Investing in teens can break cycles of poverty

Investing in the world’s adolescents now can break entrenched cycles of poverty and inequity – that’s according to a report released this week by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“Adolescents have a right to protection, they have a right to education, to health, to live free of HIV,” says Vivian Lopez, Regional Advisor on Adolescent Development for UNICEF in the Middle East and North Africa.

The 2011 State of the World’s Children report entitled ‘Adolescence: An Age of Opportunity’ highlights the importance of education and health for the 10-19 age group in improving their quality of life.

“This is a generation that -- if we invest in education, if we invest in livelihood opportunities for them – can really become an economic dividend for their countries. And they can help their countries economically, help the countries grow,” Lopez told Vatican Radio. “But this requires an investment now in their current educational opportunities.”

Listen to Vivian Lopez’s full interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: