INVEST IN OUR YOUTH: Today is World Population Day. This year the focus is on the Youth and the Millennium Development Goals. The world is over populated. Investing more in education especially after completion of secondary school can be a lever for breaking out of poverty. Girls’ education can be particularly important in breaking the inter-generational transmission of poverty by leading to smaller families, more investment in each child’s health and education, and greater earning potential. Moreover, given appropriate support and opportunities, young people can become a powerful force for their achievement and for sustained progress. Also, investing in the youth from an early stage will vastly improve on targeted issues related to poverty, hunger eradication, education, gender equality, child and maternal mortality, health, HIV/AIDS and environmental sustainability. Namibian adolescents like these young Ovahimba girls, young with children, are less educated and being thrown into adult roles with minimal or insufficient support, obliged to sacrifice educational and other skills-building opportunities to support their families or for their own survival.