By Giorgi Tshekhani

Participation in decision-making is one of the key priority areas of the United Nations agenda on youth. One form of youth participation at the United Nations is to be a youth delegate included in the country's official delegation to the United Nations. The Youth Delegate Programme is coordinated by the UN Focal point on Youth at the global level while Member States establish their youth delegate programme at the national level to send young representatives to the United Nations.

Since 2000, an increasing number of countries have joined the Youth Delegate Programme and sent young representatives to the General Assembly. However, many countries still to initiate Youth Delegate Programme and Georgia was one of them until June 2012.

During my university studies, I participated in many international Model UN conferences where I met many young people who were aware of the Youth Delegate Programme and its importance. As I heard about the Youth Delegate Programme, I started to obtain more information about it and after some time I was convinced that this Programme is definitely an important tool for young people to make their voices heard internationally.

Consequently, I decided to convince the Georgian government to establish a Youth Delegate Programme to allow Georgian young people to participate in the international decision-making process. Because youth has been one of the priority areas for the Government of Georgia, lobbying for establishing the Youth Delegate Programme in Georgia appeared not to be a difficult task.

I conducted a thorough research of those countries where the Youth Delegate Programme already existed and drafted a proposal that explains the importance of the Programme and the way it works in other countries. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia discussed the proposal and decided to introduce a pilot Youth Delegate Programme for the year of 2012. As a young person from Georgia with substantive knowledge on the Youth Delegate Programme, I was nominated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the ever first Youth Delegate of Georgia to the United Nations.

Before travelling to New York, I had a wonderful opportunity to travel throughout Georgia to meet young people and children. I found those meetings very useful and interesting because I had a chance to hear directly from the youth and children about the problems and challenges they had been facing. Those meetings also provided me with an opportunity to raise awareness among Georgian young people and children about the United Nations as well as issues like gender equality, women’s rights, minority rights, clean environment, tolerance and other. I found the national tour to be an important part of the Youth Delegate Programme because it enables Youth Delegates to bring concerns and interests of grassroots level young people to the United Nations.

After my national tour, I travelled to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly sessions on behalf of Georgian youth. I had an opportunity to take part in the work of the Third Committee of the UN general Assembly as a member of Georgian delegation. This gave me an opportunity to address the Third Committee, to participate in informal sessions, to provide input, along with other Youth Delegates, to the resolutions which directly or indirectly concerned youth and children, to meet Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to organize and participate in side events and take part in other important meetings. I could see the high value of what we – youth delegates as a group – could do during our work at the Third Committee and I would like to encourage young people in those countries where the Youth Delegate Programme does not exist to do their best to establish it.

At the end, I would like to extend my gratitude to all those officials who supported the introduction of the pilot Georgian Youth Delegate Programme and hope that the Programme will continue to exist in following years upon the submission of my report on the pilot programme to the government.

UNDESA

Cooperatives & Youth – Empowerment, Employment, Engagement

Youth disempowerment, unemployment and poverty are of highest concern, even more so in the context of multiple international crises. The cooperative form of enterprise enables young people to create their own employment as member-owners in a context which often aligns with their own values and where their voices are heard.

As the International Year of Cooperatives came to the end, cooperative youth stakeholders from all over the world developed a statement delivered to the international community on November 20, 2012. The statement presents youth experiences and give recommendations to policy makers with regards to cooperative youth engagement and empowerment.

Through a facebook discussion forum, youth participate actively in the revision of the draft statement until November 17, 2012. The final statement is now accessible through the facebook group and the official IYC website to be circulated and signed until December 5, 2012. Youth stakeholders are asked to sign and support the statement with their signature. Through the facebook link, you will also be able to share your success stories of cooperative youth engagement.

Link to facebook discussion forum: http://www.facebook.com/groups/550315904994976/

Link to Official UN Website of International Year of Cooperatives: http://social.un.org/coopsyear/

UNCSD

The Major Group for Children and Youth

The Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) is currently determining its role in the post-Rio+20 arena. To gather the opinions of youth internationally, the MGCY launched a survey to identify the key focus areas for youth in sustainability. Preliminary results indicate a strong emphasis on the Post-2015 Millennium Development Goals and the need for linking it to the Rio+20 outcomes. In response to these initial results, the MGCY is launching a Post-2015 MDG Working Group. All interested young people are invited to join this group to outline youth involvement in the post-2015 discussion and MGCY activities that can advance this.

More details can be found at www.uncsdchildrenyouth.org.

Please complete the following survey by 30 November 2012 to put forward your interests

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?pli=1&formkey=dEdKNnJxSDBfdGRGLXJiSzNUUmRGQlE6MQ#gid=0

UNAOC

Young Euro-Med Entrepreneurs in Interculturality

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations launched a new youth employment initiative aiming to provide training and mentoring to young social entrepreneurs from the Euro-Med region. The initiative aims at promoting youth entrepreneurships along with the intercultural and interfaith dialogues. Selected young entrepreneurs will take part in a 5-day training in Italy from 11 to 15 February 2013 followed by a six-month training where they will receive mentoring from successful/experienced social entrepreneurs and professional fund-raisers. UNAOC is looking forward to selecting 20 young adults from the Euro-Med region between the ages of 18 and 35. Selected participants will be financially supported for the training in Italy.

