In this issue of Youth Information:

Ø      AYC Urges Youth to Venture into Entrepreneurship

Ø      Tribals no strangers to female foeticide 

Ø      Europe: Youth mainstreaming is a challenge for youth organizations

Ø      Youth issues at the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly

Ø      UN-GAID Global Forum on Youth and ICT for Development

Ø      UNFPA launches publication on adolescent pregnancies

Upcoming events:

Ø      National Integration Youth Camp in West Bengal, India

Ø      Commonwealth Youth Forum

Ø      Asian Young Leaders Climate Forum

Ø      Int. Seminar On Youth Organizations as A Non formal Learning Institution

Ø      UNFPA Global Youth Advisory Panel

Ø      Africa-Europe Youth Summit

Ø      World AIDS Day (1 December)

Ø      UN Special Session/World Fit for Children + 5

 

 

AYC Urges Youth to Venture into Entrepreneurship

Asian Youth Council (AYC) President, Dato’ Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo expressed the need for its representatives to lobby their respective governments for training to develop entrepreneurial skills, mentoring, networking and financial aid among youths. He was addressing the opening session of Asian Youth Forum (AYF) in Beijing on 3rd November 2007. All-China Youth Federation, Asian Youth Council and ILO jointly organized the AYF. Know About Business (KAB) (the ILO programme for student) meeting also held along with the Froum. The AYF was attended by 45 representatives from 17 countries in Asia.

Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo added that the Youth council encouraged youths to venture into entrepreneurship because in the long run, it would provide them with a sense of self-realization, to be able to apply their knowledge and skills into their ventures, to promote independence and give them the opportunity to contribute to society.

“I would like to call on all National Youth Councils to strive to ensure that youth entrepreneurship is incorporated in our national youth policies and other policy documents,” said Dr Mohamad Khir.

Ms Constance Thomas, Director for China and Mongolia, International Labour Organisation (ILO) opened the forum and KAB meeting. Other those deliver the speech included Ms Zhang Xiaolan, Vice President, All-China Youth Federation.

Ms Zhang Xiaolan also distributed the award to excellent youth entrepreneurship school and facilitators. The KAB students also share their experiences.

In another session Mr. Klaus Haftendorn, Global KAB (Know About Business) Coordinator of ILO (International Labor Organization) spoke on ‘Global Entrepreneurship Education and its Development Trend. Prof Robert Nelson of Illinois University and Int. Facilitator of KAB share his view on ‘Practice and Experience of Entrepreneurship Education in foreign countries’.

The opening session was moderated by Ms Du Dong, Deputy Director, International Department of All China Youth Federation.

The Forum

Mr Norizan Bin Sharif, Executive Secretary of Asian Youth Council, started the first session of Asian Youth Forum with opening remark.

During the Forum, participating countries (Mongolia, Yemen, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Bangladesh, Thailand, India, Korea, Cambodia) presented the country status report, followed by discussion on it.

Mr Ravi Narayan, Vice President of Asian Youth Council (and Secretary General of ICYO) presented the India report in the Forum.

Earlier on November 1, 2007, in reception, Mr Ni Jian, Assistant President of All China Youth Federation welcomes the delegates. And Dato’ Seri Dr. Mohamad Khir Toyo, President, AYC presented the Asian Youth Award.

Tribals no strangers to female foeticide 

Using ultrasound for sex determination

Even as education and technology reach the far-off tribal belts of the country, the practice of female foeticide is also fast making inroads there.

Tribal youth are now going to cities or making use of portable ultrasound machines that provide sex determination ‘services’ at a nominal price.

The practice of sex determination and female foeticide was alien to these communities till recently.

Now elders in tribal villages fear that urbanization will hit tribal villages, as youngsters will fall prey to this “style” very soon, says a study conducted by the Pune-based Centre for Youth Development and Activities (CYDA).

Youth mainstreaming is a challenge for
youth organizations

European Youth Forum (YFJ) members got together to hold the seminar “Youth mainstreaming: get everyone involved”. The event, hosted by the Finnish Youth Co-Operation – Allianssi and held in Helsinki (Finland) on 25-28 October 2007.

The seminar enabled participants to reflect on existing tools to develop and monitor youth policy effectively both in the policy-making processes and within their organisations. For example, participants looked at how to develop and communicate the youth perspective in public spending.

