international youth day

August 12 marks the 18th annual International Youth Day, created by the United Nations to celebrate youth worldwide. This year’s theme is safe spaces.

According to the UN, there are 1.8 billion people between the ages of 10 and 24, and 10% of those youths live in conflict zones.

“Young people … are essential for any lasting solution leading to peace,” states Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO.

There have never been so many young people alive at once, and the current rate of population growth means that number will continue to increase. At the start of 2012, more than 50.5% of the world’s population was under the age of 30.

International Youth Day aims to empower youth worldwide. What does that empowerment look like? Sometimes, it comes in the form of letting kids be youthful by providing safe space for sports and leisure. It also means taking youths’ opinions and ideas seriously, creating a safe political place to enable engagement.

As seen in the above video, the idea of a space safe includes social media and the digital world. A campaign to flood Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with the hashtags #youthday and #safespaces4youth is another international effort.

You too can feel the spirit of International Youth Day, with a vehicle donation to charities that support children and youth.

Donate to Youth on International Youth Day:

Even if you aren’t a youth yourself, you can make a donation to help the charity of your choice, and we at Car Donation Wizard can help make it easy.

We work with a wide range of charities benefitting children and youth, both domestically and internationally. The charities include:

If you donate a vehicle through Car Donation Wizard, between 75-80% of every gross dollar directly benefits the charity of your choice, which makes a big difference in the lives of the youth.

Visit our website or give us a call at (877) 999-8322 and we will help you get started on your donation supporting International Youth Day.