For more information about this initiative called Young Euro-Med Entrepreneurs in Interculturality please see www.unaocyouth.org (under LATEST NEWS, lower left corner). The application deadline is 11:59 PM, New York time, December 2, 2012. Questions about this program should be sent to YEMEI@unaoc.org

UNIDO

UNIDO to host an international conference on productive work for youth in Tunisia and the Mena region

It is no coincidence that Tunis will host the international conference on productive work for youth in coming 28-29 November. The capital city of the Jasmin democratic revolution is in fact the perfect stage for a conference that seeks to construct critical recommendations on productive work for youth for the governments of the region.

The two-day event will feature important speakers including the Vice President of the EU Commission Mr. Tajani, the Director General of UNIDO Mr. Yumkella, and several other high-level representatives from the MENA countries. Participation will include more than 600 young entrepreneurs, youth activists, youth CSO representatives, and experts from the region.

Discussions will focus on importance for youth entrepreneurship development, access to finance and value chain development while reflecting on relevant success stories. To sparkle the discussion throughout the region, the UNIDO team has developed the first dedicated e-discussion platform www.dep.tn (Tunisian chapter) and www.dep-youth.org. Experts from the on-line discussions will be integrated in the final recommendations.

More information on the event can be found at www.dep.tn/blog

or contacting the organizers at menayouth@unido.org

UNRWA

Photo Competition for Young Palestine Refugees

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) held a photo competition for young Palestinian refugees.  The photo competition was made possible through funding from the European Union. The theme of the competition was 'Change the Picture’, and it provided youth with the opportunity to showcase different viewpoints of life as a Palestinian refugee. The top three photographs, all submitted by refugees in the Gaza Strip, were announced at East Jerusalem’s Yabous Cultural Centre last week. The exhibition also showcased a selection of additional entries portraying the lives of Palestinian refugees across all of UNRWA’s fields of operation: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the occupied Palestinian territory.

You can read the full story and see the winning photos here: http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=1493

Youth Employment Network

Videos by Young People on Decent Work

Young people deserve a chance to access decent work. Their voices should be heard, their creativity engaged, and their rights respected. As a result of the video contest “Decent work for youth” launched in March 2012, by the ILO Youth Employment Programme, over 200 extraordinary videos were received with employment-related stories of young people from different parts of the world. These videos were included in a global database that is now publicly available.  Videos can be searched by language, country and a wide array of youth employment topics, including conditions of work, informality, unemployment, job search, internships and migration. 

Watch the stories of young people by searching videos at: http://www.decentwork4youth.org/?sec=top

Ask an Entrepreneur Webinar Series (Nov 7 – Dec 5)

Join YEN’s "Ask an Entrepreneur" Webinar Series aimed at young people who are starting up or are thinking about starting a business. It is a chance for the young people to speak with a phenomenal line up of young entrepreneurs who have built successful companies and have valuable experiences to share. Every Wednesday at 14:00 GMT, YEN will showcase one young entrepreneur. For example, Garrett Gee who created a web app that 10 million people downloaded in the first year and convinced Lady Gaga and Google to invest in it will tell you how to effectively start and grow your business with social media.

Register for this free event at:

http://yenmarketplace.org/experts-corner

Free E-Coaching Programme for Young Entrepreneurs

YEN invites all young entrepreneurs (max. 35 years) who have started or are in the process of starting a business to apply for the YEN E-Coaching programme. E-coaches provide business support and advice to young entrepreneurs and accompany them through the process of setting up their business and finding solutions to specific business challenges.

Apply by Monday, December 3, 2012 at:

http://www.yenmarketplace.org/request-coach

UNIC Panama City, Panama

Panama observes UN Day

On 28 October, approximately 80 young Panamanian ambassadors from the country’s nine provinces met in the capital for four days of intense debating at the first Model UN in Panama.

Students used dialogue to negotiate solutions for onerous challenges, such as the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the illegal transport of nuclear material; food security and nutrition; modern slavery and human trafficking; and the Afghanistan crisis, including the country’s future after NATO departs.

Professionally and with dedication, the delegates’ collaborations exemplified their capacity and commitment.

Romulo Roux of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) advised “It’s up to you to continue what you started here. Peace is an everyday thing”.

Ministry of Education’s Lucy Molinar encouraged the youth to continue in public life as “the world is full of people making bad choices because those that make good ones are not willing to speak”.

The UN Information Centre in Panama city and the Ministry of Education supported the MFA in this endeavour.

UNIC Belarus

Belarusian students explore equality

On 15 October, the UN Information Office in Belarus and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law announced a national student essay contest to expand the values and principles of respect for and protection of human rights.

Participants are asked to formulate a concrete problem in the area of either “Gender Equality” or “The Rights of Vulnerable Groups” that exist in Belarus, and propose ways and methods of addressing it.

