Indonesia’s young people became the focus of this year’s World Population Day celebrations in Jakarta. UNFPA Indonesia marked the event by launching two publications related to young people, and holding a seminar to encourage discussion by and about youth and the issues that matter to them.

Young Indonesians came from across the country to attend the event at the Hotel Borobudur Jakarta, which was jointly organised by UNFPA, the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN), the Indonesian Demographers Association (IPADI) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Indonesia.

From left: Mr. Jose Ferraris (UNFPA Representative), Mr. Douglas Broderick (United Nations Resident Coordinator), Dr. Fasli Jalal (Chairperson of BKKBN) and Dr. Amung Ma'mun (Special Advisor to the Ministry of Youth and Sports) at the Seminar on “Investing in Young People”

The focus on youth stemmed from the global theme for this year’s World Population Day: “Investing in Young People”. World Population Day is celebrated on 11 July every year to draw attention to population issues.

Young people are always in focus at UNFPA, since part of the agency’s mandate is to ensure that “every young person’s potential is fulfilled”. As a nation with 65 million young people, accounting for about 30 percent of the population, Indonesia holds a lot of potential in the hands of its younger generation. Representatives from the Government of Indonesia, UN agencies, the private sector, academia and youth organisations gathered at the seminar on 14 July to discuss how this potential can be fulfilled.

Two UNFPA publications on youth were launched on the same day. The first is a publication titled “Indonesian Youth in the 21st Century”, also known as the Youth Mapping report since it charts youth programmes, partnerships and priorities, and gives suggestions for better handling youth affairs at the national level. The second publication is titled “Youth in Indonesia: a 2010 census-based analysis”, also known as the Youth Monograph report since it gives a broad picture of the situation of youth in Indonesia today, based on data from the 2010 census.

United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mr. Douglas Broderick, and the UNFPA Representative, Mr. Jose Ferraris presented the Youth Monograph and Youth Mapping Reports at the Seminar on “Investing in Young People” on 14 July 2014 in Jakarta

The UNFPA Representative in Indonesia, Mr. Jose Ferraris, said in his address at the event that young people need to be considered not only as recipients of development, but also participants in shaping the future they want to see.

“Investing in young people today by promoting healthy habits and ensuring education and employment opportunities, access to health services − including services for sexual and reproductive health − and social security coverage for all young workers is the best investment to improve the lives of future generations,” Mr. Ferraris said.

“Young people are active agents in their own lives who hold both rights and obligations for the promise of a poverty-free life,” he added.

Vidi Aldiano, a young performer and youth representative for UNFPA Indonesia, echoed Mr. Ferraris’s call for youth to become subjects as well as objects of development.

“I hope that all stakeholders will give the opportunity to youth to play a participatory role in the development of the nation,” he said.

Youth Advocate for World Population Day, Vidi Aldiano, urged stakeholders to give youth the opportunity to play a participatory role in the development of the nation.

BKKBN chairman, Prof. Fasli Jalal, said that the large cohort of youth in Indonesia provided both challenges and opportunities to develop the nation. He said that the opportunity for Indonesia was to take advantage of the “demographic bonus” of so many young people entering the workforce.

“The challenge is how to prepare the future workforce to be more skillful, ready to work and well-educated,” Prof. Fasli said.

One important way to do this, he said, was to increase participation in, and quality of, education for all Indonesians.

The World Population Day publication launch and seminar was part of a month-long programme of events held by UNFPA Indonesia, which includes the launch on 15 July of UNALA, a comprehensive health service for youth in Yogyakarta that includes sexual and reproductive health, a Youth Talk on investing in young people in Jakarta scheduled for 23 July and a Youth Festival and Concert featuring young Indonesian performers on 9 August.