In the framework of the 7 billion campaign United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) initiated a Youth Conference on October 31. The conference “World of 7 Billion - Vision of Youth” was hosted by the Youth International Relations Department at Tbilisi Youth Palace and was dedicated to the world population of 7 billion. The world’s population will top seven billion people on October 31, 2011. It’s noteworthy that people under 25 make up 43 percent of the world’s population, but the percentage reaches 60 percent in the least-developed countries.

It has  already been a decade that the Youth Conferences have been held in partnership with the Youth International Relations Department at Tbilisi Youth Palace through the financial support of UNFPA Georgia Office. The topics of the conference papers, prepared by young people vary every year to reflect the real life issues and concerns for the whole world and particularly for Georgia.

This year the topics of the conference reflected the issues related to a world of 7 billion, such as: poverty and population, the reproductive health & rights of women and girls, aging, urban growth, environment, reproductive health of young people and ecology.

“United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is marking this milestone worldwide. The role of young people is of paramount in world of 7 billion, that is full of challenges and opportunities and require immediate actions. The vision and actions of the young will determine future population trends”-said Ms. Tamar Khomasuridze, Assistant Representative, UNFPA/Georgia.  

“We must provide all young people with the right skills and opportunities and promote their right to health, including sexual and reproductive health,” said Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director, in his opening address to the regional conference “Investing in Youth: Path to Accelerated Development” “The benefits of these investments go a long way in a person’s lifetime, and for generations to come. Investing in young people is the smartest investment that we can make for our collective future.”

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.