Increasingly around the world, young people are coming together to search for practical and creative solutions to problems they see around them or live n the midst of.
The International Community should invest--and PARTNER with young people. Children and young people simply should not have to suffer as much as they do any longer. Humanity has all it needs to put an end to the pain of its children, and harnessing the energy of youth means harnessing the single most miraculous and powerful natural resource and source of renewable energy known to us.
Young people want to act and partner now with those organizations in the establishment capable of working quickly, transparently, effectively, creatively, and in an open and trusting way to provide practical and real solutions to real problems. At the same time, a number of outstanding young people are willingly proving to their seniors and peers that youth are highly capable, responsible, mature, and effective actors in addressing issues of concern to them.
In addition to these reasons, organizations such as the World Bank and its clients—the Governments of the World--have an especially important role to play in opening up to, listening to, and partnering with, young people for these reasons:
(1) Young people are a critical portion of the World Bank’s current client base. Young people would better appreciate, and be able to contribute to their societies, if they new how many projects, and what proportion of total World Bank loans are targeted to—and actually reach—them as ultimate beneficiaries. (They are also taxpayers who will be paying back a greater percentage of today’s loans over their lifetimes than public officials in their late 40’s or 50s for example). Policymakers and young people alike may also want to know whether these amounts are proportionate to the size of the youth population vis-à-vis the total population. One assumes a truly human-centered approach to development would have investment in people, especially in children and youth, at its center.
(2) Indirectly, billions of dollars of current investments are going into crystallizing policies, programs, institutions, and social realities that dramatically affect young people today (some highly positive, some not so positive). In most nations, youth have little knowledge, and even less say, on how these investments affect their lives daily. The Internet and TV would be great tools to inform young people a little more on what is being done on their behalf (and how they can participate) as a lot is being done.
(3) These investment are locking in place structures that will continue, or in some cases, only begin, to affect the quality of life of today’s young people in 20, 30, 40 or more years time. By than, the potentially negative effect of some of the forces unleashed may simply be too late and too vast to reverse (availability of fresh water a prime example).
Because of the unparalleled magnitude of the trends and forces in play, more than ever in history, young people have the right--and the responsibility--to listen, learn, and ask for their voices and positions to be known. Particularly on those issues that most directly affect them now (such as education, health, poverty) and those that will greatly affect them in their lifetimes (sustainability, pensions, infrastructure).
***
Young people are one of the largest, most critical, and yet most woefully underrepresented segments of civil society. Among young people are some of the most vulnerable human beings in the world. Youth and children are disproportionately subject to poverty, violence, exploitation, and other forms of injustice that are simply no longer acceptable at the dawn of the 21st century when humanity has in its hands enough wealth, technology, and knowledge to do better.
The past decades have seen a student movement, a movement for gender equality, and an environmental movement. Humanity is now witnessing the birth of a youth movement, a first truly global youth movement. Young people have never been as informed or connected on a global scale as they are today.
May all segments of society work together in peace. May young leaders and members of this movement be powerfully committed to peace, respect, humility, and love as their unconditional guiding principles.
SAMPLE QUOTES
“Investing in children and youth – including street children – is not only a question about human rights and social justice, but also has potential economic benefits. Investing in street children is likely to have positive spill over effects (in terms of turning them into productive participants of society and preventing crime) whereas not investing in this groups is likely to have negative spill over effects (in terms of increased crime rates and poverty). The Bank has typically not focussed on this particular group of the poor up till now.”
Source: Forthcoming Report on Street Children in Central America, World Bank
“Only a minority (25%) of all "street kids" in Central America actually belongs to the latter group, although the increase in the number of street children over the last decade has been massive (an eight time increase in Tegucigalpa alone). Most street children are boys and leave their homes around the age of 12. Market children are in general younger and the gender distribution is more equal. Overall, street children face more and more severe risks than do market children. They suffer from physical violence and arrests. The number involved in prostitution is increasing and it is estimated that up to 90% of the street children sniff glue. Illiteracy is widespread and only around 8% of the street children in Honduras attend school, whereas over 30% of the market children in both Honduras and Nicaragua are enrolled in school. The lack of education among street and market children prevents them from earning a steady income in the future, and hence they are trapped in the vicious circle of poverty.”
