Summary: Driven by young populations in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Latin America, half the world is under 25 years old. Alongside this youthful age structure phenomenon is accelerating urbanization and an increasing number of refugees fleeing to cities instead of camps. “We all hear about the youth bulge all the time – that the demographic youth bulge is exploding all over the world – and its seen as a security threat and to the extent that this kind of programming gets funded at all for youth it’s usually…for security reasons,” says Chaffin. But Chaffin pointed out that in many cases, these populations of displaced young people represent the biggest resource a country has. “We firmly believe that when education, health care, basic needs are met for young people, and they have employment opportunities, that they can revitalize the economy.”
