The Impact of Young People's Decisions on Population Growth and Development, Traduzioni di Inglese

Scarica The Impact of Young People's Decisions on Population Growth and Development e più Traduzioni in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! The Youth Factor At the approach of 6 billion, world population continues to grow at 77 million a year and will exceed 70 million more per year for the next two decades. What happens after depends largely on decisions made now and over the next 10 years by the 1.04 billion young people who today are between 15 and 24 years of age. What these young people, the largest generation ever to enter adulthood, decide about the size and spacing of their families will determine how many people will be on the planet by 2050. Educating young people about the immediate and longer-term effects of their behavioural choices enables them to make responsible decisions. Their ability to make informed choices, to fulfil their individual potential and contribute to economic development, will be shaped by the way families, communities, nations and the world respond to their health, schooling and job needs. Between now and 2010, 700 million young people will enter the labour force in developing countries, an unprecedented "demographic bonus" of human resources. The ILO projects that more than 1 billion jobs will be needed to accommodate these new workers and reduce unemployment, a challenge that cannot be met without continued progress in lowering birth rates and expanding education programmes. Earlier sexual maturity, later marriage and changes in the form of the family have contributed to the acceptance of adolescence as a distinct phase of life. With puberty occurring earlier and average marriage age rising, young people today face a longer period of time during which they are sexually mature and, perhaps, sexually active. Young people’s right to exercise their basic human rights must be recognized and respected in helping them realize their full potential. In the case of young women, this entails the right to exercise greater control over their sexual and reproductive lives, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. The development of more positive attitudes towards girls and women will remove many of the barriers to better reproductive health. Traditional practices such as expectation of early marriage and pregnancy, the 2 million young girls who face female genital mutilation each year, the fact that only 76 per cent of girls compared to 96 per cent of boys receive some level of primary schooling and that among children who receive no schooling at all, girls outnumber boys, are all symptoms of a wider prejudice against empowering girls to make their own decisions. Young people have their own special needs for health care and education, particularly in matters of sexual and reproductive health, an area where adolescents can be especially at risk. But better communication about sexuality, about gender relations, and about the avoidance of unwanted pregnancy and STDs is essential to improving young people’s life options Unintended pregnancy early in life is usually the consequence of lack of access to information and services, unwanted sexual relations, unprotected sex or ineffective use of contraception.