Kofi Annan Quotes

Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace.

Most organizations see young people as problems to be solved. We see young people as problem-solvers.

Youth is the ultimate limited resource.

As organizations, we have to find ways to create more opportunities, especially for our young people. A lot of corporations, they have to make opportunities for young people - create internships, for example, even if it's only half-time.

Today’s generation of young people holds more power than any generation before it to make a positive impact on the world.

What I can do is to go out and talk about the problems and solutions, make people aware of the scope of the problems, get them to become advocates for a turnaround, and convince them to develop an action plan, targeted to their community, to deal with young people. [They need to] find out what the kids want to do - dances, midnight-basketball leagues.

It's always nice to share your energy with young people, the people who might not have any skills but are simply willing to be a part of it.

Have confidence in the young people, give them a chance, and they will surprise you.

Young people are going to go to someone, somewhere. And we had better see that that 'someone' is us when the opportunity is ours, for there will come a time when we will wish they would come, and do we know but that the interruption we now impatiently put off may be the most important thing we could be doing at this particular time?

Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts itself off from its youth severs its lifeline; it is condemned to bleed to death.

I see the energy of young people as a real force for positive change.

These days, because women are so active on social media, it is important to be active on the sites of social media that represent the right value system. If you are a student on campus, be part of action groups that exist on campus. The worst thing that can happen to a young person is to be young and not be part of anything that is bigger than you. I think that it's such a missed opportunity, because the future depends on those who walk an extra mile in order to make sure that the world will be better because they have lived in it.

The United Nations has long recognised that the imagination, ideals and energies of young men and women are vital for the continuing development of the societies in which they live. And since its inception in 1948, AIESEC has contributed to this development by serving as an agent of positive change trough education and cultural exchange.

How can you contribute towards building the Indian society and the Indian nation? No better way than to upgrade the quality of young people in school, particularly the schools which are run by the state government in the villages.

I tend to focus on young people and on giving a voice to groups of people who don't normally get their voices heard.

When you start targeting a community there is that feeling of anger the frustration and hatred that comes in and that brings the young people away from the community and goes into the extreme hands.

We have to let young people know that we care about them and their future. I want to involve them to a level where they become the leaders and the advocates because, right now, a lot of these young people don't believe they have an advocate.

Doing and making positive programming for young people is so important to me, and I will keep doing it.

Our Party attaches great importance to the work with young people and firmly believes in them.

It is easy to overlook the importance of the young in underdeveloped countries. It is the natural course for nations, and diplomats, and those who publish newspapers, to speak to the established order. Seeking out the young requires a conscious effort.

My dream is to get the young people off the streets, to make it possible for them to play football in the stadium instead.

If we all act together - business, governments, NGOs and citizens and, especially, the young - just imagine the good we could create.

I don't have a problem participating with the youth because the youth are our future.

Young people are going to go to someone, somewhere. And we had better see that that 'someone' is us.

Young people ought not to be idle, it is very bad for them.