Celebrating International Youth Day together with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

Geneva, 12 August 2022 – The International Trade Centre (ITC) in partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) are celebrating International Youth Day by hosting a series of activities around this year’s theme of Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a world for all ages. 

Empowering youth to enterprise is key to addressing youth unemployment and reaching our sustainable development goals. Youth entrepreneurship and innovation are key to supporting these aims. However, worldwide, youth face several challenges unique to their demographic. Support from other generations through mentorship, guidance, coaching, and networking can empower and support young innovators to have the confidence to make the leap into setting up a business or inventing the next groundbreaking innovation. Youth are industrious, innovative, and ambitious, but without the right support, many youth innovations fail to take flight. The power of intergenerational solidarity cannot be underestimated. This is where ITC and WIPO play a critical role in building up the skills of young people, opening doors, and providing access to networks, resources, and financing that can support youth-led companies and innovations to take flight. 

In jointly celebrating International Youth Day, ITC and WIPO aim to highlight intrepid young innovators, entrepreneurs, activists, and creatives the world over. These engagements will be threefold: 

• On 12th August 2022, ITC and WIPO will host a virtual panel discussion highlighting youth from around the globe in a discussion on: 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄? 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀. Register here to attend: https://wipo-int.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Akd-2trjkvG9Ph0wDHfGgZjIGsKDFfJr1r. Visit our event page for more information.  

• On 20th September 2022, ITC and WIPO will host a film screening showcasing young filmmakers. This will be a hybrid event. Register here to attend: https://intracen.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yBfNqt8iRXCfhsNWfad_-w. For more information, check out our event page.  

• On 4th October 2022, ITC and WIPO will host an Art and Innovation Fair, highlighting the innovation journey, exhibiting youth-led innovations, discussing institutional support for youth, and featuring innovation workshops. This event will be in-person only. Register here to attend: (Link tbc) 

Don’t miss out on all the ITC and WIPO scheduled youth day activities by registered through the links provided above. Furthermore, we invite you to share these activities with your youth networks to ensure that youth around the global can get inspired by the discussions, films, and innovations of their fellow peers.  

About International Youth Day 2022 

To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world needs to leverage the full potential of all generations. Solidarity across generations is key for sustainable development. We must collaborate to foster successful and equitable intergenerational relations and partnerships to ensure “no one is left behind.” While intergenerational solidarity and concern for future generations is being called for in tackling global issues – with the UN Secretary-General recently putting forward new recommendations on renewed intergenerational solidarity, including in Our Common Agenda – many challenges remain.  

Ageism continues to present a significant – yet, not sufficiently discussed – challenge to fostering collaboration and solidarity across age groups. The World Health Organization defines ageism as “the stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) directed towards others or oneself, based on age”. Ageism is an insidious and often an unaddressed issue in health, human rights and development, and has bearings on both older and younger populations around the world. In addition, ageism regularly intersects with other forms of bias (such as racism and sexism) and impacts people in ways that prevent them to reach their full potential and comprehensively contribute to their community. 

 The Global Report on Ageism launched by the United Nations in March 2021 highlights the many data gaps that exist with regards to ageism against youth. Despite this lack of research, young people continue to report age-related barriers in various spheres of their lives such as employment, political participation, health and justice. On an individual level, these age-related obstacles can deeply impact wellbeing and livelihoods not only during the youth years, but also in adulthood. On a societal level, ageism prevents us from thinking and designing policies and social services that adopt a life-course approach and are fair for all ages.  

The Global Report on Ageism identifies intergenerational interventions as one of the three key strategies to address ageism. Intergenerational activities can also lead to a greater sense of social connectedness and strengthen intergenerational solidarity.  

Fostering intergenerational solidarity between generations is more than ever necessary to ensure an inclusive and sustainable recovery. As we navigate the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is especially important to recognize and address these age-related barriers to “build back better” in a manner that leverages all generations’ strengths and knowledge.  

In this context, the objective of this year’s International Youth Day theme, Intergenerational solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages, is to amplify the message that action is needed across all generations to achieve the SDGs and leave no one behind. The 2022 International Youth Day will also raise awareness on certain barriers to intergenerational solidarity, notably ageism, which impacts young and old persons, while having detrimental effects on society as a whole.  

This information was originally published by UN DESA on the official International Youth Day page. 

About the Organizers 

The International Trade Centre (ITC) 

The International Trade Centre (ITC) is a multilateral agency with a joint mandate under the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. ITC connects micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to global and regional value chains, a major contributor to economic growth and poverty reduction. ITC provides country-and client-specific tailored support through unique advisory services, capacity building, training and mentoring, free tools and business data, and trade-specific publications. 

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) 

WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property (IP) services, policy, information and cooperation. We are a self-funding agency of the United Nations, with 193 member states. 

Our mission is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international IP system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all. Our mandate, governing bodies and procedures are set out in the WIPO Convention, which established WIPO in 1967.