International Youth Day: Quotes, Importance and Significance

The world will be celebrating the contribution of youth on International Youth Day. This year's theme is 'Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All ages. It aims to battle ageism

International Youth Day is celebrated every year on August 12 to raise awareness about cultural and legal issues related to the youth. The day was marked by the United Nations, and it was first observed on August 12, 2000.

Governments and related authorities mark it as an opportunity to work on issues related to youth via cultural events, workshops, concerts, and meetings involving local and national government executives. Interestingly, it is also labeled as the celebration of the potential of youth as global partners.

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According to the 2020, United Nations World Youth Report, 1.21 billion – more than 15 percent of the global population is between the ages of 15 and 24. As mentioned earlier, International Youth Day’s main objective is to deal with the crucial matters of the world involving young people whether it is social justice, climate change, global peace, education, and different things. 

 International Youth Day: Quotes 

“The power of youth is the common wealth for the entire world. The faces of young people are the faces of our past, our present, and our future. No segment in the society can match with the power, idealism, enthusiasm, and courage of the young people.”- Kailash Satyarthi

"My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like lions." - Swami Vivekananda

“Youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness.” - F Scott Fitzgerald

"Keep true to the dreams of your youth." - Friedrich Schiller

"The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation..." - Pearl S Buck

"Youth is something I never wanna take it for granted. I just want to smile and live life." -Tyler, The Creator

"Good habits formed at youth make all the difference." – Aristotle 

“The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.” – Diogenes

“The world belongs to the energetic.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You are only young once, and if you work it right, once is enough” – Joe Lewis

“Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.” – Nelson Mandela.

International Youth Day: Importance and Significance

The theme for International Youth Day 2022 is “Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All ages”. The idea of International Youth Day was appreciated by the UN General Assembly on August 12, 1999, to recognize and promote the importance of youth participation in world affairs.

UNFPA (United Nations Population Funds Association) report suggests that ageism leads to discrimination like other social ills of racism and sexism. Thus, it can have a detrimental effect on individuals and society.

"We celebrate young people’s efforts and contributions big and small toward righting the world’s wrongs and pulling others along with them. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders who know that nothing will change if they stand by; change only happens when they stand up," stated the UNFPA.

Historically, the idea to mark International Youth Day was proposed in 1991 ahead of the first session of the World Youth Forum of the United Nations System in Vienna, Austria. Thereafter, it took almost nine years to start this initiative.