World of 7 Billion – Vision of Youth
In the frameworks of the 7 billion campaign United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) initiated a Youth Conference on October 31. The conference “World of 7 Billion - Vision of Youth” was hosted by the Youth International Relations Department at Tbilisi Youth Palace and was dedicated to the world population of 7 billion. The world’s population will top seven billion people on October 31, 2011. It’s noteworthy that people under 25 make up 43 percent of the world’s population, but the percentage reaches 60 percent in the least-developed countries.
It is already a decade that the Youth Conferences have been held in partnership with the Youth International Relations Department at Tbilisi Youth Palace through the financial support of UNFPA Georgia Office. The topics of the conference papers, prepared by young people vary every year to reflect the issues and concerns actual for the whole world and particularly for Georgia.
This year the topics of the conference reflected the issues related to the world of 7 billion, such as: poverty and population, the reproductive health & rights of women and girls, aging, urban growth, environment, reproductive health of young people and ecology.
“United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is marking this milestone worldwide. The role of young people is of paramount significance in the world of 7 billion, that is full of challenges and opportunities and require immediate actions. The vision and actions of youth will determine future population trends”-said Ms. Tamar Khomasuridze, Assistant Representative, UNFPA/Georgia.
“Investing in young people is the smartest investment that we can make for our collective future.”- stated Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director.