On November 18, 2014 Mr. Rati Bregadze, Deputy Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia and Ms. Lela Bakradze, Assistant Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Office in Georgia held a press conference dedicated to the launch of the State of World Population Report 2014 “The power of 1.8 billion: adolescents, youth and the transformation of the future”.

After the press conference the Georgian youth representatives together with their peers from 19 countries in the EECA region participated in the video conference to pass on the messages on “the power of 1.8 billion: adolescents, youth and the transformation of the future”.

The State of World Population report 2014 puts a high emphasis on the importance of investing in young people for the sustainable development of the country.

The main message from this year’s State of World Population Report is that the most promising strategies for spurring national development and improving the prospects of young people are energetic and well-timed investments in education, health—including sexual and reproductive health, strengthening gender equality, empowering women, and employment.

“This year’s report shows that young people matter as unprecedented 1.8 billion youth aged 10-24 are alive today in the world of 7 billion. The largest youth population in human history will have a profound effect on every aspect of our common future. The effect can be overwhelmingly positive if young people are able to develop their capabilities, have access to education and health, including sexual and reproductive health and find opportunities to fulfill the promise of their lives through, for example decent employment” – said Ms. Lela Bakradze, Assistant Representative, UNFPA/Georgia.

Today’s youth will make up the majority of the labor force over the coming decades, and their education, skills and health – collectively known as human capital – will be the most direct determinants of a country’s future income growth.

New research conducted for the EECA region shows that investing in education can lead to an increase in per capita GDP of up to 1.7% annually.

According to the report “Countries that meet youth’s needs in this period are likely to be in a far better position by the second half of the century, with more educated and healthy populations, more productive workforces, growing economies and failing fertility rates”. Advocating for youth reproductive health and rights, healthy life style, Gender Equality, age appropriate formal and informal education and their integration in the national action plan and priorities are of profound importance for the sustainable development.