Immense challenges ahead for youth of today: Sultan Nazrin

IPOH: Sultan of Perak Sultan Dr Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah voiced that the challenges faced by youths who confront the Future World will be immense.
He said the development gains that benefited many in past decades are in danger of being eroded by the sheer weight of numbers as many developing countries experience a 'youth bulge'.
"Efforts must be made to protect these gains and promote further development, as we are doing here in Malaysia through Vision 2020, with its focus on strengthening human capital and further expanding the middle class," he said in his keynote address on the topic "Opportunities and Challenges for Youths in Our Future World" at the opening of the three day Third World Conference on Islamic Thought and Civilisation here today.
Sultan Nazrin said shrinking employment opportunities, whether from growing demographic pressures or technological advances are challenges and present a significant set of risks for today's youth.
"If this generation and subsequent ones are to flourish, greater efforts must be made to develop appropriate education strategies that take into account the likely impact of technological advances. Greater investment must be made into the expansion of alternative employment options,"he added.
He pointed that the young generation will play an absolutely central role in shaping the Future World.
"It will be up to them to take the lead in responding to the formidable global challenges we currently face including environmental degradation, poverty, war, terrorism and geopolitical instability," he said, adding that investment in human capital will be absolutely crucial if we are to ensure today's youth are fully empowered both to achieve individual fulfillment and to be able to contribute to society more broadly.
Youth, he said accounted for around a quarter of the global population, with an estimated 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10 and 24.
"These are disproportionately concentrated in developing countries, where nine out of 10 young people live. Across the developing world and in the majority of OIC countries, youth account for closer to one third of the population.
"Proportions are highest in the least developed countries concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and in India alone there are around 356 million young people, the highest number in the world," he added.
He said high levels of youth unemployment have been widely identified as a root cause in the youth-led uprisings of the Arab Spring.
The conference, also attended by Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir and 1,000 participants and speakers from 15 countries, is organised by University Sultan Azlan Shah.