Empowering the youth

A fundamental component and major investment of society that remains under-utilised is young people.  It is the youth who are the foundations of effective and progressive development. Half of the world's human population is young people. They hold enormous stake in the present and future state of the earth and environment. If young people commit themselves to improving structural developmental challenges and utilise their resources of energy, time, and knowledge in a positive way, then, long-term sustainable societal development can be achieved.
If society and the government empower the country's youths through training, workshops, competitions, and employment, there will be hardly any possibility of their propensity to drug addiction, violence and terrorism. If the youth can achieve social position and power to negotiate in the broader framework of society, they can and will participate in all aspects of sustainable development. Structured education systems, political support, skills and knowledge sharing and motivation can help one young boy or girl to achieve  transition to sustainability. The dynamics of adolescence and youth are conducive to progressive thought, unrestricted creativity, action, and activism.  If these traits can be harnessed through societal support, acceptance, empowerment, and access to rights, the youth can ensure sustainable human development.
Donor agencies can play a vital role in boosting the young people's capabilities by allocating resources, enhancing the capacities and interest of local and national governments to address youth issues, and promoting the youth in society. The World Programme for Youth of Action (WPAY) provides policy framework and practical guidelines as a model for national and international engagement for improving the situation and status of young people.
In Bangladesh, different organisations and youth centres are working to develop youth programmes so that young people can learn more and share their opinions to bring about sustainable development in society. For enjoyment of all human rights by young people, the government must take effective actions against violation of rights and promote equality and non-discrimination. Numerous actions and recommendations have been proposed to ensure and secure a healthy future with acceptable quality of life and standard of education for the youth.
The youth of any country should take part in relevant fields of decision-making processes. In this context, each country in consultation with its youth communities can achieve sustainability in every social development sector and in poverty reduction. Young people are in a critical and uninhibited process of learning and inventing; therefore, if they are given the responsibility, they will accept the challenge and will be successful in bringing about positive changes.
Moreover, through empowerment and promotion, young people can and will enhance their cohesion with families and communities. A bridge has to be built between effective policy and practical action when utilising the potential of the young populations. Sustainable development and youth empowerment are not just catchy concepts.  Youth inclusion and engagement are vital areas that societies and nations must embrace in every form--social, political, and economic. The youth are not the future leaders; they are the present leaders and can play active roles in sustainable development of society now.
The writer is a student of the University of Dhaka [email protected]