The World Youth Development Forum (WYDF) held both online and offline in Beijing from July 21 to 23 is an event that is of great significance to the future of humanity. For starters, it brought together 2,000 young men and women from more than 100 countries. Policy makers also showed up including Niger’s president, United Nations Secretary General and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

The youth representatives are a sample of the global leadership expected in the coming years across the social, economic and political spectrum. Therefore, the meeting is a debrief of what ails this delicate demographic, and the kind of solutions that they find appropriate to make the world a livable habitat for them and their children in the future.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping noted in his congratulatory message read by State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the youth, defined by the United Nations as persons aged between 15 and 24 years old, represent hope and are the architects of the future. As such, it behooves world leaders to harness their passion, strength and vitality with the aim of building a global community with a shared future.

The youth of today are a different breed of people from the previous generations. They are global citizens who are not beholden to some of the old socio-cultural idiosyncrasies, prejudices and strongholds that have created conflict between different societies. They see themselves as a homogenous group divided only by geographical distance and socio-economic status. In fact, they are the best agents of globalization due to their universal love for interests like music and sports.

But the youth, who include the so called Gen Zers, are a restless demographic and have similar characteristics. According to research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, diversity is their norm, they are the world’s first “digital natives”, they are pragmatic and financially minded, they are prone to mental health challenges, they are shrewd consumers and, they are politically progressive.

Therefore, we need to put the right kind of structures in place to accommodate this population for us to maximize their productivity. It calls for massive investments in education, health, employment and social sectors, among others that have an impact on the youth’s performance and welfare. Similarly, topics being discussed at the WYDF include employment and entrepreneurship, climate change and green development, digital economy, and high-quality education.

The youth are full of copious amounts of energy and creativity which most countries lack the capacity to exploit due to lack of resources. This has contributed to the spiraling cases of mental health illnesses among the youth, leading to unprecedented levels of violence, crime, homicide and suicide in recent years.

The resilience of today’s youth is also an asset for progeny. For instance, this has been evident in the low levels of COVID-19 infection among the youth compared with the older generations. It means that they have a strong immunity by being more adaptive to the environment. Young people are also more adaptive to the current heatwaves devastating millions of people in the West. Similar to the pandemic, research shows that generally, the elderly population – people aged 65 years old and over – are most vulnerable to the vagaries of excessive heat.

Still, the youth have suffered more than other demographics from lifestyle diseases like HIV and AIDS, obviously due to the fact that they are sexually active. Luckily, HIV has become manageable and is not a death sentence or as debilitating as before, which is a source of hope for the future. But they are learning how to navigate through such scourges.

Indeed, the youth have become a driving force in the world. Many of the transformations happening today, mainly in the digital sphere, are a brainchild of the youth. No doubt about the fact that the digital era has transformed the world in fundamental and irreversible ways that are just becoming apparent.

Now, the holding of the meeting in China is significant due to the dual nature of its population. While the country has the highest population in the world, the same trend does not apply to the number of youth in the country as the Chinese continue to bear less children. Unlike many countries grappling with a burgeoning youthful population, China is struggling with an ageing population.

This definitely poses a challenge to the country’s demographical balance as the youth will have to work extra hard to support a generation of citizens who are not productive. It is leading to a vicious cycle where this state of affairs makes it hard for the young to marry and raise families of their own.

After all, however, President Xi’s words in his opening statement during the WYDF ring true: “Young people across the world should advocate peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, which are the common values of humanity.”