A UN agency and a non-government organisation are marking International Youth Day with three days of debate among young people on issues that affect them.

The United Nations Population Fund (U.N.F.P.A.) office in Samoa together with N.G.O. partner Samoa Family Health Association are responsible for delivering sexual reproductive health (S.R.H.) services in Samoa will lead and facilitate the debate.

Invitations were distributed to six different youth associations who will debate each other on topics that relate to S.R.H. and point towards the importance of early education and awareness of topics around it. 

The debates will run for three days with the winning team taking home a trophy and a monetary prize. The aim of the debate is to get the youth talking about these subjects of S.R.H. and take their newly obtained knowledge back to their peers where they can help spread awareness.

The U.N.F.P.A. Program Specialist, Sara Falatoese Sua, said many youth lack basic knowledge and life skills to make informed choices.

"Many young people in the Pacific seem to lack the knowledge and life-skills to make informed and safe choices about their sexual and reproductive lives,” she said. 

"This gap stems from a variety of factors including gender inequalities, discrimination against women and girls, and conservative social and cultural norms.

"Parents are often reluctant to discuss these issues and healthcare workers are often hesitant or ill-equipped to provide information or services on sexual health to adolescents and youth."

These factors have in turn led to high levels of sexual and gender-based violence in the Pacific region, a growing prevalence of sexually transmitted infections as well as the worrisome increase in teenage pregnancies.

The U.N.F.P.A. is working towards a world where everyone's potential is fulfilled, especially for children and young people with such a right considered to be fundamental for a brighter future. 

As the saying goes, “today's youth are tomorrow's leaders” with the U.N.F.P.A. working to bring rights and choices to all and prompts everyone to work together to create a world for all ages and a world where generations respect and care for each other.

The International Youth Day started 12 August 1999 when it was endorsed by the General Assembly to acknowledge and amplify the importance of youth participation in current affairs.