Today, there are 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 years, accounting for 16 per cent of the global population. By 2030, the number of youth is projected to have grown by 7 per cent, to nearly 1.3 billion. In Sri Lanka, young people aged 15 - 29 years’ account for over 4.4 million of the population.

The global theme for Youth Day in 2023 is ‘Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World’. Youth can be a positive force for development when provided with the knowledge and opportunities they need to thrive. Providing young people with knowledge about climate change and how it relates to health is part of empowering and equipping them to be active in the response that climate change requires.

This International Youth Day, UNFPA Sri Lanka partnered with the Department of Economics Student Association at the University of Colombo to launch ‘Youth Emerge’, a tripartite competition series for undergraduate students in Sri Lanka. The one-month campaign consisted of a quiz, competition series, an essay and oratory competition. The campaign was led by university students, providing UNFPA Sri Lanka an opportunity to collaborate and build the skills of young leaders.

Further UNFPA Sri Lanka collaborated with the National Youth Services Council (NYSC) and other UN Agencies on a series of workshops on the Sustainable Development Goals. UNFPA Sri Lanka conducted a session focusing on SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 5 (Gender Equality) to emphasize why health and wellbeing and gender equality in sustainable development is vital to young people and their participation and leadership in ensuring meeting the goals.