Young people make up nearly half of the global population, with approximately 88% living in developing countries.1 The Asia-Pacific region alone accounts for 60% of the youth population, amounting to approximately 750 million persons.
In Asia, young people are heterogeneous, and have come from all walks of life. They are in-school and out of school, migrants, workers in the formal and informal sectors and unemployed, from rural and from urban areas. They are of diverse sexualities and gender identities, they live with HIV, they are sex workers, and they have disabilities. They are young girls and boys who have limited access to education due to many contributing factors. They face multiple challenges, such as poverty, migration, religious fundamentalisms, education, employment and health that intersect with harmful traditional and cultural norms.
