Young People Urged to Speak Out, Loudly and Boldly

Honorable Governor Juan Manuel Oliva Ramírez;

Ms. Priscila Vera, Director, Mexican Youth Institute;

Young friends;

Ladies and gentleman;

Es un placer para mí estar aquí con ustedes hoy, and it is an honour to open the Social Forum at the World Youth Conference Mexico 2010 here in Leon, Guanajuato.

Ms. Mane opened the World Youth Conference Social Forum in León, Mexico. Photo © UNFPA

The room is full of energy today with more than 4,000 young people coming from all over the world to participate in this Conference. This energy is unrivalled, as it comes from their belief that the world can be changed, that the future can be better than today; because we know for a fact that young people are powerful agents of change.

It is indeed befitting that so many of you are here to participate in this Conference, but we know that you represent a large number of those who could not make it here.

Twenty five years have gone by since the International Youth Year was held for the first time, and fifteen years since the Programme of Action for Youth was adopted by governments at the United Nations General Assembly.

We have an urgent, unfinished agenda about young people around the world. This is a Conference, not on young people, but for, with and by young people, to review their current situation, and to advance the unfinished agenda.

Today, there are more young people aged 10-24 than ever before—1.8 billion. You are the world’s present, and you deserve the world’s attention.

Today and every day, millions of young people survive amidst tremendous challenges. Let me share just some of them with you:

• Of three billion people living in poverty, surviving on less than 2 dollars a day, approximately half are below the age of 24.
• Young people aged 15 to 24 make up one quarter of the world’s working-age population, but almost half of the world’s unemployed.
• One out of five adolescents is out of school.
• Almost 2,500 young people become newly infected with HIV every day.
• Complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death among teenage girls aged 15-19,
• And nearly half of all sexual assaults worldwide are against girls aged 15 and younger.

However, let us not forget that things have improved in many areas, and young people have far more opportunities today than ever before. We want to make sure that even more young people enjoy these opportunities.

All of you are evidence that given the right opportunities young people can rise above the challenges and make their voices heard.

The International Year of Youth and the World Youth Conference aim to mobilize Governments, young people, the civil society, and international organizations to put young people at the center of our development efforts, including the Millennium Development Goals.

In the lead-up to this Conference, thousands of young people urged action on education, health, security and employment, as well as on technology, culture, migration, gender and sustainable development. We need to translate this vision to concrete actions.

I also encourage you to think about how to bridge the gap across generations. Let us not forget that the dialogue has just begun and will not, and must not, end today.

I encourage you to keep on working when we go back home. I urge you to spread the outcomes and insights of this conference and let the world know what is on your mind.

Now it is your time to speak, so say it aloud and boldly! The world is listening.

Thank you.