Source: Forthcoming Report on Street Children in Central America, World Bank
Q: How many children are being used as soldiers?
A: Research conducted by the Quaker UN Office, Geneva, and Rädda Barnen Swedish Save the Children) suggests that more than 300,000 children under 18 years of age are actively participating in armed conflicts worldwide but this number is not static and cumulatively more than a million children may have suffered this abuse in the past decade. Hundreds of thousands more are enrolled in armed forces in countries not currently involved in armed conflict across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Q: Where are the worst abuses taking place?
A: The problem is most prevalent in Africa and Asia although many countries in Europe and the Americas still accept children into their armed forces. Most children taking part in armed conflict are between 15 and 18 years of age, but many are recruited from the age of 10 upwards, and the use of even younger children has been recorded
Questions and Answers; THE USE OF CHILDREN AS SOLDIERS, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers Web-site, August 2002 http://www.child-soldiers.org/
Population: A Young World
„h The world's population reached six billion people in 1999
„h Almost a third are young people, 0 to 14 years old
„h One in every 5 people is an adolescent (between 10 & 19 years of age).
„h 85% of the 1.2 billion adolescents worldwide live in developing nations.
Youth and Poverty
„h Half of the world¡¦s 1 billion people living in poverty are young people.
„h 90 million children or almost 50% of all children in the Americas, live in poverty.
„h There are 100 million street children in the world, half of them in Latin America.
„h In Honduras & Nicaragua 8 to 12% of all children under 18 work and/or live in the streets.
„h The 1995 Luxembourg Income Study found the U.S. raises three to eight times more children in poverty than other Western nations. The U.S. has the largest and fastest-growing gap in income between its richest 5 percent and poorest 5 percent of any industrial society (U.S. News, 8/28/95).
Children at Work
„h 352 million children ages 5 to 17 are economically active
„h 211 million working children ages 5-14 worldwide
„h About 73 million are less than 10 years old
„h 2.5 million working children, or 2% of the total, are from OECD (¡§developed¡¨) nations
Child Labor
„h An estimated 186 million child laborers under 15 worldwide
„h About 110 million under 12 years of age
Children in Hazardous Work
„h 171 million children ages 5-17 were estimated to work in hazardous conditions
„h 55% of children under 12 work in hazardous situations
Children in Unconditional Worst Forms of Child Labor
„h An estimated 8.4 million children are involved in the worst forms of child labor as defined by ILO Convention 182, Art. 3:
„« 5.7 million children are in forced and bonded labor
„« 1.3 million children are ¡¥trafficked¡¨ (kidnapped, enslaved)
„« 1.8 million children are prostitutes or in pornography
„« 600,000 are engaged in other illicit activities
„« 300,000 children are soldiers
Adolescent Health
„h Every year an estimated one million young men and women between the ages of 10 and 19 lose their lives¡Xmostly through accidents, suicide, violence, pregnancy-related complications and illnesses that are either preventable or treatable. Millions more suffer chronic ill-health and disablement that may well endure a lifetime.
„h Even more importantly, most mortality in adulthood has its roots in the adolescent period. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 70% of premature deaths among adults are largely due to behavior initiated during adolescence. Tobacco use, for example, typically starts before the age of 20, and frequently leads to premature death later in life. HIV infection, which is often contracted in adolescence, leads to AIDs some years later.
