The UN Programme on Youth, the Youth Unit or the UN Focal Point on Youth, these are different names for the same group of hard working people in New York that put 'youth' on the map.

How did the Programme on Youth begin?

The United Nations has long recognized that the imagination, ideals and energies of young women and men are vital for the continuing development of the societies in which they live. The Member States of the UN acknowledged this in 1965 when they endorsed the Declaration on the Promotion among Youth of the Ideals of Peace, Mutual Respect and Understanding between Peoples.

Two decades later, the UN General Assembly observed 1985 as International Youth Year: Participation, Development and Peace. It drew international attention to the important role young people play in the world, and, in particular, their potential contribution to development and the goals of the United Nations Charter. That same year, the Assembly also endorsed the guidelines for further planning and suitable follow-up in the field of youth, which are significant for their focus on young people as a broad category comprising various subgroups, rather than a single demographic entity.

In 1995, on the tenth anniversary of International Youth Year, the United Nations strengthened its commitment to young people by directing the international community's response to the challenges to youth into the next millennium. It did this by adopting an international strategy — the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond.

As part of a small reorganization of the Division for Social Policy and Development in 2001, the UN Youth Unit was renamed to the United Nations Programme on Youth. It had no impact on the mandate of the UN Secretariat on youth issues.

What are the Programme's main responsibilities?

The United Nations Programme on Youth is part of the Division for Social Policy and Development in the Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) of the United Nations Secretariat in New York. The United Nations Programme on Youth is the only part of the United Nations Secretariat that is exclusively mandated to deal with youth issues. However, as the interest in youth issues from the side of United Nations Members States has risen markedly in the past years, an increase of activities of United Nations funds, programmes and agencies regarding youth can be noticed. Therefore, the United Nations Programme on Youth tries to increasingly cooperate with other parts of the United Nations, for example, the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

The United Nations Programme on Youth monitors the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY) which was adopted by the General Assembly in 1995. It provides youth with information and resources related to the WPAY and on youth-related issues and political developments at the United Nations of importance to youth. Relevant sources of information include its biannual publication the World Youth Report, the United Nations Programme on Youth website, and its e-mail newsletter Youth Flash.

The UN Programme on Youth also supports and encourages youth to carry out their own projects. A toolkit called “Making commitments matter”, for example, guides youth organizations on how to evaluate their national governments’ efforts to implement the WPAY.

How does the United Nations Programme on Youth support youth delegates?

Firstly, it services exactly those two meetings which the official German youth delegates to the General Assembly usually attend – namely the Third Committee of the General Assembly and the Commission for Social Development. The interaction between the youth delegates and the United Nations Programme on Youth staff can be described as strong and fruitful. In their function of servicing the Third Committee of the General Assembly and the Commission for Social Development the United Nations Programme on Youth writes the Reports of the Secretary General on Youth which serves as the major background document for the delegates’ negotiations of the Resolution on policies and programmes on youth at these meetings. In addition, the United Nations Programme on Youth usually provides an input paper to the United Nations Member State(s) sponsoring this resolution. When preparing this input paper, they sometimes ask the youth delegates to provide suggestions which is a good way for the youth delegates to give their suggestions included in the outcome document of the meetings at an early stage.

The United Nations Programme on Youth staff is also present in the formal sessions of the meetings as well as in the informal consultations where the negotiations of the Resolution on policies and programmes on Youth take place. There, they help the Member State(s) that facilitate the informal consultations to document and incorporate the proposed changes to the draft resolution made by (youth) delegates.

Secondly, the United Nations Programme on Youth brings together youth delegates and youth NGO representatives from around the world. While the European youth delegates and youth NGO representatives usually start cooperation some time before the United Nations meeting, youth delegates and youth NGO representatives from other parts of the world might only discover that there are other youth participating at the meeting when they arrive on site. In order to enable ALL YOUTH REPRESENTATIVES from around the world to work together at the United Nations meetings the United Nations Programme on Youth organizes a breakfast meeting at the first day of the meeting where all youth representatives can meet. This allows them to speak with ONE VOICE which is considered the most effective way to convince delegates of their suggestions.

Lastly, the United Nations Programme on Youth tirelessly advocates for States to include youth delegates into their national delegation to the United Nations. It often meets with delegates of the country’s Permanent Missions to the United Nations, explains the benefits of having youth delegates and how a youth delegates programme can be run.

For more information look at their website: www.un.org/youth