International Youth Year.

• Position: Editorial

JUST a few weeks ago in this hall, we celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations. It is, I believe, not a mere coincidence that the same year which marked that event is also the International Youth Year. The anniversary provided an occasion to survey the world's immediate past and present from the vantage point of experience. The Youth Year has offered an opportunity to focus attention on the aspirations which should shape the world's future. The two perspectives complement each other.

The youth situation around the world embraces a whole spectrum of our current concerns, political or economic, social or ethical. The purpose of designating a year as the International Youth Year was to generate a widespread awareness of this situation. It was based on the conviction that the young cannot be regarded as a peripheral element in human society. As it is they who will inherit the world, there is no major issue, whether it be of peace or of development or of human rights, in which they are not directly involved.

The observance of the Year has set in motion a much-needed global review of the actions that are required, at all levels, to enhance the status of young women and men and to ensure their active participation in the efforts to strengthen peace, promote justice and accelerate progress around the globe.

It is only natural that the review should have brought out the diversity in the needs of young people corresponding to the differences of economic level between countries. In developing countries, the outlook of youth as a whole is inevitably conditioned by the sombre fact that one out of four human beings is trapped in absolute poverty. Far too many of their generation perish prematurely, have inadequate educational opportunities or face the prospect of endless migration in search of jobs that do not exist. They come to cities with hope and live there in despair.

Unemployment remains a crucial concern of youth in most developing countries. The severity of financial constraints in many of these countries has reduced investment in health and education to below the levels of earlier years and there is doubt whether economic growth will be adequate to stabilize per capita income in the years ahead.

Other major concerns of youth are not necessarily confined to the disadvantaged areas of global society. It is a cause for anxiety for the young that the policies of today might severely limit the opportunities for tomorrow. The...