Thematic Factsheet | Youth and Empowerment

Last update:31 January 2023

Youth and Empowerment

Today the world is home to the largest generation of young people in history – 1.2 billion people i. Close to 90 per cent of the world’s youth live in developing countries, where they constitute a high proportion of the population. In Africa, the world’s youngest continent, the youth population is projected to reach 830 million by 2050. As the global youth population continues to grow, youth empowerment has become an important cross-cutting issue for the achievement of all of the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2018, the United Nations (UN) issued a Youth Strategy to guide the entire UN as it steps up its work with and for young people across its three pillars – sustainable development, peace and security, and human rights. The way in which countries respond to the shifting demographics in the world, as well as the ways in which young people navigate their transition into adulthood, are critical for the progress of humankind and the health of the planet. Connected to each other like never before through digital technologies, young people want to, and already contribute to, the resilience of their communities, proposing innovative solutions, driving social progress and inspiring political change, in both urban and rural contexts. Investing in young people opens the door to an unparalleled multiplier effect. At the same time, young people are also facing major challenges in both the developed world and developing world. While many developed countries have seen prospects for younger generations plummet, many developing countries struggle to create enough employment to absorb their demographic youth bulge. When taken together, African countries see 33,000 youth join the search for employment each day, while 60 per cent of them will remain unemployed ii. Across the world, today’s youth are three times more likely to be unemployed than other adults, with the global youth unemployment rate standing at 13 per cent iii.

What UNESCO does

As one of its priority groups, and guided by its Operational Strategy on Youth (2014-2021), UNESCO believes that youth are essential to finding solutions to today’s most pressing challenges. UNESCO’s approach is to nurture the capacity of youth as powerful agents of change, engaging youth not only as beneficiaries, but also ensuring they take active part in the design and implementation of public policies. UNESCO’s Youth Programme includes several cross-sectoral initiatives, including the biennial UNESCO Youth Forums, which bring together youth at UNESCO’s Headquarters to discuss today’schallenges and how they can be addressed through UNESCO’s fields of competence. Youth are also directly involved in UNESCO activities through internships, the Young Volunteer Programme and UNESCO Campuses.

The UNESCO Culture Sector’s engagement with youth is particularly driven by SDG target 4.7, which calls for all learners to acquire an appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development. Participation in cultural life is necessary for young people to gain an understanding of their own culture and that of others, which in turn broadens horizons; strengthens their ability to resolve conflicts peacefully; and fosters respect for cultural diversity. Furthermore, the right of young people to access and participate in cultural life is enshrined in international law, forming a key part of their cultural and human rights

Through the World Heritage Education Programme, UNESCO is ensuring that youth learn about the value of heritage and become involved in the pr otection and preservation of our common cultural and natural heritage for future generations. Under this long-running programme, young people can volunteer in action camps held at World Heritage sites and can exchange ideas and concerns in World Heritage Youth Fora, while teachers and other educators are equipped with kits to teach secondary school learners about the importance of World Heritage. Skill development workshops on core subjects and transversal themes related to World Heritage are also organized for young people. In 2018, UNESCO teamed up with the European Union to launch the Engaging Youth for an Inclusive Sustainable Europe project under the auspices of the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage. In May 2019, the European Young Heritage Professionals Forum was held in Zadar, Croatia, bringing together 28 young heritage professionals from across Europe. It was the first forum of its kind to address both the synergies and challenges of tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the European context.

Youth are key stakeholders in global efforts on the prevention of violent extremism (PVE), and UNESCO is one of the leading agencies on this priority area for the UN, particularly taking the lead on education. As part of its efforts, UNESCO is increasing awareness on the need to safeguard heritage as a means of strengthening the resilience of youth in the fight against extremism. In 2015, the #Unite4Heritage campaign was launched in response to violent attacks on cultural heritage, especially in the Arab region. The destruction of heritage by extremist groups can be viewed fundamentally as a tool in the battle for the hearts and minds of young people. The #Unite4Heritage campaign made young people aware of the value of heritage and diversity through an integrated approach, combining social and traditional media and events in the field. It provided a cultural alternative narrative to vulnerable young people that went beyond simply deconstructing the rhetoric of violent extremism. The narrative was developed through an extensive research and consultation process, involving the participation of experts and young people. The #Unite4Heritage campaign has since become a widely expanding global movement devoted to the engagement of a global audience, with young people as its core demographic. In 2017, UNESCO provided analysis of cross-cutting research on Youth and Violent Extremism on Social Media and proposed policy recommendations on this complex emerging issue. In 2018, the US$ 2 million project, Prevention of Violent Extremism through Youth Empowerment in Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, was launched in collaboration with UN Office of Counter-Terrorism. This participatory project involves many UNESCO Sectors and will support youth civic engagement and equip youth with knowledge, tools and skills to participate in peace-building. Cultural activities under the project include an Arab World Heritage Young Professionals Forum and activities in the framework of the World Heritage Volunteers Initiative. It also draws on lessons from the five-year Networks of Mediterranean Youth project that ended in 2018.

