International Youth Day
International Youth Day ASEAN/twitter

Today is International Youth Day - an initiative that takes place on 12 August every year to celebrate the potential of youth as partners in today's global society.

12<sup>th August was designated as International Youth Day (IYD) by the UN General Assembly in 1999. It is meant as an opportunity for governments and others to draw attention to key issues concerning the youth worldwide.

According to UNESCO, "IYD is an annual celebration of the role of young women and men as essential partners in change, as well as an opportunity to raise awareness of the challenges and hardships facing the world's youth."

During IYD, concerts, workshops, cultural events, and meetings involving national and local government officials and youth organisations take place around the world.

This year, the theme of IYD will be 'Youth and Mental Health' under the slogan 'Mental Health Matters'.

International Youth Day 2014
International Youth Day 2014

Here are 10 inspirational quotes for International Youth Day:

1) Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young. – J.K Rowling

2) You are only young once, and if you work it right, once is enough. – Joe E. Lewis

3) Youth is the best time to be rich, and the best time to be poor. – Euripides

4) Young people need models, not critics. – John Wooden

5) You're only young once, but you can be immature forever ― Germaine Greer

6) Middle age is youth without levity, and age without decay. – Doris Day

7) If I have known much trouble in my youth, I have also known much joy. – Clara Schumann

8) An inordinate passion for pleasure is the secret of remaining young. – Oscar Wilde

9) Time misspent in youth is sometimes all the freedom one ever has. – Anita Brookner

10) Youth is wasted on the young. – George Bernard Shaw

United Nations