The conference focused on two topics articulated in the World Bank's 2007 World Development Report Development and the Next Generation which are especially problematic for young people in the World Bank Europe and Central Asia Region: "transition to work" and "transition to citizenship".

Transition to work represents the transition of young people to working life from formal secondary or tertiary education, non-formal education or vocational training.

Successful transitions are crucial to young people's social and economic well-being. Failed transitions, increasingly common in the ECA region, are marked by increased school dropout rates, youth unemployment, underemployment, marginalization, dissatisfaction, violence, migration, and trafficking in human beings. Several groups are especially at risk of unemployment, including rural youth, youth with disabilities and youth from minority communities.

Transition to citizenship represents youth participation in civic life which includes giving youth a voice in policy and service delivery.

Successful transition to citizenship provides young people with opportunities for participating in community and other initiatives, direct consultation and recognition through participation in policy decisions and implementation. Young people's input should be included in all areas of development, from education and health to urban and rural development, and at various levels of decision-making processes from national to local and institutional level. Active citizenship also includes holding public officials accountable for their actions, demanding justice for oneself and others, and tolerating people who are ethnically or religiously different.

Young people's transition to exercising citizenship is shaped by a wide range of actors and institutions from family and peers to media, private sector and the state, all of which influence youth through their rules, norms, activities and policies. Failure in the transition can result in a disenfranchised generation or, at worst, in crime and societal violence.