Youth Information E-Newsletter

India has world's largest youth population: UN report

With 356 million 10-24 year-olds, India has the world's largest youth population despite having a smaller population than China, a latest UN report said on Tuesday. China is second with 269 million young people, followed by Indonesia (67 million), the US (65 million) and Pakistan (59 million), Nigeria with 57 million, Brazil with 51 million, and Bangladesh with 48 million, the United Nations Population Fund's (UNFPA) State of the World's Population report said.It said that developing countries with large youth populations could see their economies soar, provided they invest heavily in young people's education and health and protect their rights.The report titled 'The power of 1.8 billion', said 28 per cent of India's population is 10 to 24 year-olds, adding that the youth population is growing fastest in the poorest nations. Global number of youths is highest ever.More

India Places “Social origin” as factor of gender inequality not cost

India on Tuesday changed the word caste to “social origin” in the draft Asian and Pacific ministerial declaration on advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment at the conference under way in Bangkok to review the goals of the Beijing platform for action 20 years later.When the Asian and Pacific conference on gender equality and women’s empowerment opened on Monday, India did not object to the word caste in para 12 of the draft text which reads, “Recognising that gender-based discrimination occurs in and of itself and that it is often linked to other forms of inequality related to such factors as age, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, health, disability, class, caste, sexual orientation and gender identity, occupation, migrant and legal or other status, and that the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination can compound experiences of injustice, social marginalisation and oppression.”However, next day when the para was reviewed for objections along with para four on the words “sexual orientation and gender identity” which was replaced with the phrase, “men and women in their diversity,” it was pointed out that India wanted the word caste replaced and this was indicated by Indian officials at a group meeting to sort out objections in the two paras raised by some countries.More

Indo-Pak youths connect through video conference

New Delhi: In first of its kind, video conferencing was used to conduct an interaction between youth activists from Pakistan and Indian students with the aim to counter stereotypes and misconceptions. This was Aaghaz-e-Dosti's twelfth AmanChaupal. Aaghaz-e-Dosti is an Indo-Pak Friendship initiative of India-based Mission Bhartiyam and Pakistan-based The Catalyst.More

International

Sub-Saharan Africa's youth population offers ‘enormous potential’

Surging youth populations in sub-Saharan Africa will bring “enormous potential for economic and social growth” if leaders follow lessons in creating opportunities for young people from Asia’s economic giants, according to a UN report.Nearly a quarter of the world’s 7.3 billion people are now aged between 10 and 24, with almost 90% of them living in least developed countries (LDCs), the report said.More

US to train young ASEAN leaders

The Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), mooted by US President Barrack Obama last year, has been expanded to include more participants, reports said Tuesday.US ambassador to Malaysia Joseph Y. Yun was quoted as saying that there would be 500 YSEALI fellows chosen from the 10 ASEAN member countries on an annual basis."The Academic Fellows will comprise current or recently graduated students aged between 18 and 25 for five-week programs at preeminent US universities and colleges," the US ambassador said.More

Obama to Youth on Climate Change: ‘Old People, They’ve Created a Mess’

President Barack Obama drew a strong age distinction at a youth town hall in Myanmar, blaming the “old” for leaving the next generation with the “mess” of climate change.He also warned that island nations are most endangered from rising sea levels, which could “swallow up entire countries.”“The issue of climate change is a perfect example of why young people have to lead,” Obama said at a town hall for the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative.“Because old people, they’ve created a mess, and then they’ll be gone, and then you, you’re the ones who have to deal with it,” Obama said to applause. “And also what happens is old people get set in their ways. So the older you get, the more likely you are to say, that’s how it’s always been so that’s how I’m going to keep on doing it even if there’s a better way to do things.”More

Washington Leadership Program accepting applications for internships

The Washington Leadership Program (WLP) is accepting applications from high potential South Asian college students for the 2015 summer leadership program scheduled to take place from June 13, 2015 – August 7, 2015. The WLP cultivates the South Asian American community’s next generation of leaders by placing them in Congressional offices or government agencies for eight-week summer internships and a structured leadership-training curriculum, according to a press release. The 10 students who will get finally get selected, would gain a firsthand view of the policy-making and legislative process, as well as gain access to high-profile South-Asian leaders in the nation’s capitol. Applications are available online at www.thewlp.com. The deadline for submitting applications is January 23, 2015.More

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