http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/19990604/A42415-1999Jun4.shtml Entire world's youth troubled by unemployment: UN report Source: AAP | Published: Friday June 4 4:21:53 PM No matter where they lived, youth the world over were troubled by unemployment, health and environmental issues, according to a new UNESCO evaluation. The survey by an Australian academic of youth-related activities also showed society had to find new ways to relate to young people as equal partners. Ken Wiltshire is chair of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO (United Nations Education Scientific Cultural and Communication Organisation). The University of Queensland professor recently surveyed 10,000 young people aged between 15 and 24 throughout the world, finding they held similar concerns. "In descending order, unemployment, education and training, the environment, heritage and cultural preservation, health, drugs and AIDS and rights are the main issues preoccupying youth," Prof Wiltshire said. Role models for young people predominantly came from pop music, film and video, and the values they received from these sources clashed with traditional values in most societies and with those taught at home, he said. "This alienation is reflected in the fact that suicide is the largest cause of death among young people in most countries," he said. Prof Wiltshire, director of UQ's Centre for Public Administration, said his report emphasised that youth and youth affairs should be made UNESCO's "priority of priorities". He said by next year 17 per cent of the world's population, or 1.1 billion people, would be young people. "We need to know more about their attitudes and values if we are to hand the world to them," he said. "UNESCO and society in general must find a whole new set of ways of relating to young people as equal partners." Younger people said they wanted older people to "visit them on their planets" - to communicate to them through preferred media such as videos, pop music and magazines. Prof Wiltshire's report, discussed by UNESCO's executive board in Paris yesterday, will help UNESCO plan its youth strategy for the next six years. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
