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UNFPA: Supporting Adolescents and Youth Worldwide
Young people aged 25 years or less make up half of the world's population today. The world is changing fast and UNFPA puts a high priority on safeguarding young people's rights, promoting gender equality and supporting their transition to adulthood.
Guided by the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and other international agreements, UNFPA recognizes the vital importance of providing opportunities for young people to learn about and protect their own health, including education on sexual and reproductive health. In the era of HIV/AIDS , this can also be a matter of life and death.
Even if young people have the information they need, they may find it difficult to protect their own well being unless they have access to appropriate commodities and services. UNFPA-supported programmes offer information, counseling and services both inside and outside health clinics.
UNFPA's vision of a world fit for adolescents and youth is one in which boys and girls, young men and women enjoy equal rights and these rights are promoted and protected. For this vision to become a reality investment in young people is needed and change is required at many levels by individuals, by communities, and at a national level. Advocacy is key to getting institutional and public support for policy changes and UNFPA can help different groups to advocate for the changes they need.
Youth participation is also essential to the development of successful programming and UNFPA's experience across the world has shown that including young people in issues that directly affect them contributes to their self-confidence, allows them to exercise a fundamental human right and leads to better decisions.
Helping Young People in Turkey and the South Caucasus
Many of the young people who are now coming of age in Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have already lived through dramatic and sometimes difficult social, political and economic changes.
Although the recent political history of Turkey is very different from that of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, young people in all four countries face a number of similar challenges and risks.
During the last 15 years, the people of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have all struggled with the difficulties of transition from being part of the former Soviet Union to Independence.
For some, these changes have brought wider social freedoms. But they have also brought economic and political instability, changes which have also eroded the status of women and caused a large numbers of people to migrate to the cities or abroad in search of work.
Turkey has also suffered economic crises and there are still large disparities of wealth and development between the east and west of the country and between urban and rural communities.
Across the region young people are increasingly vulnerable to unsafe sex, drug use, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections .
In all four countries there is still only limited national data on young people's problems, health, attitudes and behavior. However most surveys show that in all of these countries the level of young people's understanding of sexual and reproductive health and their access to services which can support them, is very limited.
Accurate data on HIV/AIDS is also very limited. Although the number of registered cases of HIV/AIDS is still relatively low in these countries, the real number of cases is probably much higher.
Moreover the region shares borders and migration ties with Russia which has a much higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS and young people need to be aware of how they can protect themselves.
Throughout the region and particularly in rural areas, patriarchal traditions and a lack of male involvement in reproductive health issues can make it particularly difficult for girls to access the information and services they need to protect their reproductive health and reproductive rights.
Disturbingly, violence against women is a growing problem in the region but also widely accepted by both men and women. Trafficking of young women is also a major concern.
In Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, UNFPA is providing assistance to sexual and reproductive health initiatives. With UNFPA as their primary partner, governments and civil society in all four countries are increasingly seeking to meet the ICPD goals.
With its extensive experience of addressing the health education needs of young people across the world, UNFPA is able to organize and support a wide variety of programmes and activities which will help young people to get the information and services they need to meet the challenges of their changing societies and to lead safer, healthier lives.
Supporting young people in Turkey
Supporting young people in Armenia