This year’s 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 80) marked a milestone: the 30th anniversary of the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY) — often shortened to WPAY30. Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1995, the WPAY was the first comprehensive global policy framework to put young people at the heart of development.
Origins & Purpose
In the early 1990s, Member States recognized that young people — then an unprecedented share of the world’s population — were facing high unemployment, weak access to education, poor health services, and limited political participation. To respond, the UN crafted the WPAY: a global blueprint for improving the living standards and empowerment of youth. It identified 15 priority areas ranging from education, employment, and health, to participation in decision-making, technology, globalization, HIV/AIDS, armed conflict, and intergenerational issues.
The WPAY urged governments to integrate youth concerns into national development plans and called on the UN system to coordinate support, data collection, and capacity building.
Evolution Over Three Decades
- 1995: WPAY adopted with 10 priority areas.
- 2003: Expanded to 15 priority areas (adding globalization, HIV/AIDS, armed conflict, and intergenerational issues).
- 2010s: Growing focus on digital skills, migration, and climate change — topics not explicit in the original plan but now critical.
- 2022: Creation of the UN Youth Office, a direct response to calls for stronger institutional support for youth issues globally.
- 2025 (WPAY30): UNGA 80 is using this 30-year mark to reflect, recommit, and modernize the programme for a world shaped by AI, climate crises, and shifting power dynamics.
Why WPAY30 Matters Today
- Demographic urgency: More than 60% of Africa’s population is under 25; globally, youth remain the largest generation in history.
- Skills for the future: WPAY30 is pushing for investment in education that prepares creators, not just administrators — especially important for the Global South.
- Systems accountability: Member States are being asked to move from policy-rich, implementation-poor approaches toward measurable, youth-led outcomes.
- Innovation & inclusion: The new UN Youth Office is tasked with linking WPAY’s vision to emerging fields such as AI, energy transitions, climate innovation, and entrepreneurship.
How Youth Can Engage
- Follow UN Youth Affairs for consultations and global dialogues tied to WPAY30.
- Push for national WPAY reviews — governments are expected to report progress; youth can hold them accountable.
- Build alliances across sectors: WPAY30 encourages private sector, academia, and civil society to co-create solutions with youth.
- Advocate for skills reform: curricula that prepare job creators, innovators, and problem-solvers, not only administrators.
WPAY30 isn’t just an anniversary; it’s an invitation. Thirty years on, it’s time to move from commitments to action — and young people, especially in the Global South, must lead that shift.
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