Global Changemakers - The Blog

Young people don’t speak with one voice

2009-07-02T12:26:16+00:00

There are certainly more opportunities than ever for young people to be involved in their communities, and most Australians would probably think they have been given an effective a voice. But that’s not the case. “Young people” is a buzz term thrown around about as much as “the disadvantaged” or “marginalised” — and not always for the right reasons.

Ironically, since the International Year of Youth in 1985, Australia has been increasingly driven by a culture of tokenism when it comes to youth participation. That year, young people went from being teenagers or adults participating in society as individuals, to being part of a social category that labelled them until they turned 25.

From this came pressure for corporations and government to be seen to be engaging with young people. Tokenistic programs popped up everywhere designed to tick off flashy corporate social responsibility strategies or to fill pages of glossy annual reports with young smiling faces.

But the result has rarely been meaningful participation. Few such programs have delivered genuine dividends. Meaningful youth participation doesn’t result from corporate junkets and government consultations. Young people need to take the initiative if their contribution is to be valid. They must be treated as legitimate participants in contemporary debates, not — as government and business tend to see them — as a group that needs these special programs.

The categorisation of “young people” may have led to more opportunities, but it has diminished their participation at the “big table” by creating a culture of “waiting your turn at the little table”.

The effectiveness of youth participation and engagement cannot be measured by the number of people involved in these special programs. It must be measured by the extent to which youth involvement can drive and influence real change.

Professor Roger Hart at the City University of New York has written of a “Ladder of Youth Participation” — dare I say in the post-Latham era, something like a “ladder of opportunity”.

It starts with manipulation, decoration and tokenism in the way youth engagement takes place before reaching the dizzy heights of shared decision-making and the initiation of change.

There are obvious limits though. In the United States, Brian Zimmerman was elected mayor of Crabb, Texas, when he was only 11 years old. Zimmerman was too young to vote but old enough to be mayor. As mayor, he eventually passed a law introducing a minimum age of 18 for the office — and he died from a heart attack, aged just 24.

Despite such aberrations, the point remains: young people should be valued as everyday citizens and given opportunities to participate in meaningful ways. And just as there is a burden of responsibility on us all to ensure the opportunities are meaningful, there is a similar burden on the young to show their involvement is worthwhile and actually producing dividends.

Too often the temptation is to agree to attractive titles that might disguise the tokenistic nature of the role, whether this be on a local youth council or an advisory board to a bank. The real question is: how many of these opportunities are actually about driving change?

This is not to deny the existence of meaningful activities that should be encouraged: young people running for local council, starting organisations and businesses or being involved in ventures such as setting up a local recycling campaign.

But too often the involvement of young people results in no change whatsoever (unless it is driven by the young people themselves).

Yesterday I had the honour of being recognised as the 2009 Young Victorian of the Year for my work in encouraging meaningful youth participation across the community. In the year ahead I hope to do more than simply encourage more young people to be involved in their communities — because of the pressures of work and study, many can’t be — but to refocus youth engagement towards helping young people discover their passions and create change.

I believe the young are the most powerful catalyst for change in society, whether this be in the way their schools run or in the direction their country takes. Creating meaningful opportunities for them to discover their passions and to support them in driving change is the challenge for all of us.

Written by Thom Woodroofe. Tom is the 2009 Young Victorian of the Year and founder of Left Right, Australia’s first independent and non-partisan think-tank for young people.

This article was first published in The Age

Africa Youth Summit 2009: The Youtube series

2009-06-29T10:37:31+00:00

Even though the Africa Youth Summit 2009 is over, the voices of the participants can still be heard online. Dozens of the participants voiced their opinions on what the biggest issues are that the African continent is facing right now.

Below you can find a couple of sample videos; if you wish to see them all, follow this link to access the entire playlist on YouTube.

HOME - a film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

2009-06-24T06:00:15+00:00

Here’s one for those of you interested in the environment: earlier this month, Yann Arthus-Bertrand premiered his film Home. The film, composed almost entirely of aerial shots, is a visually breathtaking document of our planet and how we threaten its ecological balance. Definitely well worth checking out (ideally in high resolution - the images are worth it)!

