The first Youth Monograph, which analyses the characteristics of young people in Tonga based on the 2016 Population and Housing Census is now available.
The launch coincided with International Youth Day Celebrations at Fa’onelua Convention Centre today.
The key findings of the monograph include youth’s transition to independence, education, health and wellbeing and main activity.
Government Statistician Dr Viliami Fifita said that data and statistics are very powerful to making informed decisions, policies, interventions and designing work programs for youth.
“Policies have a macro impact towards any development agenda. One of them is today, which is the youth. They are in the transition age. What is happening to their health and wellbeing? What about education? Are they still employed or are they still at school? But are they vulnerable? These are all questions that we need to know.”
“Did you know that one quarter of our youth, aged 17 have left school? What happened to our policy? We have a policy that education should be compulsory up to age 18. Today is a celebration in collaborations with MIA with the hope that this information will be useful for youth.”
The report targets planners as well as policy and decision makers in government and organizations who are working with youth on development issues.
The report is expected to be used for policy and planning purposes, monitor and evaluate the Tonga Strategic Development 2015-2025, Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs) and other national policies and programmes.
32,000 people in Tonga between the ages of 15-34 are youth, according to the Tongan definition, which account to about one third of the total population.