Policies and Programmes Involving Youth

A/RES/76/137View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 28b Social development, including questions relating to the world social situation and to youth, ageing, disabled persons and the family, published in 2021.

What other versions does this mandate have?

18 versions · 1990–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/180

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/180	Policies and programmes involving youth	4,841	80%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/179	Policies and programmes involving youth	4,291	20%Compare
2022	A/RES/76/137	Policies and programmes involving youth	5,792	50%Compare
2020	A/RES/74/121	Policies and programmes involving youth	4,376	74%Compare
2018	A/RES/72/146	Policies and programmes involving youth	3,376	41%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

8 reports · 2005–2025

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2025	A/80/375	Policies and programmes involving youth report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/179
2023	A/78/189	Policies and programmes involving youth report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/76/137
2021	A/76/210	Policies and programmes involving youth report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/74/121
2019	A/74/175	Policies and programmes involving youth report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/72/146
2017	A/72/190	Youth development links to sustainable development report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/127

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

Covid-19 Gender Equality Youth Youth Policy

What’s in this document?

43 operative paragraphs

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General;²²

²²A/76/210.

Reaffirms the World Programme of Action for Youth,²³ and emphasizes that all 15 priority areas of the Programme of Action are interrelated and mutually reinforcing and the role that the Commission for Social Development plays in supporting States in its implementation;

²³Resolution 50/81, annex, and resolution 62/126, annex.

Also reaffirms the commitment of Heads of State and Government in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development²⁴ to leave no one behind, including youth, and the importance of implementing, following up on and reviewing strategies that adequately address youth issues and give all young people, as well as youth and youth-led organizations, real opportunities for full, effective, constructive and sustainable participation in society, including in relevant decision-making processes and monitoring, in all spheres of political, economic, social and cultural life, including in designing and implementing policies, programmes and initiatives, in particular, while implementing the 2030 Agenda;

²⁴Resolution 70/1.

Recognizes that 49 per cent of the world’s population is under 30 and only 2.6 per cent of members of parliament belong to this age group, encourages the increase of youth representation in national and local legislatures;

Reiterates that the primary responsibility for implementing the World Programme of Action for Youth lies with Member States, and urges Governments, in consultation with youth, youth-led and youth-focused organizations and other relevant stakeholders, to develop integrated, holistic, inclusive and effective youth policies and programmes, as well as coherent cross-sectoral efforts, based on the Programme of Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and to evaluate them regularly as part of the follow-up action on and implementation of the Programme of Action at all levels;

Urges Member States to protect, promote and fulfil the realization and full enjoyment by all young people of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant international human rights instruments, in the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth, while ensuring that youth policies and programmes and their planning, design, implementation, monitoring and review include the views, perspectives and priorities of youth and are adequately resourced, transparent and accountable;

Also urges Member States to take measures to combat discrimination, neglect, abuse and violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, and to address issues relating to barriers to social integration and adequate participation, bearing in mind that the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by young people empowers them to contribute as active members of society to the political, civil, economic, social, and cultural development of their countries;

Calls upon Member States to consider, on a voluntary basis, the indicators proposed in the report of the Secretary-General²⁵ for their selection and adaptation in monitoring and assessing the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth, giving particular attention to young women, marginalized groups and young people belonging to vulnerable groups or in vulnerable situations, especially those affected by armed conflict, taking into account the national social and economic circumstances in each country;

²⁵E/CN.5/2013/8.

Stresses the need to strengthen and support the capacity of national statistical offices to design, collect and analyse data disaggregated by sex and age so as to contribute effectively to follow-up, reporting and accountability for the achievement of the youth dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Urges Member States to promote equal opportunities for all, to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against all young people, including those based, inter alia, on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, and to foster social inclusion and integration, including for young persons with disabilities, young migrants, young people in rural and remote areas and indigenous youth on an equal basis with others;

Reiterates that the eradication of poverty, hunger and malnutrition, in particular in the light of their consequence on children and youth, is crucial for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, recalls the commitment to eradicate poverty in all its forms and dimensions and promote sustained economic growth and sustainable development, including the strengthening of international cooperation through the fulfilment of all official development assistance commitments and the transfer of appropriate technology and capacity-building with regard to youth;

