COMMUNITY AND YOUTH

The role of community and youth against poverty and environmental threats

The role of community and youth against poverty and environmental threats

Introduction

The year 2010 was announced as the international year of youth by the UN General Assembly Cheung & Ricafort, (2011: 15-16). The objective was to draw universal attention to the significance of young population, empowering and promoting young person's involvement, removing the barriers and gaps that have been built by cultural, social and financial status. Despite the fact that the youth is the real assets of a country; hundreds of millions of youngsters are struggling in the poor areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America to earn their daily living. Recognition of youth as one of the interdependent community group is the most important current necessitate (Guijt & Shah, 1998). Catering the less privileged youth has become multidimensional; as spite of the development of the new resources, it's equally important to sustain what we already have. To meet with the environmental threats that we are facing today; it is significant to involve youth to work for the social and environmental changes. As an increasing number of youth around the globe is raising questions about the condition of the earth that they inherit. For instance Oxfam Hong Kong's looking at the accountable well-being of basic rights and aptitudes to facilitate a chance to bring more serious involvement by youngsters; and providing those opportunities to devise, perceive and aspire to a better future. This program was targeted in developing countries as well as in Hong Kong. As Rakesh Mohan, Oxfam Hong Kong's Regional Program Coordinator for South Asia, said, “The youth in our program areas are the adults and leaders of the future; we cannot ignore them as a group”.

Discussion

The Situation of Young People

The young population contributes to almost 1/5 of the world's population. which refers to almost 1.2 billion young men and women between the ages of 15 and 24 (as defined by the UN; World Youth Report [WYR], 2003) Cheung & Ricafort, (2011:17). Almost 90% of young people live in developing countries; 62% of the total number live in Asia, 17% in Africa, and 9% in Latin America and the Caribbean (U. S. Census Bureau, 2011). Despite the millennium development targets, the condition of young people around the globe is terrible. Almost 130 million youngsters are illiterate, 515 million youngsters living on USD 2 per day, millions of them are not having access to school and universal youth unemployment has increased to 88 million.

Obstacles in the Youth Development Program

Since the last two decades there has been a new trend on community based problem solving approach to the social problems Linda, (2009: 347-350). The most significant act is involving community competence for forefront work with youngsters especially those separated from schools and other services, using strategies, such as volunteer work and youth-led projects (DCSF, 2008). With the insinuation of the labor law in 1997, restoring child poverty; increasing parenting and youth education and focusing ...