Research Guides: Youth and Sustainable Development: Quick Guide

Youth at the United Nations

YOUTH 2030: The United Nations Youth Strategy: an umbrella framework to guide the entire UN as it steps up its work with and for young people across its three pillars – peace and security, human rights, and sustainable development – in all contexts. It seeks to significantly strengthen the UN’s capacity to engage young people and benefit from their views, insights and ideas.
ECOSOC Youth Forum: an annual event that brings together youth leaders from around the world, giving them an opportunity to engage with government representatives, youth delegates, policymakers and other relevant stakeholders in civil society and the private sector on issues that affect them. The two-days high level event concludes with ideas on innovation, collective action and proposes solutions to global problems.
Reports of the UN Secretary-General on Youth.
- Reports to the General Assembly
- Reports to the Economic and Social Council
Resolutions on youth, adopted in the General Assembly, ECOSOC and Security Council.
World Youth Reports: Flagship publication on youth issues prepared biennially by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).

Statistical Resources

DESA - Statistical Databases
Compiled by the UN DESA Statistics Division, this is a platform for data on all subject matters, bringing to the world statistical information compiled by the entire UN system.
Displaced Youth/Refugees
Little data exists on the global displaced population aged 15-24. This publication provides a global review of UNHCR engagement with displaced youth.
Global Youth Development Index (YDI)
Prepared by the Commonwealth Secretariat Youth Division the Global Youth Development Index (YDI) is an aggregate of indicators that measure progress on youth development in over 180 countries. It is based on progress made for youth 15 – 29 years old in 6 areas: education, employment and opportunity, health and well-being, equality and inclusion, political and civic participation and peace and security.The index is intended to help governments to identify specific areas for evidence-based policies and programmes in order to improve youth development and participation.
Labour Statistics on Youth (ILO)
This webpage provides detailed labour statistics on youth.
Quantitative indicators for the World Programme of Action for Youth
A good resource for quantitative indicators on youth.
Youth Health/HIV/AIDS
In 2021, about 1.71 million adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 were living with HIV worldwide.
Youth literacy rate, population 15-24 years, both sexes (UNESCO)
Provides global statistical percentiles of literacy rates for youth aged between 15 and 24.
Youth Population
According to the UNDESA Population Facts, there were 1.2 billion youth aged 15-24 years globally in 2015.

UN Resources

Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth
The UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth office is an initiative aimed at addressing the needs and rights of young people, while involving the youth with the work of the United Nations across the globe.
UN Focal Point on Youth - Division for Social Policy and Development, UN DESA
The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) houses the UN Focal Point on Youth (Division for Social Policy and Development) and is the the main office in the UN system mandated to work on youth issues.
UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB). Youth
The UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), through its High-level Committee on Programmes (HLCP), has produced two major products on the subject of youth: the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth (2015) and the System-wide Action Plan on Youth (2013).
UN Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD)
The IANYD is the United Nations’ inter-agency mechanism for matters related to youth
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Youth Empowerment
This website provides information about youth in the Asia and Pacific regions.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Youth
This web site provides information related to youth issues in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) Youth
This web stie provides information related to youth in the Arab region.
Voices of Youth
Voices of Youth (VOY) was founded in 1995 as UNICEF’s online place for young people to learn more about issues affecting their world.
U-Report
This UNICEF initiative is a free digital platform for community participation, designed to address global issues that youth care about. It aims to improve UNICEF Youth Programmes.

Publications & Reports

List of publications on youth available through the UN Digital Library
Include publications issued by UN Secretariat offices including the Economic Commissions; Funds and Programmes and UN agencies. Full texts are linked within each record where available.

The World Youth Report: Youth Social Entrepreneurship and the 2030 Agenda
Date: 2020
The report calls for tearing down barriers that prevent more young people from becoming successful social entrepreneurs will contribute to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals and tackling the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19,
Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022: Investing in transforming futures for young people
Date: 2022
Incorporating the most recent labour market information available, Global Employment Trends for Youth sets out the youth labour market situation around the world.
Youth Solutions Report
Date: Annual
A report by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN); features 50 game-changing projects led by young people, allowing them to showcase their work, and presenting them with opportunities to draw interest from potential supporters.
Youth2030: a global progress report 2022
Date: 2022
This is the second report on the status of implementation of Youth2030, the UN Youth Strategy. The report highlights: how the UN system is advancing global commitments FOR and WITH youth; the impact of UN strategic planning; the availability of funding and coherence; and coordination on youth work.
Youth: realities and challenges for achieving development with equality
Date: 2016
This book offers a portrayal of the opportunities for social inclusion afforded to young people in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a view to building stronger youth policies in the region.
World Employment and Social Outlook 2016: Trends for Youth
ISBN: 9789221312772
Date: 2016
The report provides updated figures on global and regional youth unemployment. It also looks at working poverty rates, decent work opportunities in both developed and developing economies as well as gender inequalities and migration trends among young people.