Also reiterates the need for more ambitious national development strategies, efforts and investment in youth, while taking note of young people’s diverse situations and conditions, backed by increased international support and, inter alia, by providing youth with a nurturing environment for the full realization of their human rights and capabilities and to realize the opportunity of the demographic dividend offered by young people, and calls for the increased participation of youth, youth-led and youth-focused organizations, other relevant stakeholders and civil society organizations in the development of such national development strategies, policies and plans;

Emphasizes the role of quality health education and literacy in promoting the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and improving health outcomes over the life course, and in this regard encourages its promotion among young people by Member States, including through evidence-based education and information strategies and programmes, both in and out of school, and through public campaigns, and to increase the access of youth to available, accessible, affordable, quality, safe, effective, sustainable and appropriate youth-friendly health-care services, including sexual and reproductive health-care services, social services, safe drinking water and adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene, including menstrual health, as well as by paying special attention to and raising awareness regarding sports and physical activity, nutrition, including eating disorders and obesity, the promotion and protection of health, including mental health and well-being, and equitable access to education and participation, and support and care for youth with disabilities, the prevention of interpersonal violence, the prevention, control and effects of communicable and non-communicable diseases, the prevention of adolescent pregnancies, and recognizes the need to develop safe, affordable and youth-friendly counselling and prevention of psychoactive substance use and addictive behaviours;

Also emphasizes the need to implement measures to promote and improve the mental health and well-being of young people, including by adopting and investing in mental health policies which respect the human rights of young people with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities, recognizing and addressing risk factors for mental health conditions, scaling up comprehensive and integrated services, both in person and in digital contexts, for the prevention of mental health conditions, including suicide prevention, as well as providing psychosocial support, including resilience training, while raising awareness of mental health issues, the impact of misuse of digital technology on young people’s mental health and well-being and tackling stigma, discrimination and social exclusion, promoting well-being, strengthening the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, addressing social determinants of health and fully respecting their human rights;

Further emphasizes that the respect for all human rights and addressing the specific needs of young people in the response to HIV and AIDS is a key element in efforts to achieve an AIDS-free generation, and urges Member States to develop accessible, available and affordable and youth friendly health-care services of high quality, including sexual and reproductive health-care services, as well as information and education programmes, including those related to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS, delivered free from all forms of stigma and discrimination, and to strengthen efforts in this regard, including by ensuring the active involvement of young people living with or affected by HIV in the response;

Calls upon Member States to accelerate efforts to scale up scientifically accurate age-appropriate comprehensive education, relevant to cultural contexts, that provides adolescent girls and boys and young women and men, in and out of school, consistent with their evolving capacities, with information on sexual and reproductive health, gender equality and the empowerment of women, human rights, physical, psychological and pubertal development, and power in relationships between women and men, to enable them to build self-esteem and informed decision-making, communication and risk reduction skills and to develop respectful relationships, in full partnership with young persons, parents, legal guardians, caregivers, educators and health-care providers;

Reiterates the need to fulfil the right to education of all girls and young women, to economically empower women by providing them with job skills, employment opportunities, including access to decent work, financial and digital literacy and access to financial services, to scale up social protection interventions for all girls and young women, and to engage men and boys as agents of change in intensified efforts to combat all forms of violence, including sexual and gender-based violence and harassment, both in person and in digital contexts, and to transform negative social norms and gender stereotypes;

Emphasizes the right to education, recognizes that investment in universal, quality and inclusive education and training is the most important policy investment that States can make to ensure the immediate and long-term development of youth, and reiterates that access to inclusive, equitable and quality formal and non-formal education, at all levels, including, as appropriate, catch-up and literacy education, including in information and communications technologies for those who did not receive formal education, information and communications technologies and volunteerism are important factors that enable young people to develop the relevant skills, including complementary soft skills, and to build their capacities, including for employability and entrepreneurial development, and to gain decent and productive work, and calls upon Member States to take the actions necessary to ensure that young people, including pregnant adolescents and young mothers, have access to such services and opportunities, which will allow them to be drivers of sustainable development;

