stakeholders, to develop holistic and integrated youth policies based on the Programme of Action and to evaluate them regularly as part of the follow-up action on and implementation of the Programme of Action at all levels;

Calls upon Member States to consider, on a voluntary basis, the indicators proposed in the report of the Secretary-General for their selection and adaptation in monitoring and assessing the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth, giving particular attention to young women and marginalized groups, including indigenous youth, youth in rural areas, youth with disabilities and young migrants, taking into account the national social and economic circumstances in each country;

Urges Member States to promote equal opportunities for all, to eliminate all forms of discrimination against young people, including discrimination 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;

Also urges Member States to address the challenges faced by girls and young women and to address gender stereotypes that perpetuate discrimination and violence against girls and young women and the stereotypical roles of men and women that hinder social development by reaffirming the commitment to the empowerment of women and gender equality, to engage, educate, encourage and support men and boys to take responsibility for their behaviour, including their sexual and reproductive behaviour, to mainstream a gender perspective into all development efforts, recognizing that such actions 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 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 and strengthening their economic independence;

Emphasizes the role of education and health literacy in improving health outcomes over a lifetime, 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, both in and out of school, and through public campaigns, and to increase the access of youth to affordable, safe, effective and sustainable health-care services and social services 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;

Also emphasizes that addressing the specific needs of young people in the response to HIV and AIDS is a key element in efforts to achieve an AIDS-free generation, and urges Member States to strengthen efforts in this regard, including by ensuring the active involvement of young people living with or affected by HIV in the response;

Reiterates that access to quality formal and non-formal education, including, as appropriate, catch-up and literacy education, including in information and communications technologies for those who did not receive formal education, information and communications technologies and volunteerism are important factors that enable young people to acquire the relevant skills and to build their capacities for employability and entrepreneurial development and gain decent and productive work, and calls upon Member States to take necessary actions to ensure that young people have access to such services and opportunities;

Urges Member States to address high rates of youth unemployment, underemployment, vulnerable employment and informal employment by developing and implementing targeted and integrated local and national youth employment policies for inclusive, sustainable and innovative job creation, improved employability, skills development and vocational training to improve the chances of integrating youth into sustainable labour markets and increased entrepreneurship, including the development of networks of young entrepreneurs at the local, national, regional and global levels that foster knowledge among young people about their rights and responsibilities in society, and in this regard requests donors, specialized United Nations entities and the private sector to continue to provide assistance to Member States, including technical and funding support, as appropriate;

Recognizes that youth participation is important for development, and urges Member States and entities of the United Nations system, in consultation with youth-led organizations, to explore new avenues to promote full, effective, structured and sustainable participation of young people and youth-led organizations in relevant decision-making processes, including in the design and implementation of policies, programmes and initiatives and in the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda;

Reiterates that the eradication of poverty, hunger and malnutrition, particularly as they affect children and youth, is crucial for accelerating progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, recalls the commitment to eradicate poverty and promote sustained economic growth, sustainable development and global prosperity for all, including the strengthening of international cooperation through the fulfilment of all official development assistance commitments and the transfer of appropriate technology and capacity-building with regard to youth, and the need for urgent action on all sides, including more ambitious national development strategies and efforts backed by increased international support, and calls for the increased participation of youth and youth-led organizations in the development of such national development strategies;

Emphasizes the importance of the impact of a fair globalization, and encourages Member States to take measures that minimize the negative effects of globalization and maximize its benefits, such as offering relevant education and training for young people in order to enable their access to decent jobs and better employment opportunities and to meet the needs of changing labour markets, and that enable young migrants to enjoy their human rights;

Calls upon Member States to take concrete measures to further assist youth in armed conflict situations, in accordance with the World Programme of Action for Youth, and encourages the involvement of young people, where appropriate, in activities concerning the protection of children and youth affected by armed conflict situations, including in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and post-conflict processes;

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 in order to promote the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals;

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

Invites Member States to strengthen or establish, in collaboration with young people and youth-led organizations, programmes and policies to address all forms of violence, including gender-based violence, trafficking in persons, bullying and cyberbullying, as well as the involvement and manipulation of youth in criminal activities such as drug-related crimes, and recognizes the need to develop safe and youth-friendly counselling and substance abuse prevention programmes;

Recognizes the importance of strengthening intergenerational partnerships and solidarity among generations, and in this regard calls upon Member States to promote opportunities for voluntary, constructive and regular interaction between young people and older generations in the family, the workplace and society at large;

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

Acknowledges the increased collaboration through the Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development in developing the United Nations System-wide Action Plan on Youth, requests the United Nations entities, within existing resources, to continue their coordination towards a more coherent, comprehensive and integrated approach to youth development, calls upon entities of the United Nations system and relevant partners to support national, regional and international efforts to address challenges hindering youth development, and in this regard encourages close collaboration with Member States as well as other relevant stakeholders, including civil society;

Calls upon the United Nations Programme on Youth to continue to act as the focal point within the United Nations system for promoting further collaboration and coordination on youth-related matters;

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 in 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;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the General Assembly at its seventieth session on the implementation of the present resolution, including on ways to promote effective, structured and sustainable youth participation in designing, implementing and assessing United Nations youth policies, programmes and initiatives, to be prepared in consultation with Member States as well as the relevant specialized agencies, funds and programmes, and regional commissions, taking into account the work done by the United Nations system, and also encourages the Secretariat to consult, as appropriate, with youth-led and youth-focused organizations.

Paragraph content is machine-extracted from UN documents. For authoritative content, please refer to the official UN document.

No headings found in this document.

Who created this mandate?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What does this mandate say?

Table of contents