Youth and AIDS
„h 33.6 million people globally have AIDS
„h 2.2 million people died from AIDS in Africa in 1998
„h 13 million African children will have lost their mother or both of their parents to AIDS by end 2000
„h 22.3 million men and women are living with AIDS in sub-saharan Africa (UNAIDS/WHO projections)
„h Before AIDS, on average 2% of children in developing nations were orphans
„h By 1997, in some countries the rate rose as high as 7.9 & 11% (1 of 10 children has no parents)
Youth and War
„h Over 300,000 children under 18 years are soldiers in wars around the world
„h Cumulatively more than a million children may have participated in wars in the past decade
„h Hundreds of thousands of youth under 18 are enrolled in armed forces in countries not at war
„h Most children taking part in armed conflict are 15 to 18 years old, but many are recruited from the age of 10 upwards, and the use of even younger children has been recorded
Children and Youth in ¡§Developed¡¨ Nations, particularly the US, Face Great Challenges Too
Child Poverty and Family Income
The 1995 Luxembourg Income Study found the U.S. raises three to eight times more children in poverty than other Western nations. The U.S. has the largest and fastest-growing gap in income between its richest 5 percent and poorest 5 percent of any industrial society (U.S. News, 8/28/95).
Source: EXTRA! Wild in Deceit : Why "Teen Violence" is Poverty Violence in Disguise, Mike Males, March/April 1996 http://www.fair.org/extra/9603/teen-violence.html
Childhood poverty has both immediate and lasting negative effects. Children in low-income families fare less well than children in more affluent families for many of the indicators presented in this report, including indicators in the areas of economic security, health, and education. Compared with children living in families above the poverty line, children living below the poverty line are more likely to have difficulty in school,18 to become teen parents,19 and, as adults, to earn less and be unemployed more frequently.18 The child poverty rate provides important information about the percentage of U.S. children whose current circumstances make life difficult and jeopardize their future economic well-being.
http://childstats.gov/ac2001/econtxt.asp#econ1a
Births to Unmarried Women
Increases in births to unmarried women are among the many changes in American society that have affected family structure and the economic security of children.3 Children of unmarried mothers are at higher risk of having adverse birth outcomes, such as low birthweight and infant mortality, and are more likely to live in poverty than children of married mothers
http://childstats.gov/ac2001/poptxt.asp#pop6a
Child Care
Increasing proportions of children are spending substantial amounts of time in the care of a child-care provider other than their parents. While researchers continue to assess the effects of child care on child development, it is important to monitor over time the way many children receive care. Children receive a variety of types of care, including care in home by a relative, care in home by a nonrelative, and center-based care or early education. This indicator presents the most recent data on regular child-care arrangements regardless of parents¡¦ work status and the types of settings where that care is provided, by the age of the child
http://childstats.gov/ac2001/poptxt.asp#pop7
Youth and Violence
Violence affects the quality of life of young people who experience, witness, or feel threatened by it. In addition to the direct physical harm suffered by young victims of serious violence, such violence can adversely affect victims¡¦ mental health and development and increase the likelihood that they themselves will commit acts of serious violence.59, 60 Youth ages 12 to 17 are twice as likely as adults to be victims of serious violent crimes,61 which include aggravated assault, rape, robbery (stealing by force or threat of violence), and homicide
„h In 1999, the rate at which youth were victims of serious violent crimes was 20 crimes per 1,000 juveniles ages 12 to 17, totaling about 480,000 such crimes.
„h The serious violent crime victimization rate fluctuated between 34 and 43 per 1,000 from 1980 to 1990, and peaked at 44 per 1,000 in 1993. Since 1993, the rate of serious violent crime against youth has decreased by 53 percent, down to 20 per 1,000 in 1999.
„h Males are nearly twice as likely as females to be victims of serious violent crimes. In 1999, the serious violent crime victimization rate was 27 per 1,000 male youth, compared with 14 per 1,000 female youth.
„h Younger teens (ages 12 to 14) are as likely as older teens (ages 15 to 17) to be victims of serious violent crimes. In 1999, the serious violent crime victimization rate for older teens dropped to 20 per 1,000 from 29 per 1,000 in 1998.
