“The future belongs to young people with an education and the imagination to create.” — Barack Obama. The young people across the world hold so much power that has not been fully tapped into. It is acknowledged that the youths have the power to intervene in numerous initiatives that intend to improve lives by bringing in tremendous energy. The voice of the youth should be put at the center of community interventions such as food systems transformations, technology, health, and security. The international youth day that is held every 12th of August every year is a crucial event that brings global attention to the challenges faced by youths across the world and gives the youth a platform to express themselves. This day is meant to bring meaningful transformation to the lives of youths and tap into their potential powers that can transform the world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken a great initiative of engaging the youths on matters of health. This year’s theme of the International Youth Day was “Transforming food systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health.” The COVID-19 pandemic has affected millions of lives and particularly in health concerns. The issue of healthy feeding was addressed by youths in this year’s ECOSOC Youth Forum (EYF). Human health is greatly associated with food choices, which calls for informed decision-making when choosing sustainable and healthy food products. The World Program of Action for Youth (WPAY) is entitled to address the youth’s need for protection against disasters such as COVID-19 and other related diseases.
Youths have engaged themselves in efforts to provide solutions to community problems through technology and other means. In Nigeria, the youths commenced a COVID-19 initiative, CcHUB (an open living lab and pre-incubation space), to provide financial, research, and design support for projects aimed at COVID-19. This is a voice that cannot be ignored, which shows that the youths have incredible potential that can be fully unleashed when supported by all means. Organizations have shown efforts to support the youth advance their knowledge to bring out the potential in them. The Life Care Children and Women Initiative (LCCWEI) have been at the forefront to provide educational and health support to the youths in western Africa to empower them to be the best versions of themselves. These efforts cannot go unnoticed as they shape the leaders and hope for tomorrow. More individuals and organizations need to come up and support the voice of the youths for the betterment of tomorrow.
One Comment
Royal
Excellent!