Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Papua New Guinea's population is soaring and the National Research Institute has a scheme to contend with the resulting 'youth bulge'.
PNG's population is now estimated to about 11 million, though there has been no census for more than ten years.
By the 2040s, those numbers will have climbed to more than 20 million.
The NRI's Dr Olugbenga Ige is proposing the establishment of a National Youth Service Corps, with a stated aim of helping youth make meaningful contributions to PNG.
Under the NRI plan participation will be mandatory and after a three week orientation the youths will be posted around the country to provide help with developments.
Dr Ige sees it as supporting people aged between 15 and 29
He is modelling his scheme on the National Youth Service initiatives in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Nigeria.
He said Guatemala has the largest youth population in Latin America at 61 percent and has many similarities with PNG, including the reliance on subsistent farming.
The scheme in Guatemala is supported by the United States aid agency, USAID, which is now also taking a more prominent role in PNG.
Dr Ige is expecting the Government of PNG to financially drive this scheme but is hopeful that donors would come on board.
PNG's growing problems with unemployed or underemployed young people was shown by the recent riots and looting in the cities in which most of the participants are reported to have been youths.
