The Department of Social Development and the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) yesterday released a report on the state of the world's population, revealing that the youth population had reached a historic one billion. The report released under the theme 'making one billion count: 'investing in adolescents' health and rights' is set to encourage youth to partake in initiatives established for them.

It aims to prepare and inform adolescents and youth for adulthood on issues of poverty, inequality and HIV/AIDS.

The report says investing in young people should yield generous returns for generations to come.

Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said for South Africa, the report would ensure that young people in the country were better equipped to face pertinent socio-economic challenges.

“I therefore urge all sectors of society and the youth in particular to read the report, discuss and understand it and even more importantly to use it in their daily lives to effectively tackle the complex socio-economic problems including poverty, unemployment and HIV/Aids,” said the minister.

He said young people who willed to channel efforts in partaking in positive youth activities would reap the benefits.

The report states that challenges facing South Africa are improvement of gender practices, eradicating poverty, fighting crime, providing education and combating Sexually Transmitted Infections as well as HIV/Aids.

However, the DSD said positive interventions in this context would include rights based programmes that would further educate youth about their rights to ensure that they made informed decisions.

The report reveals that about 57 million young people aged between 15 and 24 in developing countries could not read or write.

The report says South Africa has approximately 19-million young people of which about 7,8 are unemployed.

Speaking during the launch of the report in London yesterday, UNFPA Executive director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid said the report stressed that education, information and health services were urgently needed in all regions of the world.

“There is clear evidence from Africa, Asia and Latin America that well-designed information and education programmes do lead to safer, healthier behavior,” she said.

Far greater support is needed for sexuality education and HIV prevention programmes for young people both in and out of school,” she added.

Xolani Mbutho, the Deputy President of the South African Youth Council, reacted to the report and said the youth needed programmes on behavioral change in order to live positive lifestyles.

“We need programmes that will change the mind sets of young men and women for them to live positive lives,” he said.

He said in rolling out its youth programmes, government should prioritise issues of peace, stability and human rights.

Matshidiso Mtshweni, a representative from Mahube Youth Development Forum said peer pressure was a major factor contributing to the high rate of teenage pregnancy and the spread of HIV/Aids.

She said there was a need to have peer educators and friendly youth centres that would positively highlight these issues to youth in order to help them face challenges they face.

The chairperson for National Youth Commission Jabu Mbalula said young people should be perceived positively as the future of the country.

“The attitude of society towards youth impacts on their lives as young men and women of this country”. – BuaNews.