Investing in Youth in Sri Lanka

Young people between the ages of 10-24 years make up nearly a quarter of the world’s population today. This demographic dividend represents a golden opportunity for many developing countries to experience accelerated economic growth as a result of changes in the population age structure. But harnessing a demographic dividend is not automatic, and requires strategic investments in different areas of the country, especially of younger people.

The lecture looked at Sri Lanka’s success story of investing in young people, to see what the ingredients were, what has gone right and what challenges lie ahead.  By investing in young people’s through free education, free healthcare and by creating opportunities, the United Nations Populations Fund, UNFPA Sri Lanka, will show how Sri Lanka has yielded healthy, literate, creative and productive young people.