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 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Wednesday.
It is currently one of the youngest countries in the world, the report said and added 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 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 prioritised working with youth as a key pillar of our work across the board.”
Lead Author of the NHDR, Dr Adil Najam said that 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 is to create meaningful opportunities in education, employment and engagement that could empower our young enough to fully use their potential,” he added.
According to the report, only 14 out of 195 countries spend less on education than Pakistan while 9 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 that Pakistan needs to create 4.5 million new jobs over the next five years and enroll millions of its out of school children in the coming years to properly utilise 64 per cent of the youth bulge that provides a unique opportunity for its economy to grow faster and sustainably.