An Essay Sample On The Role Of The Youth In Nation Building

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What Is The Role of Youth in Nation Building?

The idiom ‘Rome was not built in a day stands true and relevant even today because to achieve success one needs to work hard and stay dedicated to the process and success will follow suit.

Nation-building for every country is an evolutionary process. It takes a long time and it is possible only when the youth of the country take it upon themselves; to make, to mend, and to make amends to the existing social, cultural, and economic systems.

"There cannot be a firmly established political state unless there is a teaching body with definitely recognized principles. If the child is not taught from infancy that he ought to be a republican or a monarchist, a Catholic or a free-thinker, the state will not constitute a nation; it will rest on uncertain and shifting foundations, and it will be constantly exposed to disorder and change.” (Napoleon).

The world today is home to the largest generation of young people in history, 1.8 billion, and close to 90 percent of them live in developing countries (UNDP). Young people of the world are connected like never before and are actively contributing to social progress. Their opportunities for nation-building in the form of communication, acting, and influencing are unprecedented, but so are the challenges faced by them ranging from climate change, human rights, gender inequality to unemployment.

We often refer to youth as leaders of tomorrow, but making them participants of today is vital for the nation-building process. The youth of the country need to be engaged in public life and be made aware of their political rights and civil rights to pave way for changes.

Governments need to build policies that are more inclusive, policies that include differently-abled youth, girls and young women who are often marginalized in several nations and cannot engage in socio-economic activities, LGBT youth, and youth who are migrants and refugees are often at a disadvantage, a holistic approach to include youth from all backgrounds and empowering them with education and skill-building to be more employable, along with employment policies that make a nation an equal opportunity provider, will bring more youth to the forefront of the nation-building process.

By providing youth with quality education and health rights and opportunities nations are enabling the youth of their nation to be the catalyst of change and this brings about the spirit of patriotism, which means every nation’s peace and orderliness becomes the priority of every youth.

Let us look at China’s tremendous economic growth which has been the subject of widespread media attention. Over the past twenty years, China has almost eliminated illiteracy among its 1.3 billion citizens; extended nine years of basic education across its expansive territories; developed elite high schools with world-class standards in math and science; began teaching English as a second language from third grade on; and dramatically expanded the number of students in higher education from 1.4% of the age group in 1978 to 20% today. Education plays a major role in the employment of young people who will soon become leaders in the field of business, innovations, education and make strides in the development of the nation. (Asia Society Report)

Education, Economy, and Equality are the cornerstones for nation-building over time it is eminent that policymakers, industrialists, and researchers consider youth as a critical resource, which has to be nurtured. In the late 1960s, many European countries first established national youth policies and nongovernmental youth structures that directly interacted with national governments in the fields of education, youth policy, and other matters of concern to young people. The European Youth Forum’s annual budget of $2.25 million comes largely through the European Union, the Council of Europe, and membership fees. European states often fund nongovernmental organizations, which make up civil society. Thus, the Youth Forum, despite its funding source, remains an independent nongovernmental body.

Similarly, the South African government passed the National Youth Act in 1995, leading to the establishment of the National Youth Commission in 1996, a government structure made up of publicly nominated and appointed commissioners and linked to the Office of the President. The Commission is made up of five full-time official commissioners, five part-time and nine additional members representing the nine different provinces. All members of the Commission must be under the age of 35 to ensure that young people are participating fully in formulating their concerns and working toward a solution (Dunham).

Having formal organizations for youth to actively participate in the decision-making process of the society, reassures today's youth of their importance and relevance in making amends and paving a path for a future that is bright and promising. The Youth is the only hope for a better tomorrow. Investing our time in their development and our trust in their empowerment is the key to unlocking a brighter world.

Works Cited

Dunham, Jules https://nonprofitquarterly.org/youth-as-nation-builders/, 2001.

Education in China: Lessons for U.S. Educators, Asia Society, Business

Roundtable and Council of Chief State School Officers.

Napoleon I 1851, Quote from Ramirez and Boli (1987).

UNDP Youth 2030 - Working with and For Young People. N.p 04 2020. Web.