The laureates of the contest will be awarded prizes and diplomas from the UN Office in Belarus and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute. Contest winners will receive the opportunity to participate in international educational programmes on human rights that will be conducted by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in 2013. The award ceremony for the winners of the contest will be held in Minsk on Human Rights Day, 10 December.

UNIC Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

Let’s Fight Racism: Young people in Trinidad and Tobago commit to tolerance and respect

As part of the United Nation’s Let’s Fight Racism (LFR) campaign, and in commemoration of United Nations Day, the UNIC Port of Spain led an interactive talk session with primary school children (ages 8 to 10) at the Siparia Public Library in Trinidad and Tobago on 19 October 2012.  The UNIC National Information Officer spoke about the United Nations’ history and work, and its commitment to human rights; and about the importance of tolerance and respect for all persons, regardless of race or other differences.  At the end of the session all participants agreed to be careful against stereotyping, to be more tolerant towards others, and to take on the fight against racism. 

UNIC Windhoek, Namibia

Putting the UN in your life

The UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Windhoek commemorated UN Day on 24 October within UN4U week, from 22-25 October, with an outreach campaign on “Ways in which the UN Makes a Difference in Our Everyday Life”.

Focusing on the five areas of humanitarian relief; poverty and sustainable development; climate change; education; and HIV/AIDS, UNIC held awareness-raising activities on the roles and contributions of the UN in Namibia. Also, UNIC distributed to students 1,000 water bottles branded with the UN logo.

UNIC chose the water bottles to promote the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and provided tips on the reduction of waste and conserving resources.

UNIC Almaty, Kazakhtan

UN Day at KIS

On 24 October, the United Nations Office in Almaty celebrated UN Day at the Kazakhstan International School (KIS). The KIS-organized event welcomed representatives of UN agencies based in Kazakhstan who spoke to the students about the history, mission and work of the United Nations.

Students had an opportunity to showcase their knowledge of the United Nations by answering contest questions for prizes of folders, notebooks and UN calendars.  UN representatives, in turn, enjoyed a “parade of nations” and songs performed by the school’s choir. A video message from Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and a music video of Beyoncé performing “I was here” were also shown during the celebration.

Global Partnership for Youth Employment

Ideas4Work: Youth Employability and Entrepreneurship in Africa Conference, 4-6 December, 2012.

The conference is being convened by members of the Global Partnership for Youth Employment (GPYE). The three-day event is designed to engage 150 regional stakeholders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors who are supporting youth employability and entrepreneurship efforts across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The conference will focus on gathering and disseminating evidence-based research on youth employment and entrepreneurship outcomes in Africa. It will also present examples of effective programmes and policies to help address the challenges young people face as they make their transition into the workforce.
the conference will convened around four major themes: effective employability skills development and job placement interventions for youth; proven strategies for meeting the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged youth; new models for promoting positive youth participation in development, decision-making, and policy dialogue; and what works in supporting sustainable youth entrepreneurship.
 
To register for the conference, please click here. The registration webpage will be updated regularly, so please check back often for the most recent information. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact the GPYE Secretariat at gpyeconference@iyfnet.org.  

King Abdullah II fund for Development

Abdullah II Award for Youth Innovation & Achievement

Application for the King Abdullah II Award for Youth Innovation & Achievement is now open. Application deadline is December 31st, 2012. Young social entrepreneurs across the Arab countries are encouraged to apply.

To know more about the program and to start filling out the form please visit the website www.KAAYIA.org

WORLD BANK

World Development Report 2013: Jobs

Jobs stresses the role of strong private sector-led growth in creating jobs and outlines how jobs that do the most for development can spur a virtuous cycle. The report finds that poverty falls as people work their way out of hardship and as jobs empower women to invest more in their children. Efficiency increases as workers get better at what they do, as more productive jobs appear, and as less productive ones disappear. Societies flourish as jobs foster diversity and provide alternatives to conflict.

The report says “The youth challenge alone is staggering. More than 620 million young people are neither working nor studying. Just to keep employment rates constant, the worldwide number of jobs will have to increase by around 600 million over a 15-year period”.

To access the report and other supporting materials please visit: http://econ.worldbank.org/external/default/main?contentMDK=23044836&theSitePK=8258025&piPK=8258412&pagePK=8258258

Measure of America

One in Seven: Ranking Youth Disconnection in the 25 Largest Metro Areas

Measure of America recently released its new report “One in Seven: Ranking Youth Disconnection in the 25 Largest Metro Areas”. The report examines 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in school and not working—5.8 million youth or an astonishing one in seven young people nationwide. The report reveals startling gaps among neighborhoods, cities, and racial and ethnic groups in the United States of America. While the Boston metro area tops the list with the lowest overall rate of youth disconnection at 9%, Phoenix ranks last at 18.8%. African Americans have the highest rate of youth disconnection, a startling 22.5%, nearly twice the national average, and women generally fare better than men.

Find the report at: http://www.measureofamerica.org/one-in-seven/