State of Pacific Youth Report 2011 - Opportunities and Obstacles

The purpose of this report is to understand how young people in the Pacific have fared since 2005 using evidence from official sources, national population surveys and young people themselves. The earlier report, The State of Pacific Youth 2005, highlighted key economic and structural issues as underlying causes of the problems facing youth at the time. Overall, the situation of young people in the Pacific in 2011 has changed little. If anything, the challenges have become more critical since 2005. This review proposes principles and strategies to guide governments, multilateral agencies and donors in how they might set policy in relation to young people. These are articulated in a basic framework with three pillars - governance, data and analysis, and resources. 1. Improve the governance of youth through a) the development of specific strategies on youth employment, improved learning outcomes and youth engagement in development; b) regional coordination; and c) increased investment. 2. Improve data collection and analysis of youth by determining a set of key youth measures and conducting regular monitoring and analysis of youth. 3. Mobilise resources for youth through the establishment of a youth challenge fund.