The speakers [Petra Marselius (Swedish Government), Michael Schwarz (Bavarian Youth Council), Bie Vancraeynest (Flemish Youth Council), Kelly Bellens (Antwerp Government, Belgium)] presented their views on how to implement youth mainstreaming at national, regional and local level.

‘Examples show that there is not just a single way to implement youth mainstreaming, but it rather works according to the context and the opportunities that arise’, points out Bettina Schwarzmayr, President of the European Youth Forum.

Youth issues at the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly

Youth and social development are discussed in the General Assembly’s Third Committee, which addresses social, humanitarian and cultural issues. In his opening statement to the Third Committee, the Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development, which includes the UN Programme on Youth, stated that the young people of today have new opportunities that
co-exist with a myriad of challenges; nevertheless, youth are increasingly proving to be essential to the development process. The full and effective participation of young people and youth-led organizations is important for the realization of the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the promotion and implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY). He called on Member States to encourage the participation of young as active agents in decision-making processes and for positive change and development in society.

The Report of the Secretary-General on youth entitled “Follow-up to the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond,” was presented to the Third Committee along with other youth-related documents.

The report contains a review of the progress made and the constraints that young people face in relation to their participation in the global economy. It highlights issues pertinent to globalization, employment, education, poverty and hunger – all critical determinants of whether youth succeed in the global economy or not. The report also proposes a set of indicators for measuring youth development and puts forward specific recommendations geared to integrating and protecting youth in the global economy, and includes a progress report on the Secretary-General’s Youth Employment Network. An addendum to the report elaborates on goals and targets for monitoring the progress of youth in the global economy.

The Committee also has before it the supplement to the WPAY that elaborates on the five additional areas, namely globalization, information and communications technology, HIV/AIDS, armed conflict, and intergenerational issues and presents proposals for action by Governments.
Twenty-four youth delegates were included in the official delegations of 18 countries. Although, presentations at Third Committee meetings made by youth delegates primarily focused on youth-related topics, their direct and passionate statements also included a range of global concerns, such as climate change and the MDGs.

The Committee is currently deliberating on a draft resolution that highlights the role of youth participation in development and the addresses the mixed impact of globalization on the lives of young people around the world. The resolution aims to improve the ability of young people, especially those living in poverty, to participate more fully in the global economy through greater inclusion, education, training, and employment policies. It calls upon Governments to keep their commitments made in the MDGs and to act to achieve them through national development strategies with the increased involvement of young people. Youth delegates from several Member States made significant contributions to the text of resolution and actively participated in deliberations.

UN-GAID Global Forum on

Youth and ICT forDevelopment

At the three-day Forum held in Geneva from 24-26 September, young people from around the world proposed measures for addressing the impact of ICT on their lives by adopting a manifesto, “A Declaration to and for the
Youth of the World”, stating young people’s commitment to eradicate
poverty through the use of innovative technology. More than 600 participants from youth organizations, Government, the private sector,
civil society and the technology community attended the Forum’s plenary sessions and workshops, panels and roundtables. A marketplace featured several events and exhibits that showcased young people’s innovations in the use of technology.

UNFPA launches publication on adolescent pregnancies

UNFPA launched its new youth publication, “Giving Girls Today and Tomorrow: Breaking the Cycle of Adolescent Pregnancy” on 19 October 2007, at the Women Deliver Conference, a global conference that took place   from 18-20 October 2007 in London, UK to mark the 20th anniversary of the global Safe Motherhood Initiative and to create political will to save the lives and improve the health of women, mothers, and newborns worldwide.

The publication highlights the issue of adolescent pregnancy among married and unmarried girls aged 10-19 years old, with special attention to those
living in poverty.  It further underscores how strategic investments help
to prevent pregnancy and child marriage can yield huge returns, while
building the socio-economic assets of girls.

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Announcement

ICYO start new e-newsletter on “Campaign against Sexual Abuse of Children and Youth” which covered the wide range of news, reports, activities on issue related to Commercial Sexual Abuse children (CESC) and Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth. ICYO- Youth Information welcome the related materials for the newsletter.

To receive the newsletters write to icyoindia@...

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Upcoming events:

 

National Integration Youth Camp in West Bengal, India

National Youth Project will organize the National Integration Youth Camp at Bainchigram, Dist Hoogly in West Bengal from December 22-29, 2007.