GHF 2009: Greetings from Geneva

2009-06-23T11:47:37+00:00

Hi (unfortunately I can greet you in any other funky language). My name is Charlie and I’m one of the five Global Changemakers in Geneva at the moment. Kofi Annan, on behalf of the Global Humanitarian Forum, has asked for four youth from the front line (I’m just here to help) to talk about the fight against climate change.

We kindly obliged. From South Africa, Myanmar, Canada and India the climate witnesses have come.

By front line we mean those experiencing the effects of climate change not in 2050 or 2100 but today. These people are very rarely given a voice unaltered by the media or misconceptions. Tomorrow we will get the chance to hear what is happening and also what they, as activists, are doing about it. Rolling up their sleeves and breathing deeply, Happy, Linn, Lavanya and Lauren prepare to blow the statistical cobwebs from the minds of the 400 incredibly influential people who await tomorrow’s stories. Their talks will be up on youtube and the text versions available here soon.

Enjoy… though I’m not sure that’s the right word.

Announcing the Fourth Annual Global Youth Summit

2009-06-23T06:00:13+00:00

We’re happy to announce that on 1 August the application process will start for the Fourth Annual Global Youth Summit.

Following from Greenwich 2007, Guildford 2008 and Guildford 2009, we will bring together 60 young community activists and social entrepreneurs aged 16-19. The application process will be open for three weeks, from 1-21 August. The event itself will take place in England from 22-28 November. Six participants will go on to the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2010.

Watch this space for more information as the application process gets closer!

Gifted students from 50 countries share ideas

2009-06-21T19:58:58+00:00

Youth science website builds international ties between gifted students in math and science by bringing them together to share ideas and meet up with people from different countries all around the world.

Cogito, the free online website gave the opportunity for pre-university students to express their love for math and science in a very easy way, through the spider web. The website was found and created in the centre for talented students in John Hopkins University and by a grant that was given by the John Templeton Foundation. Also, the website holds online seminars and interviews with famous scientists and experts

Linda Brodi, the director of the studies centre for talented students and the cogito organization for talented students stated that choosing the name of the site was done by a special group of students. And said that the name is quoted from the saying of the famous French philosopher René Descartes: sum cogito ergo. Which means: (I think then I am here, I exist).

As for the goal of the website, Linda stated that it’s “to motivate the interest of the students and inspire them to look forward to a career in science. The site explains the concept of mathematics, science, and many more. Also, you can add the interests and verbal skills that the students can improve day by day.”

Here is the website: http://www.cogito.org

Most of the articles and materials are for everyone but participating in seminars requires registration.

CAPs Friday 12/6/09

2009-06-12T01:00:30+00:00

We have witnessed an astonishing number of conflicts, even just in the last 12 months. The Gaza War, Pakistan’s Campaign against the Taliban, Mexico’s Drug War and the Russian-Georgian Crisis are among the most prominent events, but certainly not the only conflicts. There is also terrible violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Colombia and Somalia, alongside the more systemic issues of terrorism and nuclear proliferation that affect all nations. Of course, there are also tensions as a result of state actions, such as the cases of Iran, North Korea and Zimbabwe. Ideological hatred of the “other” is something that often pervades and sustains these conflicts, sometimes to the extent that the two sides lose focus of what the fight originally concerned, let alone if it was justified.

We also often hear people speak about dialogue in more hopeful terms; just last week, the world heard the President of the United States, Barack Obama, addressing the Islamic World from Cairo, Egypt, on how exactly America and Islam could coexist harmoniously. However, often we hear about how these initiatives have limited success, not necessarily because of lackluster commitments on either side but simply because the methods employed are not necessarily wide-ranging enough. Though they are good steps forward, we cannot expect change to come from the top at all times. For problems as deeply rooted as hatred and intolerance, sometimes it is necessary for everyone to take responsibility.

As such, as concerned global citizens, Lubna and I felt we needed to take some actions ourselves to aid the sincere intentions of statesmen. Peace and cooperation between all people is something we desire as much as they do, but since we ourselves do not have the same resources as politicians, we had to be a little bit creative in how we could do our part. We came to the conclusion that music is something that unites the human race, for its enjoyment is present in all parts of the globe, albeit if it is diverse in form as much as all the people of the Earth. Further, the processes of creating and listening to music are intimate and thoughtful experiences that can communicate to a person emotionally and intellectually at the same time. In an era where globalization and the internet has made the ability to transport all types of commodities across all types of borders easy, we decided that music could serve as a strong medium for this message.

