International Youth Day 2022: History, significance, quotes and wishes to celebrate youth power

International Youth Day 2022: A day marked to celebrate the contribution of youth, this year’s theme is 'Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages'. It's aimed to combat ageism and build bridges between generations.

Pic courtesy: Pixabay

International Youth Day 2022: According to estimates in the 2020 United Nations World Youth Report, 1.21 billion - 15.5 per cent of the global population - young people between the ages of 15 and 24 inhabit the earth. The International Youth Day is observed every year on August 12 to showcase and acknowledge the various issues young people across the world deals with on a daily basis and the role of youth in important matters in the world, be it in the world of education, social justice, global peace, climate change and more. 

International Youth Day 2022: Theme

According to a report by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), "This year’s theme is 'Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages' to combat ageism and build bridges between generations. From the wisdom of youth to the energy and idealism of the elderly, we must welcome and leverage the gifts people of all ages bring and ensure no one is left behind. The world’s problems are too vast for entire generations to be absent from helping address them."

International Youth Day 2022: History and Significance

Ever since it was endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 1999, August 12 is celebrated as International Youth Day to acknowledge and amplify the importance of youth participation in current affairs

The UNFPA report highlights that ageism leads to discrimination and later gives rise to other ills of society like sexism and racism, which can have a detrimental effect on society and individuals. "We celebrate young people’s efforts and contributions big and small toward righting the world’s wrongs and pulling others along with them. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders who know that nothing will change if they stand by; change only happens when they stand up," the UNFPA says. 

International Youth Day 2022: Wishes, quotes and messages

"Good habits formed at youth make all the difference." – Aristotle

The power of youth is the common wealth for the entire world. The faces of young people are the faces of our past, our present and our future. No segment in the society can match with the power, idealism, enthusiasm and courage of the young people - Kailash Satyarthi

"My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like lions." - Swami Vivekananda

"The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation..." - Pearl S Buck

“Youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness.” - F Scott Fitzgerald