Overview
In the Pacific, issues affecting youth include education challenges, limited employment opportunities for youth, and crime and juvenile delinquency. Those related specifically to youth health include sexual and reproductive health issues, mental health and suicide, and substance abuse.These issues are a concern because they undermine and reduce the potential of young people to contribute to their society and enjoy a happy and fulfilling life. If they drift into crime and delinquency, young people risk alienating themselves from society and being deprived of their liberty, as well as limiting their opportunities and choices in life. Those who damage their health through substance abuse or unsafe sex, or bear children while they are still themselves children, also limit their opportunities in life and their potential to contribute to society. In the worst cases, valuable young lives are lost altogether because of deaths due to high risk and self-destructive behaviour. One of the major health risks facing Pacific youth today is that of HIV/AIDS. More than half of all new infections in the world strike people under the age of 25. Girls are affected and at a younger age than boys. As more and more cases are reported in the Pacific, we need to recognize that young Pacific Islanders offer the greatest hope for defeating the epidemic. They have great potential to be agents of change and to break the silence around sensitive issues at the heart of the pandemic: sex, gender inequality, sex work, sexual orientation, substance abuse and violence. Given that youth populations comprise around 20 per cent of the population in most Pacific countries, they are also significant in economic terms. Since 1998, Pacific governments, civil society and donors have made considerable efforts to improve the prospects for youth, and many initiatives throughout the region have benefited significant numbers of young people. This includes training in life skills and employment generation, provision of reproductive health services specifically for youth and projects to address issues such as substance abuse. Country governments participated in the development of the Pacific Youth Strategy, and have partnered with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Pacific Youth Bureau and major donors, including UNICEF and UNFPA, to address youth issues. Youth delegates have contributed to the major regional strategies of the Pacific Plan and the Pacific Millennium Development Goals movement. Some countries have established their own National Youth Councils and prepared their own youth strategies. Pacific youth are making a special appeal for opportunities to lead productive and satisfying lives and make their own meaningful contributions to development. Their skills and energies are an invaluable resource in the region, if given the opportunity to thrive.
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