International Youth Day has been celebrated annually on 12 August since the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth in 1999.
The UNESCO Youth Programme emphasizes in its work that youth are not just beneficiaries, but they are essential leaders and partners in finding solutions to the issues faced by young people in the world today. They must be fully engaged in social development themselves and supported in this work by their societies. In line with its Operational Strategy on Youth 2014-2021, the UNESCO Youth Programme works to create an enabling environment in which this goal can be achieved, by bringing youth voices to the fore and encouraging young people to take action.