The UNESCO Culture Sector also works to integrate intangible cultural heritage into formal and non-formal education. Education programmes provide important spaces to ensure the continued transmission of intangible cultural heritage to future generations. At the same time, intangible cultural heritage can enhance the classroom experience, making education more meaningful and relevant to young people and fostering a sense of belonging. Based on outcomes of a pilot project in four countries in the Asia-Pacific region – Pakistan, Palau, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, UNESCO published Learning with Intangible Heritage for a Sustainable Future to provide guidance to educators, and is implementing a series of projects to integrate living heritage into formal and non-formal education systems across the globe.

In line with SDG targets 4.4 and 8.6 aiming respectively to increase technical and vocation skills for youth and to increase youth employment, under its Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005), UNESCO is helping young people access and create work opportunities in the cultural and creative sectors. Globally, cultural and creative industries represent 30 million jobs worldwide, employing more people ages 15 to 29 than any other sector iv and with some of these industries attracting a disproportionately high number of young workers. The International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD) under the 2005 Convention has funded several youth-focused projects that focus on building capacities of young people as professional creators. Through the You Are Next initiative, UNESCO is supporting women entrepreneurs under the age of 40 by expanding their access to funding, infrastructure, equipment and co-production opportunities in the digital creative industries. Employment in the cultural and creative sectors provides more than economic sustenance; it also gives people an avenue to express their voices, thus enabling empowerment on several levels. Some studies on the future of work also suggest that jobs and skills in the creative sector are at very low risk of displacement due to increased digitization and are therefore strategic areas to support for future employability v. The 2005 Convention has also provided technical support to countries to improve artistic training and content for children and youth. For example, Argentina received support to strengthen the capacity of its audio-visual sector to produce local content for children, while Burkina Faso received support for developing an arts education policy.

UNESCO is also working to promote youth employment in heritage reconstruction and recovery. As part of UNESCO’s Revive the Spirit of Mosul initiative, the European Union is providing 20 million euros for a series of urban reconstruction projects in Mosul and Basra, which will provide jobs and skills development for approximately 1,500 young people, internally displaced persons and returnees. In 2018, UNESCO and the European Union launched a 10-million-euro cash-for-work programme that aims to provide employment opportunities to Yemen’s youth through the restoration of the country’s World Heritage cities and historic urban areas.

Youth employment and inclusion will be particularly crucial at the city level, as cities are increasingly hosts to large youth populations. UN-Habitat estimates that by 2030, 60 percent of urban populations will be under the age of 18. Cities are also increasingly multicultural. The capacities for intercultural dialogue of urban youth will therefore also be essential. The UNESCO Creative Cities Network, which brings together more than 246 cities that have made creativity a key element of their development strategies, provides a platform for exchange and experience sharing for cities harnessing the power of culture for their youth. The 2019 publication Culture Lab 2030: Voices of the City presents examples of cities that integrate youth training in urban regeneration projects to ensure employability, and that have launched innovative initiatives, including ones designed to interest youth in traditional trades that have experienced dwindling interest among young people.

Policy Guidance

To understand the status of youth participation in various forms of cultural life – cultural employment, access to culture and non-formal cultural education – it is important to collect age-disaggregated data.

It is also important to establish targets for youth participation, in particular for funding and training programmes so that youth are being offered opportunities for empowerment. This will help toensure young people’s full involvement in the safeguarding and transmission of living heritage; in the conservation of tangible heritage; and in the cultural and creative industries.

While some young people are digital natives, it is important to ensure that all youth have an opportunity to develop digital skills and media literacy necessary to navigate the world today.•Youth must be regularly engaged in fora that allow them to offer their perspectives and makecontributions to policies and support initiatives. It is important that youth are actively engaged as change makers.

Facilitating and promoting policy dialogues on the importance of culture for sustainable development with special emphasis on participation of youth, and youth-related civil society groups also help promote youth empowerment and engagement.

i There is no universally agreed upon definition of youth. For statistical purposes however, the UN Secretariat defines ‘youth’ as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24. It should be noted that the UN Youth Strategy also takes into consideration other definitions of youth used by UN Agencies, Programmes and Member States, as does UNESCO

ii UNDP Africa Blog. 12 Aug 2017. Promise Or Peril? Africa’s 830 Million Young People By 2050.

iii United Nations. 2018. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018.

iv EY. 2015. Cultural times: the first global map of cultural and creative industries.

v See for example NESTA.2015. Creativity vs. Robots: The Creative Economy and the Future of Employment.

Thematic Factsheet | Youth and Empowerment

Youth and Empowerment

What UNESCO does

Key Facts and Figures

Policy Guidance

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