IBB, Yemen – Shukria was married off at just 9 years old. The wedding was arranged to settle a debt her family owed to a 50-year-old man.

Susmita has never gone to school. She tends the few animals her family owns and attends to household chores. Like more than one in three girls in her community, she may be married before turning 18. She dreams about going to school – even just for one day.

The United Nations has set Investing in Young People as the theme of the World Population Day in 2014. The commemorations around the world are sending out a clear and strong message: young people must be at the center stage of the post-2015 global development agenda and investing in young people matters for now and for the future. 

There are over 600 million girls in the world today, more than 500 million of them in developing countries. They are shaping humanity’s present and future. The opportunities and choices girls have during adolescence will enable them to begin adulthood as empowered, active citizens.

With the right skills and opportunities, they can invest in themselves, in their families and their communities.  However, pregnancy jeopardizes the rights, health, education and potential of far too many adolescent girls, robbing them of a better future.

Beijing, 8 December 2013--- Initiated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) China Office and Sohu.com, the Awards Ceremony of Acting for Youth Short Movie Competition was held in China National Film Museum in Beijing. Mr. Arie Hoekman, the Representative of UNFPA in China; Ms. Jiang Fangzhou, a well-known young writer and opinion leader who is Acting for Youth Advocate; and Ms. Hong Ping, Deputy Secretary General of China Family Planning Association, representatives of the panel of judges, participating university students and special invitees were present at this event.