Youth: positive prospects, problems, possibilities.

Youth: positive prospects, problems, possibilities

* In Sri Lanka, village youths in Millaniya, where many suffer from contaminated water-related diseases, have worked with a group of 21 Boy Scouts from Bedfordshire, United Kingdom, to dig new wells, build sanitary latrines and inform the local population about the links between water, waste disposal and disease.

* In Strasbourg, France, a group of young people meet at the European Youth Centre to discuss the right to be "conscientious objectors" to military service, the subject of one provision of the European Convention on Human Rights.

* Algeria organized its First National Youth Festival in July 1985, where the work of winners of competitions in journalism, plastic arts, toy modelling, scientific invention and photography was displayed. Many other Governments of United Nations Member States promoted similar activities.

* Fifty-two Ecuadorian young people attended a three-day retreat in the coastal town of Manta to discuss community development, family planning and other issues and exchange mutual experiences and ideas.

* Youth organizations in the Ukrainian SSR, with a membership of some 6.8 million young people, are involved in youth exchanges, rallies and other contracts with organizations in Finland, France, Italy, the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.

* A 14-year-old young man born in a Bangkok slum, Sravuth Charoennavin, who helps his 65-year-old grandmother make paper bags in order to stretch the meagre family income, has won nine national prizes and two international commendations for his water-color paintings and has been described as the "best painter of his age group" in Thailand.

Positive stories about youth, many emanating from activities connected with International Youth Year, are not unusual. Studies indicate an increasing concern among young people over the welfare of others, and their involvement in community and family-related projects remains high in many cultures.

Still some surveys also reveal that many young people are experiencing prolems regarding education, job training, drugs, crime and violence. In many deeloping countries, tribal and family tructures continue to break down.

A United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization study that looked at the "situation, lifestyles and outlooks of young industrial workers" in Hungary, India, Senegal, Spain and Uruguay concluded, not surprisingly, that the State is unable to meet the demands of youth.

While family and religion in Senegal are strong, the economic crisis, heightened by drought and food shortages, has strained those systems severely. As in other countries, school curricula in Senegal were found to be ill-matched to the world of work.

In India, where workers from four different regions were polled, the survey found that money was the strongest motivator influencing working life. In Senegal, 73 per cent of those polled felt that success or failure in life was dependent on one's job, while in India only 58 per cent felt that way. In all five countries surveyed, education was associated with better jobs.

In Hungary, the survey highlighted attitudinal change. The "heroes" of the 1950s--those who worked in foundries, mines, chemical and rubber plants--held what are now considered the least popular jobs. More "fashionable" trades today include electrician, car mechanics, dental assistant, beauty specialist, photographer, window dresser, shop clerk, waiter and chef.

The study found that many youths in all countries surveyed feel that adults get paid more than youth for similar work; that unions are "phony"; that hierarchies need flattening; and that society itself needs to be changed.

The study also uncovered a general feeling of apathy among young workers everywhere. As a 17-year-old from Barcelona who makes plastic mannequins at home explained: "I don't get involved with this trade union business. I'm so laid back I don't even care. That's why I don't know how much I earn or anything, nothing about papers. I'm just living my life."