50 percent of the Earth’s population is under 25 :: this is the largest youth generation in history.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recently released The State of World Population 2003 Report detailing the trends that face humanity from a demographic perspective. Millions of youth are being faced with a constantly changing world influenced by globalization, mass media, technology, conflict and disease.

In fact, the largest generation of adolescents in history (aged 10-19), make up 1.2 billion people – or 1 in 5 people, on Earth. According to the report, half of these adolescents are poor; one in four (238 million) live in extreme poverty on less than $1 a day.

The readiness of youth to take on responsible roles as active citizens locally and globally depends on the investments of the general population, worldwide governments, and civil society organizations. Without increased support for these young people, downturning trends are sure to occur throughout the planet.
Consider these staggering statistics already affecting youth from the UNFPA report:

* Half of all new HIV infections, and at least a third of the more than 333 million new cases of curable sexually transmitted infections each year, occur in people aged 15-24.
* A youth is infected with HIV every 14 seconds
* More than 13 million children under the age of 15 have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
* Surveys from 40 countries indicate that more than half of all young people have misconceptions about how HIV is transmitted.
* 153 million young people aged 15-24 are illiterate, 62 per cent of them are female.
* In developing countries, 82 million girls now between 10 and 17 will marry before their 18th birthday – disrupting their education and limiting their opportunities.
* Only 17 percent of married females aged 15-19 use family planning.
* 14 million teenagers, married and unmarried, give birth each year – many facing pregnancy-related illness. At least 5 million undergo unsafe abortions.

UNFPA goes on to list the consequences of limited investment, specifically related to reproductive health (a high priority for the organization). Without this type of education for young people worldwide, countries are looking at early pregnancies and childbirths, health related complications, school drop-outs, diminished income earning options and subsequent economic development at the national level, poverty, limited potential of individuals (both young women and young men), infant mortality, higher healthcare costs, abandonment of newborn babies, reduced skilled labor, reinforcement of gender inequality, reduced investment in children’s needs and development due to large family size, sexual abuse, violence, under-employment and the rise of STDS and HIV/AIDS.

In other words, the results are catastrophic to developing countries pulling themselves out of debt and to industrialized regions of the world that depend on youth to bring forward ideologies and clarity to a confusing world. Monetary investment in program related costs would certainly result in economic gains for these countries and the world market. Increased knowledge, opportunities, choices and participation of young people will further ambitions of healthy and productive lives.

Without doubt, this population report should be on your reading list. A 20-minute read will definitely give you a wealth of knowledge and tell you more about what this generation is all about, and what’s in store for this planet.

Christina Glavas is the founder of Minds Wide Open (www.mindswideopen.org), a global education project working with youth to establish cultural understanding and active citizenry. Christina's work is informed by a desire to engage, inspire and educate groups on the transformative potential of communication technologies, and the value of examining one's personal identity through a global lens.

Current work includes ECHOES, a multimedia youth magazine based out of San Diego; ROOTS OF CULTURE, SEEDS OF PEACE, a multimedia youth gallery focusing on identity and peace education at the ATHENS2004 Olympics; and the Burma Project, a video collaboration with Heads On Fire (www.headsonfire.org) to document the stories of Burmese refugees living in Thailand. Recently, she compiled and authored a CD-ROM of best youth program practices for community technology centers (www.epicentre.org/bypp), as well as founded The San Diego Network For Youth, a coalition of youth-serving organizations throughout San Diego county working for the empowerment of agencies and the youth that they serve. Past efforts include working with Media Action International in Switzerland on an indigenous media campaign to aid Kosovar refugees.

A graduate of Cornell University in her self-designed major "Communication and Social Change," she has been honored as the recipient of a leadership grant for her study of learning models in Ecuador, and by being named a youth delegate to The Hague Appeal for Peace.