Urges Member States to intensify efforts to address the high rates of youth unemployment, underemployment, vulnerable employment, informal employment and young people not in employment, education or training by developing and implementing targeted and integrated local and national youth employment policies for inclusive, sustainable and innovative job creation, improved employability, skills development and vocational training to facilitate the transition from school to work, and improving synergies between the education and employment sectors to increase the prospects for integrating youth into the sustainable labour market, and through increased innovation and entrepreneurship, including the development of networks of young entrepreneurs at the local, national, regional and global levels that foster knowledge among young people about their rights and responsibilities in society, and encourages Member States to invest in quality education, support lifelong learning and provide social protection for all youth and to request donors, specialized United Nations entities and the private sector to continue to provide assistance to Member States, including technical and funding support, as appropriate;

Recognizes the importance of a deep connection between youth and their respective cultural heritage and background as a tool for the establishment of positive relations based on the respect for cultural diversity, leading to peaceful integration also through artistic, cultural and sports initiatives;

Calls upon Member States to accelerate their efforts to close the digital divide and promote innovation among youth by ensuring that information and communications technologies are fully and appropriately integrated into education and training at all levels, including in the development of curricula, teacher training and institutional administration and management, and in support of the concept of lifelong learning;

Encourages Member States to take the necessary and appropriate measures, with respect for human rights, to address disinformation and advocacy of hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence on the Internet, particularly on digital platforms used for educational purposes, and stresses the importance of educating young learners of the digital age on the responsible use of technologies and raising their awareness around harmful use of sensitive contents, to promote safety on the Internet so that it can continue to be a vibrant force that generates economic, social and cultural development;

Urges Member States to address the challenges faced by girls and young women, as well as gender stereotypes that perpetuate all forms of discrimination and violence against girls and young women, including harmful practices, and the stereotypical roles of men and women that hinder social and personal development, by implementing the commitments to the empowerment of women and gender equality and the human rights of all women and girls, and to engage, educate, encourage and support men and boys to take responsibility for their behaviour in this regard, including their sexual and reproductive behaviour;

Also urges Member States to take comprehensive legal and policy measures in order to eliminate all forms of violence against girls and young women, including sexual harassment, and prevent violence, both in person and in digital contexts, such as bullying, including cyberbullying, address the reported surge of sexual and gender-based violence in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and reaffirms that States should not invoke any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination and should pursue, by all appropriate means and without delay, a policy of eliminating violence against women, as set out in the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women;²⁶

²⁶Resolution 48/104.

Further urges Member States to mainstream a gender-responsive approach into all development efforts, recognizing that the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls is critical for achieving sustainable development and for efforts to combat hunger, poverty and disease, and to strengthen policies and programmes that seek to improve, ensure and broaden the full, equal and meaningful participation of young women in all spheres of political, economic, social and cultural life as equal partners, and to improve their access to all resources needed for the full exercise of all of their human rights and fundamental freedoms by removing persistent barriers, including by providing access to quality education at all levels, ensuring equal access to full and productive employment and decent work and strengthening their economic independence;

Recognizes that the international community faces increasing challenges posed by climate change and the loss of biodiversity, which have increased vulnerabilities and inequalities with direct and indirect implications for the human rights and well-being of youth and which could make youth, particularly in developing countries and small island developing States, vulnerable to their adverse impacts, including through suffering disproportionately in labour markets in times of crisis created by climate change, calls for the enhanced cooperation of and concerted action by Member States with youth in order to address those challenges, taking into account the positive role that the education of youth can play in that respect, and encourages Member States to further promote youth participation in climate action and to consider youth perspectives in decision-making processes on climate change;

Invites Member States to actively engage civil society, in particular youth organizations, in decision-making processes regarding environmental policy and programming initiatives, aimed at countering climate change, desertification, land deterioration and biodiversity loss, and at strengthening youth involvement, their capacity-building and resilience, in particular those in developing countries, and at ensuring access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment;

Recognizes that the sharing of responsibilities by family members, including on domestic and unpaid care work, creates an enabling family environment for the empowerment of youth, including girls and young women, which contributes to development, that youth make a significant contribution to the welfare of their families and that particular attention must be paid to solutions to youth unemployment in order to generate the human and social capital that is essential for social and economic development;

Also recognizes the importance of strengthening intergenerational partnerships and solidarity among generations, and in this regard recognizes the importance of opportunities for voluntary, constructive and regular interaction between young people and older generations in the family, the workplace and society at large;

