International Youth Day, celebrated around the world on 12 August, is the day appointed by the United Nations (U.N.) to shine a light on the contribution youths make to society. An overarching purpose of the day is to garner attention to the diverse economic, social, cultural and human rights issues faced by youth -- those between 15 and 24 years of age -- in both developed and developing countries.

Did you know there are almost 2 billion youth in the world! Youth today have experienced a wider breadth of technological advances than their counterparts in previous generations. They've had a hand in life-changing events such as recycling, green lifestyles, and the use of mind-boggling technologies like smart phones, tablet PCs, and social sites like MySpace and Facebook. Even so, they face pressing global challenges such as high levels of unemployment, vulnerable working conditions and marginalization from decision making processes. Their ability to think through such problems and bring high levels of energy to tackling these issues is worth the investment organizations, governments, and the private sector can bring to bear.

Myriad activities and events that happen on a global scale on (and leading up to) International Youth Day help celebrate and highlight the benefits youth contribute to our world -- activities like youth conferences, cultural events, concerts, sporting competitions, entrepreneurial showcases, parades, photographic displays and more.