International Youth Day: Youth as a Force of Positive Change
Photo by Michael Stulman/CRS
Last Updated: August 2024
“The church and the world need you, the young, as much as the earth needs rain.”
—Pope Francis
Celebrating International Youth Day
International Youth Day, celebrated on August 12, brings young people together in solidarity to address the issues they care about deeply. This day is dedicated to raising awareness of youth issues and recognizing the immense potential young people have to effect positive change globally. The theme of International Youth Day 2024 is “Digital Contributions of Youth and Pathways Towards Achieving Sustainable Development.”
Orivas Prod for CRS
Linabimon Poutan, a 12-year-old student, smiles before eating lunch in class in her primary school in Dankpen prefecture, northern Togo's Kara region. “I am so happy to be able to go to school,” she says. Each day, she and other students at the school receive a free, nutritious lunch, which increases attendance rates and improves students’ concentration in class, thanks to CRS’s STARS program. Linabimon's father, Nano Nighado, explains: “Things were really difficult when the school first opened. Children always ran away whenever they were told to go to school because they knew if they stayed home they could eat lunch. But since the canteen opened, now they go to class. They come home with full stomachs. They attend class regularly. So this canteen was a good idea! … I want my daughter to further her education so she can become a great woman someday.”
Honoring Young People Around the World
CRS believes in the power of youth as decision-makers and leaders in their communities. To empower young people to contribute to sustainable change, it is essential to provide them with education, life skills, livelihood opportunities and systems that prepare and protect them, enabling their active participation in decisions about their futures.
Through a holistic and positive youth development approach, CRS collaborates with communities, local partners and governments to help youth worldwide realize their full potential. Our programs focus on:
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Economic strengthening
Addressing the needs of young people is a cross-cutting theme in all our work, as CRS aims to highlight the importance of youth in building a more just and peaceful world.
Jerry Andrianaivoarivony/CRS
Johnna Nirina Narcisse and his neighbors look through images from the last time a CRS photographer visited their community in Ambodinafia, Madagascar. Johnna, the young man holding the photos, is a youth entrepreneur and CRS program participant in SPICES, a program that addresses social, economic and environmental challenges for rural farmers and communities in the country. He built a hydroelectric generator to produce power in his community, supported by CRS and engineers at Villanova University. “The Bible instructs us to work diligently, to have things to share with others,” he says. “When I do something, if I see that it helps me, I also consider others. Because, if we all are selfish in life, people will suffer.”
Make a Gift to Youth
Young people have an innate ability to see the world as beautiful and worth fighting for. They desire to connect, improve systems and build better societies. Despite the dire situations often depicted in the media, our youth possess the remarkable gift of finding light in the darkness. CRS is committed to fueling the fires of justice already burning within young people across the United States, providing them with the tools they need to grow as leaders within our shared Catholic faith.
Oscar Leiva/Silverlight for CRS
Juanita Solis, 13, her sister, Kimberly Solis, 10, and a friend, Petrona Brito, 14, play ball together in Pexla Grande Nebaj Quiché, Guatemala. The three young women became friends at Caritas and CRS’s Strong Project Learning Circle. Juanita, the young woman holding the ball, says, “My program is called Strong and it means you are powerful. When we meet a lot of other girls. I feel happiness. Because we play, we jump, we run. We play hide and seek, and we play ball. And that's why I feel love for them, because when we fall, we protect each other. And that is why I feel love... I was told that we are going to learn to play games and letters and homework, and we are going to learn all the letters that we don't know. And that's why we participate.”
“Dear young people, never lose your courage to dream big and to live life completely! Adopt the culture of care and spread it. Become champions of fraternity. Face life’s challenges by letting yourselves be guided by God and by good counsellors.”
—Pope Francis, Youth Day
Youth should be recognized not only on International Youth Day but throughout the year. Consider helping young people around the world by making a donation today.
Oscar Leiva/Silverlight for CRS
Keiry Lopez and other young members of Youth With Vision of the Future GAAP Group pose together in La Paz, Honduras. Keiry, the young woman at the forefront of the photo, says, “I am in my second year studying agricultural development. I'm the secretary [of the group]. It is nice to participate in GAAP groups. I have learned to save. My dream is to study agricultural development at university." CRS and local partner RED ITC implement ASA EMPRENDE, which integrates Water Smart Agriculture (ASA), ASA Virtual and SILC (Grupos de Autoahorro y Crédito) in a project that supports 1,500 families of small-scale farmers by marrying farmer field schools with education on financial literacy.
