Pakistan currently has largest youth population of its history: UNDP report

Islamabad: Pakistan currently has the largest population of young people ever recorded in its history, according to a comprehensive National Human Development Report (NHDR) report launched by UNDP on Wednesday.

It is currently one of the youngest countries in the world and the second youngest in the South Asian region after Afghanistan, the report said adding that of the total population 64 per cent is below the age of 30, and 29 per cent is between the ages of 15-29 years.

The report presents Pakistan’s human development challenges and opportunities from the perspective of its youth. It focuses on how to improve human development outcomes by empowering young people, addressing the root causes of the obstacles they face, and by proposing innovative ways to overcome these challenges.

According to details, the report relies on the Human Development Index (HDI) as the measure of overall achievement, emphasising three main aspects of a nation’s polity: people, opportunities and choices.

UN Resident Coordinator, Neil Buhne said "The United Nations in line with the Government of Pakistan’s Vision 2025, has prioritized working with youth as a key pillar of our work across the board.

Lead Author of the NHDR, Dr Adil Najam said the future of Pakistan – one way or the other – would be determined by those who were between 15 and 29 years of age today. The most useful thing that could be done was to create meaningful opportunities in education, employment and engagement that could empower our young to unleash their potential, he added.

According to the report, only 14 out of 195 countries spend less on education than Pakistan while nine of these have a lower HDI ranking than Pakistan. It also stated that 9.45 million children at the primary level were estimated to be out of school in 2015 and to achieve this goal by 2030 Pakistan must increase its net ratio to a yearly growth of 3.8 per cent.

The report suggested Pakistan needed to create 4.5 million new jobs over the next five years and enrol millions of its out of school children in coming years to properly utilize 64 percent of the youth bulge that provides a unique opportunity for its economy to grow faster and sustainably.