Further recognizes all recent efforts to promote the youth and peace and security agenda, and calls upon Member States and relevant United Nations organs and entities to consider ways to increase the meaningful and inclusive participation of youth in conflict prevention and resolution, peacebuilding, post-conflict processes and humanitarian action, as well as to take concrete measures to further assist youth in armed conflict situations, in accordance with the World Programme of Action for Youth, and to encourage the involvement of youth, where appropriate, in activities concerning the protection of children and youth affected by armed conflict situations, and recognizes the importance of protecting schools and universities from military use, in contravention of international humanitarian law;

Encourages Member States to strengthen the efforts aimed at promoting and protecting the right to education and facilitating continuation of education in armed conflict, also by considering endorsing and implementing relevant instruments for the protection of children in armed conflict;

Urges Member States to take concerted action, in conformity with international law, to remove obstacles to the full realization of the rights of young people living under foreign occupation, colonial rule and in other areas of conflict or post-conflict situations in order to promote the achievement of the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Also urges Member States to take effective measures, in conformity with international law, to protect young people, including youth in marginalized groups affected or exploited by terrorism;

Further urges Member States to address legal, administrative, social, economic, digital and cultural barriers that limit young people’s participation and representation, while enabling the capacities, resources, information, technology, support, space and skills needed to ensure free, active, independent, full and effective participation of youth, including youth in vulnerable situations;

Calls upon Member States to develop or maintain, in this regard, preventive measures and remedies for violations and abuses regarding the right to privacy in the digital age that may affect all individuals, including young people, promote digital literacy and technical skills to effectively protect their privacy and take measures to prevent cyberstalking and cyberbullying;

Encourages Member States to include youth delegates in their delegations at all relevant discussions in the General Assembly and its subsidiary organs, the Economic and Social Council and its functional commissions and relevant United Nations conferences, as appropriate, bearing in mind the principles of gender balance and non-discrimination, and emphasizes that such youth representatives should be selected through a transparent process that ensures that they have a suitable mandate to represent young people in their countries;

Calls upon the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat Programme on Youth to continue to act as the focal point within the United Nations system for promoting further collaboration and coordination on youth-related matters, including, inter alia, with Governments on the United Nations Youth Delegate Programme;

Calls upon donors, including Member States and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, to actively contribute to the United Nations Youth Fund in order to facilitate the participation of youth representatives from developing countries in the activities of the United Nations, taking into account the need for greater geographical balance in terms of youth representation, as well as to accelerate the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth and to support the production of the World Youth Report, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to take appropriate action to encourage contributions to the Fund;

Acknowledges the increased collaboration through the Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development in developing the United Nations System-wide Action Plan on Youth, requests United Nations entities, within existing resources, to continue their coordination towards a more coherent, comprehensive and integrated approach to youth development, calls upon United Nations entities and relevant partners to support national, regional and international efforts in addressing challenges hindering youth development, and in this regard encourages close collaboration with Member States as well as other relevant stakeholders, including civil society;

Recognizes the role of the Envoy of the Secretary-General on Youth and her task of bringing the voices of young people to the United Nations system in the areas of participation, advocacy, partnerships and harmonization identified in her workplan, and encourages the Envoy to continue to work closely with Governments, United Nations entities, civil society, youth organizations, academia and the media by empowering and strengthening the position of young people within and outside the United Nations system, including by conducting country visits, at the request of the Member States concerned, and calls upon Member States and United Nations entities to support, as appropriate, the Envoy in her efforts to advance the situation of youth globally;

Decides to convene a one day high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly, at the level of Heads of State and Government and with the full and effective participation of youth, during the general debate of the eightieth session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2025, to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the World Programme of Action for Youth, with a view to addressing the challenges still faced by young people in the realization of their full potential and human rights and to strengthening political commitment for reinforced policies and programmes involving youth;

Recommends, in this regard, that the President of the General Assembly conduct consultations to finalize the organizational arrangements for the high-level meeting of the General Assembly;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution, and encourages Member States to report on progress that has been achieved in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals with regard to the youth agenda and challenges that still remain, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to be prepared in consultation with relevant specialized agencies, funds, programmes and regional commissions, taking into account the work done by the United Nations system, and encourages the Secretariat to consult with youth-led and youth-focused organizations.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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