There are contending views as to the proper age definition of who a youth is. Many would prefer the term, "Young Adults". Whether it is 18-25, 18-35 or 18-40 the most important thing is that it speaks to a group of people who are young, creative, innovative, dexterous, exuberant and in need of proper guidance for effective channeling of their unique resources and skills. 

I have argued severally with people and I believe this is the ground norm, that the essence of education and knowledge acquisition, is the edification of the soul and the positive transformation of the society. Anything out of these is not education. To be ...found worthy in character and learning. Implies that the core of education is character building and transformational learning. 

Youth Civic Engagement sprouts from a deeply understood sense of accountability, civic responsibility and patriotism. Young People must participate in the Political and Governance process, not from the parochial or observant angles, but as active participants in the entire process. In Africa, politics and governance is still controlled by very senior citizens. Where lies the promotion of Diversity and Inclusion? 

We live in times when people learn for the wrong reasons; to intimidate, to destroy existing cultures and, to disintegrate families. Young people are being used as Child /Youth soldiers, political thugs and destructive elements. These are not the kind of global action we want. The youth must see himself as advocate of Peacebuilding. Embracing the Humanity First creed, deploying his learnings to the advancing peace and harmony. 

If your Learnings can't inspire collective advancement of your people, if it can't bring progress to where you dwell, if you cannot add value to the life lived by your peers, then the goal of education is lost. 

Multilateralism helps us to embrace diversity and inclusion. It propels the youth to engage constructively in Peacebuilding and harmonious coexistence. Achieving the sustainable development goals, SDGs in this decade of action is predicted on the willingness of the youth to embrace the skills, tools and resources of each individual and apply them to effectively engage the status quo. This is the Global Action that this day, the International Youth Day calls for. 

To be Multilateral means to be all inclusive in the decision meaking and implemntation process. This takes into account the divergent attributes of the respective groups and including them in the consensus building. 

For there to be effective engagement, the youth must know what to engage in, how to engage, when to engage, with whom to engage, and what to get out of that engagment. This is where the application and expression of knowledge gained is valuable. 

I hold firm this belief that education is the bedrock of every form of socialization and civilization. Thus, be it informal, semi formal or formal, the major *gbim* must be focused on transforming positively, the lives of its beneficiaries. 

Now if that is the case, then for us to effectively respond to the call for Youth Engagement for Global Action, we must understand the role that education plays in the this call. We cannot engage with knowing. 

As someone once said Young people should not be afraid to engage, gain knowledge, learn and shut up for a moment. We must use our education for the purposes of edification, unification and development. This is the first step towards youth engagement as positions the youth for an effective response to the call for global action

Happy 20th International Youth Day! 

OjisiEmezie