Youth and the SDGs: 12 Things to Know

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Youth action will be key to six SDGs: Zero Hunger, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Reduced Inequalities, and Climate Action.

Young people will play a crucial role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Most of the world’s young people live in Asia and the Pacific.

1. 60% of people aged between 15 and 24 live in Asia and the Pacific; that’s about 700 million youth.
   Source: UNESCAP. 2017. UN and SDGs: A Handbook for Youth
2. Over 85 million young people in the region live in extreme poverty on less than $1.90 a day.
   Source: UNESCAP. 2017. UN and SDGs: A Handbook for Youth
3. The share of young people in the region is expected to decline by about 10% through 2030, due to ageing populations—highlighting the importance of equipping them now with a sustainable future.
   Source: UNDG Asia-Pacific Thematic Working Group in Youth. 2015. Switched On: Youth at the Heart of Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific
4. Over a third of the 169 SDG targets highlight the role of young people and the importance of their empowerment, participation, and well-being.
   Source: UNDP. 2017. Youth as Partners for the Implementation of the SDGs
5. 20 targets across six SDGs are strongly focused on youth: Zero Hunger, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Reduced Inequalities, and Climate Action.
   Source: UNDP. 2017. Youth as Partners for the Implementation of the SDGs
6. The Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth was established to ensure youth are integrated into activities to achieve the SDGs.
   Source: United Nations. 2013. Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth
7. The current Youth Envoy is the first to come from Asia and the Pacific. She is Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake from Sri Lanka.
   Source: United Nations. 2017. Envoy on Youth: Appointment
8. Most young people are optimistic about the future. A YouthSpeak global survey of 180,000 young people showed 68% believe the world will be a better place by 2030.
   Source: Youth 4 Global Goals Annual Report 2016
9. Creating opportunities for youth to move out of poverty into decent and sustainable work will help capitalize on the demographic dividend created by the region’s youthful population.
   Source: UNDG Asia-Pacific Thematic Working Group in Youth. 2015. Switched On: Youth at the Heart of Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific
10. Sustainable access to water and sanitation, particularly for young women and girls, can help them regularly and safely participate in productive activities such as education.
    Source: UNDG Asia-Pacific Thematic Working Group in Youth. 2015. Switched On: Youth at the Heart of Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific
11. Responsibly engaging youth in sustainable agriculture is key to achieving SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 2 (Zero Hunger). It can bolster rural productivity and reduce the number of young people leaving rural areas for city jobs.
    Source: UNDG Asia-Pacific Thematic Working Group in Youth. 2015. Switched On: Youth at the Heart of Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific
12. In 2015, the Asian Development Bank, through its NGO and Civil Society Center’s Youth for Asia initiative, became a founding member of Youth for Global Goals (Y4GG), which aims to create a community of 1 million young people to work toward the SDGs.
    Source: Youth for Global Goals. 2015. Youth and the Global Goals