The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2014

16 JULY-AUGUST 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL its brand-new Global Youth Wellbeing Index. Created in partnership with the International Youth Foundation and Hil- ton Worldwide as part of a commitment made at the 2012 Clinton Global Initia- tive, the index is part of CSIS’s Youth, Prosperity and Security Initiative. William Reese, president and CEO of the International Youth Foundation, described one goal of the initiative as reframing the debate about the devel- oping world’s “youth bulge”: nearly 3.5 billion people under the age of 25. Reese believes that too many people view this group as a security threat when they should see it as an “untapped resource.” Kathleen Hicks, director of the International Security Program at CSIS, believes the index will help illuminate the demographic challenges and allow private investors “to see where countries have the potential to improve and to grow.” She also encouraged young people to “buy into the index.” Chris Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton Worldwide, echoed that sentiment, warning that the initiative “will not succeed without full engagement by youth.” The index tracks 40 indicators across six interconnected domains: citizen par- ticipation, economic opportunity, educa- tion, health, information/communica- tion technology, and safety and security. The index currently covers 30 different countries, which collectively account for about 70 percent of the world’s total youth population. CSIS is working hard to promote their new index through social media as well, starting a #YouthWellbeingIndex trend on Twitter, and launching a new website ( www.youthindex.org) with an interac- tive map and a link to the full report of the index. n —Bret Matera, Editorial Intern