Last year, a young woman electrified a United Nations consultation on climate change in Bonn, simply by asking the delegates, “How old will you be in 2050?” The audience applauded. The next day, hundreds of delegates wore T-shirts emblazoned with that question – including the Chair, who admitted that in 2050 he would be 110, and not likely to see the results of our failure to act. The young woman’s message was clear: The kind of world she will live in someday relies both on those who inherit it and on those who bequeath it to them.

The State of the World’s Children 2011 echoes and builds on this fundamental insight. Today, 1.2 billion adolescents stand at the challenging crossroads between childhood and the adult world. Nine out of ten of these young people live in the developing world and face especially profound challenges, from obtaining an education to simply staying alive – challenges that are even more magnified for girls and young women.