Young women and men are flocking to cities more than ever before. It is expected that by 2030 more than 50% of urban populations will be under 35. Despite this, young people have little voice in decision-making and face major obstacles to education, employment and safety.

Some of the greatest challenges cities face today is generating data on the challenges that the youth encounter, including access to basic services such as education; sanitation and housing; underemployment and unemployment; and exclusion from decision-making. Without this data, city officials are unable to develop strategies that attend to this exclusion. For example, without local labour market information, it is difficult to plan effective employment training interventions that reduce unemployment.

On the basis of experience gained through its Urban Youth Research Network (a global network of urban youth experts), UN-Habitat provides a range of research and strategic planning services, including:

• National or city-level empirical research on the challenges and opportunities of urban youth populations;
• National or city-level workshops to discuss the results of the research on urban youth; and
• Participatory formulation of a national or city urban youth strategy, which encompasses skills development, job creation, sports, and recreation