Thus, we founded Jamming for Peace. In cooperation with http://www.kompoz.com, the Global Changemakers Network and the British Council, we aim to gather musicians from diverse backgrounds and styles to create an album dedicated to a cultural dialogue for peace. Starting now, we ask musicians to submit an application form before August 1st, 2009. Then, starting September 21st, 2009, the project will officially begin and run until June 2010.

Jamming for Peace Application Form 2009-2010

Please follow all instructions as thoroughly as possible and e-mail your completed application to both Jkashgari@gmail.com and lalzaroo@googlemail.com.

1. Please provide biographical information about yourself, including but not limited to:

Name:
Date of Birth:
Age:
Nationality:
E-mail:

2. Please write a short (200 words, + or – 50 words maximum) summary of why you are interested in working on this project.

3. Please submit a 5-10 minute (+ or – 1 minute) video audition showcasing your musical talents. If it is inconveniently difficult to upload a video for you, it is fine to only submit an purely audio audition. What you play can be your own composition(s) or a cover. You must either upload it to http://www.youtube.com and include a link to your video in this application or include it as an attachment when you e-mail this application to us.

THE REBELS ARE FIXING OUR WORLD

2009-06-11T23:35:19+00:00

THE REBELS ARE FIXING OUR WORLD

Gillion Bosman

Africa needs to find its own solutions; a sentiment echoed at last years World Economic Forum (WEF) and addressed this year by South Africa’s new President Jacob Zuma. This beautiful continent of ours rich in diversity and wealthy with our abundance of natural resources. The big challenge is how do we as a continent begin to grow amidst a global financial crisis that affects us the worst?

It is common knowledge that Africa did not contribute to the financial mess we have found ourselves in but we are going to be the hardest hit. The International Monetary Fund predicts that frontier economies such as that of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya will be the first to feel the effects of the crisis as they have stronger economic links with other regions. These countries have had to stop its plans to borrow money creating a void in their abilities to deliver on the needs of their people. The financial crisis will devastate Africa’s plan to pull it self out of poverty and also meet the Millennium Development Goals.

How do we begin to think of addressing this immediate crisis when we are still reeling from the affects of colonialism? The answer has always been obvious but after seeing the Eddy, Esnatt, Barry Mohammed, George and Zillah in action at an event hosted by the British High Commissioner here in South Africa I knew that young people are part of the solution. They spoke eloquently of the issues they have managed to represent at the WEF and also of how Eddy put disability on the agenda for the participants at the WEF. We have the potential to bring about change and to take the words of Nelson Mandela “sometimes it falls on a generation to be great” and to bring about change. Young people are able to engage with older people and our peers, create new forms of governance and also creatively address the challenges we face. We are already activating change through our community action projects and will continue to do so.

With the recession forcing young people from the African Diaspora to return home after seeing that the grass is after all not greener on the other side, we will have a wealth of human capital to help us waiver this storm and also build Africa.

It is important to remember that we did not cause this crisis; the crisis was caused by greedy investors living in affluence in the Western world. They have broken our world system and perhaps we need to start thinking about “a new world”.

WEF Africa: Global Changemakers at the Africa Davos Debates 2009

2009-06-11T13:28:14+00:00

Watch four of the five Global Changemakers at the WEF Africa answer this question: Will all of Africa benefit from the World Cup 2010?

Global Changemakers: looking back - and looking forward

2009-06-09T13:04:03+00:00

2009 has been something of a watershed year for Global Changemakers: not only have we already had about as many events this year as took place in the entire previous lifespan of the programme. We also launched the Community Action Projects, the CAPs, developed and run by the Global Changemakers in their own countries and communities.

I started work on the programme in August 2007, and it’s been quite dizzying to see its development since. With events that brought together people from the very first youth forum (Greenwich 2007) to the latest, Global Changemakers has taken great steps towards bringing together the different participants and strands. And it has remained exciting and inspiring to work on the programme with the participants. Especially in these post-financial crisis times, it’s great to be able to support young people who have the passion, the intelligence and the commitment to make a real difference, not just locally but regionally and globally.

Seeing the videos from the African Youth Summit 2009, I’m sure that the Global Changemakers will keep surprising, touching inspiring me. Here’s to taking this even further!