THEMATIC FOCUS

1. EDUCATION, CAPACITY BUILDING AND AWARENESS CREATION
Education is the only inaliable right that once acquired remains a vital part of one’s growth. Education is the foundation for the success of any given society. Education does not only encourage personal development but also provides a place for people to interact, socialize and unify their societies.

“Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress in every society, in every family.”
Dr. Koffi Annan

Youth development – the ongoing process in which all youths are engaged in attempting to:
 Meet their basic personal needs to be safe, feel cared for, valued, be useful and be spiritually grounded.
 Build skills and competencies that allow them to function and contribute in their daily lives.

The awareness creation will help build on these areas of ability:
 High self-worth and self-esteem
 Sense of self- awareness and spirituality
 Sense of safety and structure
 Physical health-via sports and exercises
 Mental health- via debates, discussions and forums
 Perception of responsibility and autonomy
 Employability

Forms of Education
a. Formal
We recognize that the quality of basic education needs substantial improvement, and should include new information technologies. I.e. the need to include ICT learning infrastructure in the classrooms for up-to-date information sharing and acquisition.

b. Informal (includes life long learning)
We call for the enhancement of existing mass media and interconnected radio, television and Internet for improved education processes.

We recommend the creation of peer education and exchange programmes and policies to encourage and improve equitable, free and easy use of ICT in underdeveloped rural, urban and remote areas.

c. Online learning
iEARN (International Education and Resource Network) is a non-profit that empowers teachers and students (K-12) to work together with others around the corner or in different parts of the world at very low cost through a global telecommunications network. Started in 1988, iEARN is currently active in over 90 countries. http://www.iearn.org. iEARN is a perfect platform for young people to exchange their idea, thought, and culture and broaden their perspectives on various pressing issues in this world today.

We recommend the establishment of vocational schools at a community level, the creation of Internet cafes, distance-learning centres, and other sites for online education.

Thus, YEARN shall be more concerned at providing need-based training to youths on global issues to help them make right decisions, empower themselves and build their communities.


2. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND AWARENESS
There is need to promote environmental education and awareness to educate and inform all stakeholders and the public that irrational depletion of national natural resources is destroying the basis of prosperity for future generations, and as forests disappear, land becoming infertile and water is exhausted or polluted, it’s the poor of today, especially children and women who suffer most. There’s an urgent need to improve public awareness and understanding of environmental issues with a view to promote the conservation and wise use of natural resources at a community level.

Some of the awareness to be created is, among others:
 Energy conservation
 Safety awareness
 Water conservation
 Recycling
 Environmental protection


3. ICT FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
ICTs are pervasive in every aspect of life today. Youth today need to know ICT tools to participate in education, employment, and even to be entertained. Today’s youths may find it difficult to imagine a world without technology. This is reflected in their use of technology when compared to adult populations.

Young people lead the world’s information society by creating and adopting new technologies. They spearhead almost every major innovation in the Information Technology, from the World Wide Web to Open Source software and today, through social networks like TIG, and Facebook, they make their voice heard like never before.

In fact, a recent report by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), found that young people globally use computers, the Internet and mobile phones to a much larger extent than the general public. Yet, in the third-world, many youths have limited access to computer and other technological tools at home. The ITU also found out that technological tools were less available in the developing world when compared to the western countries. These youths therefore find it difficult to hone the technical skills necessary for further education and the world of work, limiting their potential to meaningfully take part in the global society.

We encourage the local production of educational and ICT content and access to content.

We emphasize the potential for ICTs to serve as a vehicle for young people to practice and nurture their cultures. Global knowledge allows young people to define who they are by comparing and contrasting themselves with others. It can foster a greater respect for the wider variety of local knowledge bases and customs, thus helping to maintain cultural diversity.

We believe that ICTs may be used not only to import technological know-how from overseas but may be used to record and spread traditional know-how (for example: medicinal knowledge of Indigenous communities, etc.)

“ In order to empower young people and close the digital divide, it is necessary that youth understand ICT. ICT must be used as medium for the dissemination of information about such important issues as HIV/AIDS prevention and de-stigmatization, personal hygiene and maintenance of sanitary conditions, environmental problems and matters of cultural and social nature having a practical impact on the everyday life of young people.”
Dakar Youth Empowerment Strategy

ICT can be applied in health care including the use of relatively simple Internet based data management systems to exchange information such as patient records between health care professionals. Tele-medicine applications now available also make it possible to deliver health care in isolated locations.
Source: Creating Youth Employment through ICTs best practice examples and strategies, Richard Curtain – Australia







We recommend ICT-related employment opportunities for young people, which are illustrated in five best practice principals:
 Promoting youth entrepreneurship,
 Promoting public-private partnership,
 Targeting vulnerable groups of young people,
 Bridging the gaps between the digital economy and the informal sector and
 Putting young people in charge.

YEARN is consolidating partnerships to set up one-of-a-kind youth telecenter to help disseminate and hone tech-based skills.


4. HEALTH
a. HIV/AIDS
We consider that HIV/AIDS is decimating our generation. Lack of education and information, stigmatization, and negative taboos have increased the vulnerability of youth.

We request that governments commit themselves to implementing policies that ensure free access for young people to health information, education and health sector in order to avoid HIV/AIDS.

We call upon governments and civil society to finance and support the creation and distribution of new technologies to fight HIV/AIDS including new medication, female controlled methods of contraception including female condoms and micro biocides, and culturally appropriate ways to spread information about HIV/AIDS prevention.


b. Drugs and Substance Abuse
We affirm that drugs are very dangerous to life, that they are harmful to our personal development; they destroy health and can be fatal. We demand access to adequate information to preventive education.

We consider the prominent role of media in our lives. We recall and expect from them objective and reliable information and a meaningful participation in prevention, and vigilance on their part so that we are not exposed to advertising or to messages, which condone drugs, addicts.

We shall be educating the youth on the issues and challenges surrounding drugs and substance abuse. We also will be educating the community (peer educators) on how to identify someone who may be abusing drugs while sharing some helpful tips on how to live healthy without drugs.