„h Annual rates of firearm homicides for youths age 15-19 increased 155% between 1989 and 1994 (US).
„h In the US, almost 16 children a day were shot dead in 1997-- homicide, suicide or accidental shooting.
„h Between 1986 and 1992, the total number of children killed by firearms rose by 144 percent in the US
„h In the US, direct and indirect costs of gun violence in 1995 amounted to more than $14 billion
„h From 1985 to 1993, murders committed by people over age 25 dropped 20 percent; but they increased 65 percent among 18- to 24-year-olds and increased 165 percent among 14- to 17-year-olds. (US)
„h From 1985 to 1992, the homicide rate for 16-year-olds increased 138%, while the rate among 18-year-olds doubled, and the rate for 24-year-olds and above either remained the same or declined.
„h Children in adult jails commit suicide eight times as often as their counterparts in juvenile facilities. In addition, children in adult facilities are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted, and twice as likely to be beaten by jail staff.
„h In 1992, handguns killed 33 people in Great Britain, 36 in Sweden, 97 in Switzerland, 60 in Japan, 13 in Australia, 128 in Canada, and 13,200 in the United States. [Handgun Control Inc., cited in The Washington Post, 1998]
„h The average American adult believes that youths commit 43 percent of all violent crime in the U.S., three times the true figure of 13 percent--and, as a result, a large majority is eager to harshly punish juveniles(b)
„h 2,000 children/youths were murdered and 140,000 seriously injured in abuses inflicted by their parents and caretakers in 1993 (Associated Press, 4/26/95)
„h Child abuse increased the number of violent criminals by 38 percent and raised the national violent crime volume by over 60 percent (National Institute of Justice report, Cycle of Violence, Oct. 1992).
„h Within families, parents are six times more likely to murder their teenage children than the other way around. Bureau of Justice Statistics report, Murder in Families, 1994)
Sources
On Child Labor
Every Child Counts: New Global Estimates on Child Labor. International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO/IPEC). Geneva, April 2002.
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/others/globalest.pdf
For more information on the situation and on what you can do, see: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/index.htm
(1) Statistics are for the year 2000
(2) Child labor is a narrower concept than “economically active children,” excluding children 12 years and older who are working only a few hours a week in permitted light work and those 15 years and above whose work is not classified as “hazardous.”
Population.
Source: The Second Decade, WHO, Adolescent Health and Development Program
http://www.who.int/child-adolescent-health/New_Publications/ADH/2_Decade.pdf
Adolescent Health
Source: The Second Decade, WHO, Adolescent Health and Development Program
http://www.who.int/child-adolescent-health/New_Publications/ADH/2_Decade.pdf
Street Children
Source: Street Children in Central America: An Overview, on the World Bank Labor and Social Protection Site, August, 2002.
http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/external/lac/lac.nsf/6dd54801ceee52f2852567d6006ca780/19e661ab7bbb25de852568cf006ad8a8
Youth and AIDS
Source: UNICEF, Children Orphaned by AIDS: Front line responses from Eastern and Southern Africa
http://www.unicef.org/pubsgen/aids/AIDSen.pdf
http://www.unicef.org/pubsgen/sowc02/sowc2002-eng-full.pdf
Youth and War
Questions and Answers; THE USE OF CHILDREN AS SOLDIERS, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers Web-site, August 2002 http://www.child-soldiers.org/
See also: http://www.child-soldiers.org/report2001/global_report_contents.html
Source: Youth Violence Statistics, Character Counts
http://www.charactercounts.org/rskstats.htm
(b) EXTRA! Wild in Deceit : Why "Teen Violence" is Poverty Violence in Disguise, Mike Males, March/April 1996 http://www.fair.org/extra/9603/teen-violence.html
ChildStats.gov: America’s Children, 2001
http://childstats.gov/ac2001/toc.asp
« return.