The United Nations celebrates International Youth Day annually on August 12th with the intention of addressing issues facing the youngest group of people on our planet. Celebrated since 1998, the day exists to help promote and raise funds for initiatives spearheaded by the United Nations Youth Fund and their partners. The focus is currently on building bridges between generations to tackle issues thought to stem from ageism. The UN wants to address not only how youth have been affected but ensure that they are a part of the solution to “build back better” as part of their goals for sustainable development.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted societal gaps of inequality and disproportion, with children being a strongly affected demographic of the world. One of the biggest challenges related directly to youth during this time has been ensuring continuity in and access to quality education. Distance learning became the new normal for millions of children across the world, and educators and parents relied on virtual resources in education.

Engineers and other STEM professionals have long been aware of the need for STEM outreach to pre-university students. IEEE’s TryEngineering.org served as a great resource for this even prior to the pandemic, but became even more valuable as a distance learning resource for STEM education since 2020. Lesson plans for K-12 STEM teachers, engaging STEM-themed games for students, and details on dozens of youth oriented STEM-outreach programs for professionals looking to make a difference are just a few of the many resources TryEngineering has been able to provide for promoting STEM education to the youth of the world.

Read more about International Youth Day and the United Nation’s initiatives surrounding it here.