The camp is open for Indian Youth age between 18 to 30 years. For more detail and participation contact ICYO secretariat at icyoindia@... .

Commonwealth Youth Forum

The Youth Forum will be held prior to the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Entebbe, Uganda from November 19-22, 2007. The theme of the Forum is “Breaking barriers; unleashing young people’s potentials for development” and will aim at identifying successful strategies and models in fostering youth sustainable development, conflict resolution and  combating HIV/AIDS. For more information, please see http://www.chogm2007.ug/

Asian Young Leaders Climate Forum

British Council and WWF-Indonesia will organize the Asian Young Leaders' Climate forum (AYLCF) from 4 - 7 December 2007 in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. The participation is open for Asian young leaders' aged 18 - 30 yrs, committed to aspects of the climate change debate (ie. Mitigation, adaptation and communicating behavior change) and able to communicate effectively and convincingly in English.

For more information contact gusni.puspitasari@...

International Seminar On Youth Organizations as A Non formal Learning Institution

 

International Youth Centre, Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia and the University Putra Malaysia will organize the “International Seminar On Youth Organizations as A Non formal Learning Institution” in Kula Lumpur from December 2-9, 2007.

 

The theme for this seminar is “Globalising Nonformal Learning through Organizations”.

UNFPA Global Youth Advisory Panel

The annual UNFPA Global Youth Advisory Panel meeting will be held from 19 to 21 November. It will bring together 20 to 25 young representatives aged 15 to 24, who represent a wide variety of national, regional and international youth networks to give advice on promoting the rights and needs of youth within UNFPA. Panel members make comprehensive recommendations on planning, policymaking and programming and also share ideas with UNFPA throughout the year via an e-forum.

For the 2007 meeting the Global Youth Advisory Panel will focus on developing a guide for UNFPA Country Offices on youth participation and youth-adult partnerships, including recommendations on the establishment of country-level Youth Advisory Panels.

Africa-Europe Youth Summit

The North-South Centre of the Council of Europe is facilitating a youth-led process to hold an Africa-Europe Youth Summit in Lisbon from December 4-7, 2007. The aim of the Summit is to reinforce youth work and increase youth participation in Africa and Europe influencing the youth policy in Euro-African Cooperation.

World AIDS Day (1 December)

This year’s theme is “leadership”, which provides an opportunity to highlight youth leadership through a wide range of community activities. The Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA) is partnering with World AIDS Campaign to coordinate youth-led events worldwide.

UN Special Session/World Fit for Children + 5

The year 2007 marks the mid decade point for the Plan of Action of the “A World Fit for Children". The main events include the Children's Forum on 9 -10 December 2007, the commemorative high level plenary meeting of the General Assembly and Roundtable discussions on 11 and 12 December 2007 in New York.

For more information, log on http://www.unicef.org/worldfitforchildren.

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Youth Information is published by

Indian Committee of Youth Organizations (ICYO)

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Phone: 91 9811729093  / 91 11 26183978 Fax 91 11 26198423

Email: icyoindia@... / icyo@...

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Indian Committee of Youth Organizations (ICYO) is a registered non-profit, non-governmental network organization, committed in developing areas of mutual cooperation and understanding among different youth voluntary agencies, youth groups, clubs and individuals working in the field of youth welfare in India. 

ICYO functions as an umbrella organization of youth NGOs in India. It's family consists of
over 356 organizations spread in 122 districts of 22 states from different corners of India.

Our goal:
To improve and extend the youth work and services through Youth Organizations;
To enhance and demonstrate youth work in the society;
To promote effective youth programmmes;
To organize network of civil society organizations working towards the development of youth work;
To organize seminars, conferences, workshops, trainings;
To maintain international relation with organizations promoting young people in their programmes and activities

Affiliation: 

Consultative (Roster) Status with ECOSOC, United Nations;
Consultative Status with Commission on Sustainable Development;
Full Member of World Assembly of Youth (WAY); Asian Youth Council (AYC);
Youth for Habitat International Network (YFHIN); CRIN, South Asia Youth
Environment Network (SAYEN), Affiliate group of ECPAT International, Thailand;
ATSECE-DELHI, Indian Partner of AIDS Care Watch Campaign;
Steering Committee member of World Bank's YDP Network;
Working relation with Indian Association of Parliamentarians (IAPPD);
International Medical Parliamentarians Organizations (IMPO);
Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD);
World Youth Foundation, Malaysia.