Georgetown : Minister of Culture Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony endorsed the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) report on the State of the World Population 2014 which was launched under the “The Power of 1.8 Billion: Adolescents, Youth and the Transformation of the Future.”
This document was launched at the Princess Hotel a youth forum hosted by the United Nations.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank said that the report gives Guyana a sense of the status of youths around the world, and called on those gathered to pay special attention to the figures on the state of HIV/AIDS in Guyana.
He said that youth leaders must be guided by those figures and look at how they can improve in this regard.
According to the report, developing countries with large youth populations could see their economies soar, provided they invest heavily in young people’s education and health and protect their rights. It also highlights that potential gains would be realised through a “demographic dividend,” which can occur when a country’s working age population is larger than the population that is dependent and younger.
However, in order to maximise this dividend, countries must ensure their young working age populations are equipped to grasp opportunities for jobs and other income earning possibilities.
Resident Coordinator of the United Nations, Khadija Musa, who spoke on behalf of the UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehim said that the state of world’s population makes the case for urgent investment in young people to ensure they are engaged in the development of their nations. 
“It also means tearing down barriers to their accessing key services, especially sexual and reproductive health care and information. Without these essential services, young people cannot protect themselves from HIV, cannot prevent a pregnancy, cannot have control over their own bodies…as such, with the right investments, young people can unleash their power to build a better future,” Musa said.
The UNFPA report also shows that the returns on investments in young people, particularly young women and adolescent girls can be enormous. This investment is likely to catapult developing economies forward and eliminate extreme poverty, which is a central objective of the next generation of development goals to succeed the Millennium Development Goals in 2015.
Further, UNFPA’s State of World Population report shows that with the right support to reach their full potential, young people can become a formidable force for productivity, innovation and creative dynamism to accelerate development.
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