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Developed by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Global Youth Development Index Report launched this International Youth Day measures the state of health and wellbeing, education, employment, equality and inclusion, political participation, and security for more than 1.8 billion young people across 181 countries. It informs policymakers about young people’s needs and opportunities and provides policy-oriented recommendations. It also acts as a data advocacy tool, highlighting the importance of gathering statistics on key youth indicators to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. I am very pleased to be a part of it.

The latest edition of the Youth Development Index (YDI) ranks youth development in 181 countries. It is a composite index of 27 indicators that measures youth development across 6 domains tracked over the period 2010–2018: Health and Wellbeing, Education, Employment and Opportunity, Political and Civic Participation, Equality and Inclusion and Peace and Security. This year’s index shows advances in 5 of the 6 domains over the period.

As a global comparison tool, the YDI uses national level data. It compares scores between countries and regions but does not provide insight on variations or inequalities in youth development within a country. It also does not measure every aspect of youth development – focusing instead on a core set of indicators that expert literature has shown heavily influences development outcomes for young people. There is a strong relationship between the YDI and most of the SDGs – meaning that countries that perform well on youth development also tend to have made greater progress towards the SDGs.

The 2020 Report reveals that on average, youth development has been improving, although progress is slow. Between 2010 and 2018, the global average youth development score improved by 3.1 per cent with advances in 5 of the 6 domains covered over the period. Similarly, 156 of the 181 countries included in the index (86 per cent) improved their scores. Singapore had the highest level of youth development and Chad the lowest.

As for education, scores improved by on average 3 % over the period, driven by a 5.3 % improvement in lower secondary school completion rates and a 2.4 % improvement in literacy rates. South Asia recorded the largest improvement in the Education domain, with 16.13 % improvement on the regional average. Sub-Saharan Africa also made substantial progress, posting nearly 10 % improvement.

At the same time, it is estimated that only 38 % of young people can be considered “digital natives” based on five or more years of internet use. Yet evidence is still insufficient in this area. In addition to the lack of time-series data on digital natives, there is a lack of other data to measure more comprehensively young people’s skills and engagement online.

While we acknowledge the wins, it is important that we seriously investigate the domains in which countries are falling behind. Particularly disappointing is the Political and Civic Participation score, which hovers at an alarmingly low level. The 2018 score in the Commonwealth Asia region was below the global (0.282) and global Commonwealth (0.309) average scores.

North America posted the greatest regional average decline in Political and Civic Participation, at 17 per cent. Both countries in North America – Canada and the USA – deteriorated over the decade, at 26 and 12 per cent, respectively. Russia and Eurasia followed North America with a 12.2 per cent deterioration; South Asia, MENA, South America and Central America and the Caribbean had single-digit declines. In contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa recorded nearly a 5 per cent improvement and marginal gains were made in Asia. Of Sub-Saharan Africa’s 31 risers, Madagascar had the largest improvement, followed by Kenya, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Comoros.

These figures are stark reminders that young people of the Commonwealth under the age of 30 make up over 60 per cent of the population and cannot be left behind in decision-making, at any level of society. Governments must commit greater support to and investment in youth participation. Youth around the world must be involved not as a tokenistic measure but in a holistic and inclusive way, as all SDG goals impact us all directly. I implore government leaders, policy-makers and civil society not just to tap on the brilliance, passion, talents and exuberance of youth but also to embed them systematically and institutionally. Including young people in all six domains of the YDI is critical for us to reach our Agenda 2030 and to deliver national and global goals.

I started in my role as the new Youth Representative on the Advisory Board for the GEM Report in late-June this year and have already sought to utilise my experience as a young academic and education advocate, as well as within the Commonwealth Secretariat and Global Students Forum to provide inputs and advice to the GEM Report team on the overall development of the report’s outputs and decisions on future Report themes. Among its recommendations, the index further urges governments to improve data collection on education and diversify how they measure digital skills and online engagement of youth, all areas which will be covered in the 2023 GEM Report on technology and education.

Young people are now more connected than ever and are standing united to work to accelerate progress on all aspects of the YDI and take charge of our future. Youth empowerment must become a priority for all countries. As we pledge our dedication and partnership, we look forward to your promise in creating an enabling ecosystem for us to shape and direct our common future.

By the GEM Report’s new Youth Representative on its Advisory Board and Chair of the Commonwealth Students’ Association (CSA), Musarrat Maisha Reza

URL:

https://gemreportunesco.wpcomstaging.com/2021/08/12/a-new-global-youth-development-index-shows-improvement-in-the-state-of-1-8-billion-young-people-around-the-world/