World leaders united under new initiative to provide quality education and training for young people

NEW YORK – World leaders launchеd a new partnership to get every young person into quality education, training or employment by 2030 at the 73^rd session of the UN General Assembly. Generation Unlimited will tackle the global education and training crisis currently holding back millions of young people and threatening progress and stability.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres; President of Rwanda Paul Kagame; World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, European Union, Ms. Federica Mogherini; UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore; United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth Jayathma Wickramanayake; Unilever CEO Paul Polman; UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lilly Singh; and global pop group BTS are among the global, business, education and youth leaders behind Generation Unlimited who united at a high-level event on Monday 24 September at the United Nations headquarters in New York City to launch the partnership.

Without urgent investment in education and skills training, the rapidly growing global population of adolescents and young people – which will reach 2 billion by 2030 – will continue to be unprepared and unskilled for the future workforce. And with more than 200 million young people of lower- and upper-secondary school age currently missing out on school, instead of contributing to equitable progress, young people – especially the most disadvantaged – could face futures of compounding deprivation and discrimination.

“All our hopes for a better world rest on young people,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. “The world is home to the largest generation of young people ever – 1.8 billion. Sustainable development, human rights, peace and security can only be achieved if we empower these young people as leaders, and enable them to unleash their full potential.”

“The change in demographics the world is experiencing, coupled with fast-moving technological advances, presents a critical moment in history. If we act wisely and urgently, we can create a skilled cohort of young people better prepared to create sustainable economies and peaceful and prosperous societies. Young people may represent 25 per cent of the global population, but they account for 100 per cent of the future. We cannot afford to fail them,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

“I've seen firsthand that listening to and learning from young people is one of the best ways to collaborate on creative solutions and address the challenges they face.  When empowered to share their voices, they have so many innovative and creative ideas. I'm endlessly inspired by this generation and am committed to do what I can to help them achieve a brighter future,” said UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lilly Singh.

About Generation Unlimited

The initiative - which forms part of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Youth 2030 Strategy - launched to help address the desperate lack of quality education, skills training, and employment opportunities for young people. Generation Unlimited brings together a wide range of partners – governments, the private sector, academia, international and civil society organizations, and – most importantly – young people themselves, to co-create, fund and scale up innovative solutions to expand opportunities for the world’s young people.

For more information about Generation Unlimited please visit: www.GenUnlimited.org