youth

Background

Today, there are 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 years, accounting for 16 per cent of the global population. By 2030—the target date for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that make up the 2030 Agenda—the number of youth is projected to have grown by 7 per cent, to nearly 1.3 billion. The Asia-Pacific region is home to more than 600 million youth aged 15-24.2 Countries in the Asia- Pacific region are at different stages of demographic transition, some with ageing populations and others with a youth bulge, each of which presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities.3 A significant proportion of youth in this region, almost 25 per cent, or around 160 million, particularly young women, are not in employment, education or training (NEET). In 14 of 26 countries of the region with available data, more than one in five women were NEET.

As youth are increasingly demanding more just, equitable and progressive opportunities and solutions in their societies, the need to address the multifaceted challenges faced by young people (such as access to education, health, employment, and gender equality) have become more pressing than ever.

Youth are important for UNDP because they represent a significant portion of the population and have the potential to drive positive change in their communities and countries. They can also be disproportionately affected by poverty, inequality, and other development challenges. By investing in youth, UNDP can help to empower the next generation to improve their own lives and contribute to sustainable development. UNDP Nepal has an integrated approach to promote youth participation and raise the profile of youth engagement. As youth is a crosscutting issue, we promote youth participation, engagement and mobilization across all portfolios; Sustainable and inclusive economic transformation; Governance, federalism, participation and inclusion and Environmental sustainability, climate, and disaster resilience. We also ensure gender equality and social inclusion in all the interventions we do.

9.5%

The unemployment rate for youth aged 15-29

4000

young people are estimated to enter the labor force /year

42.56%

Youth Population(16-40 age)

42%

outh participation in local level government in Nepal

Highlights of some initiatives

Youth Friendly Local Governance

'Youth Friendly Local Governance (YFLG)' is a movement that aims to enhance local leaders' capacity in advancing youth-friendly local governance practices across the country to promote youth participation in the local development process. The movement is jointly led by UNDP, National Youth Council and Jagriti Child and Youth Concern Nepal.

Realizing the need for positive and creative contribution of the youth in the overall development and progress of the nation, Nepal has established foundation for youth rights through various National and International commitments and legal provisions like Sustainable Development Goals, Constitution of Nepal-2015, Fifteenth Plan, National Youth Policy 2072, National Youth Council Act 2072, National Youth Council Regulations 2073, Youth Vision 2025, Ten-Year Strategic Plan, etc. and so on. The YFLG campaign has been initiated to ensure the effective implementation of these provisions for the establishment of youth rights in the country.

Youth Climate Catalyst

The youth climate catalysts (YCC) will be initiating different climate actions in their respective municipalities (see below the list of municipalities). The YCC is part of UNDP’s Integrated Environment and Climate Resilience Planning (ICRP) /Climate Promise project, funded by SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) which aims to enhance leadership and technical capacities of young people and help expand their network to act as climate catalyst for leading effective policy advocacy, identifying green solutions and scaling up climate actions at the community level.

The YCC will be working with local governments to implement their ideas to fight climate change through the onset of various programme and action-oriented approaches. The programme recognizes the power of youth as agent of change for scaling up climate actions spelt out in national strategies and policies and prioritizes investing for enhancing youth’s capacity and coordination to harness their creativity and ingenuity to support national efforts. Read more

Hariyo Pusta

‘Hariyo Pusta’ is a green youth-initiative, which has been strengthening and promoting climate change adaptation, mitigation, and climate responsive sustainable urban planning through informative sessions, eco-club formation and mass plantation programs. In 2022, Hariyo Pusta’s young team worked in 7 municipalities of emerging cities in Nepal to boost greenery, mitigate the consequences of climate change and encourage youth-led climate initiatives.

Currently, we have directly reached over 1000 students of 21 schools and formed 21 eco-clubs (Hariyo Pusta club) all over Nepal. We have successfully organized youth-focused cycle rallies followed by plantation activity in unused open spaces of the municipalities. Hariyo Pusta, a name widely adored by Nepalese people, is a movement for sustainable prosperity, justice and inclusion that has been welcomed by everyone in all their diversity.

UNDP Nepal Youth Strategy

This Youth Strategy is intended to serve as a guideline for UNDP Nepal in identifying key entry points for systematic and coordinated action to support youth empowerment, effective advocacy and mainstreaming of youth issues, policy development, technical and programmatic partnerships, youth-related research and knowledge management, and impact assessment. Importantly, the three main pillars or outcomes that hold up the strategy are perfectly aligned with the outcomes of UNDP’s Country Programme 2018-2022.