A substantial number of young people reside in areas in which poverty constitutes a
major challenge. Approximately 64% of youth in Africa and 84% in Asia live in countries
where at least one third of the population subsists on less than US$ 2 per day. Another
defining factor is that youth are very often concentrated in urban areas with limited
access to basic social services. A growing majority of youth live in cities and towns; the
cities of the developing world account for over 90% of the world’s expected urban
growth and youth account for a large percentage of those inhabitants. It is estimated
that as many as 60% of all urban dwellers will be under the age of 18 by 2030.7
Employment is an integral part of the transition to adulthood and plays a central role in
the social integration of young people. It provides youth with economic security and
facilitates their participation in society at multiple levels in a positive way. Youth access
to employment essentially translates into income and resource access, both of which
are pivotal to shaping adaptive capacity. Youth’s participation in the economic life of the
society is also increasing its purchasing power and serves as potential taxpayers.
Youth continue to be overrepresented among the world’s unemployed. In 2007, youth
comprised only 25 per cent of the working-age population but accounted for more than
40 per cent of those who were jobless. The global youth unemployment rate for 2007
stood at 12 per cent, or three times the adult rate. In South-East Asia and the Pacific,
youth unemployment rates are as high as six times those of adults! This is a massive
waste of the society’s resources. More importantly, young people with poor access to
the necessary urban life resources are demonstrably less inclined to see civic authorities
as working for and representing them. In effect, the low presence of youth in
employment also effectively blocks the creation of positive commitment for efficient
urban governance. One possible outcome of this kind of situation is lately seen in the
MENA region.
Still, youth unemployment in developing countries tell only part of the story. For young
people in these areas, informal, non-secure, and low-wage employment is the norm,
with labour activity among youth concentrated in agriculture and related industries and
in the burgeoning informal sector. More than 79 per cent of the world’s youth live in
Africa, Asia, and Oceania, where employment in agriculture comprises at least 35 per
cent of total employment.
Education is another essential element in the transition to adulthood. For a substantial
number of young people in developing countries access to quality education is difficult.
Although the global youth literacy rate increased from 84 per cent during the period
1985-1994 to 89 per cent during 2000-2006, progress has been uneven, with youth
literacy rates below 80 per cent recorded in sub-Saharan Africa and in Southern and
Western Asia. Secondary enrolment levels are as low as 25 per cent in some Pacific
countries and 16 per cent in parts of Asia, but the lowest rates are found among youth
in Africa. Large disparities in educational quality and access also exist within countries
owing to factors such as income, location, gender, and ethnicity. Another aspect of the
educational quality young people are faced with is the disparity between the
educational sector’s output and the requirements of the private and public sector
employment. In several countries, this mismatch between education and skills needed is
creating a large body of skilled yet unemployed people. Highly educated youth are
without jobs and there is a large section of poorly educated youth leading to an
enormous waste of the society’s resources.
The proportion of youth in the world’s population is often referred to as “the youth
bulge”. A key assumption in this report is that this “youth bulge” provides a unique
window of opportunity in which youth globally can be engaged as positive resources in
creating a more sustainable, just and equitable world. The immediate context of this
report is the explosive growth of cities globally, where since 2007 more than half of
humankind lives. Key to advancement of many developing countries will be the
engagement of those most marginalized, who are often young people living in the slums
and unplanned settlements of the increasingly urbanized world. The State of the Urban Youth 2010-2011 report called for “Levelling the Playing Field”
for youth in danger of being caught in this vicious cycle of poverty. This report, the first
of its kind, focused on youth exclusion from opportunities in urban areas in order to
raise international attention and action towards this critical issue. The key findings of
the report strongly suggest that outcomes of inequality (earning and assets) that define
youth exclusion from urban life are related to the unequal opportunities that occur in
successive life stages. Education is a key determinant of equal opportunity but there are
various factors that prevent youth’s access to schools and good quality education. The
key findings of the report strongly suggest outcomes of inequality (earning and assets)
that define youth exclusion from urban life are related to the unequal opportunities that
occur in successive life stages. Gender also continues to be a challenge to equal
opportunities. It is important to acknowledge the gender disparities in education that
leads to unequal opportunities in later life. Girls have a very high dropout rate with very
few completing secondary education, due to several socio-economic factors such as
young pregnancies and social pressure.