‘Youth Day’ Launched at the World Summit on the Information Society

December 10 to Focus on Youth

Geneva, December 3, 2003 — What is important to young people in the Information Society? How can ICTs be harnessed for development goals? These are the questions that will be answered in a series of workshops, roundtables, media activities and launches on "Youth Day," December 10, 2003.

Coinciding with the International Day of Human Rights celebrating the 55th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, Youth Day will open with a high-level “Youth, Human Rights and the Information Society” workshop on the use of ICTs for peace-building in post-conflict areas.

Coordinated by the Youth Caucus of the World Summit on the Information Society, Youth Day workshops will cover such diverse themes as e-learning, labour issues, human rights, digital solidarity and cultural diversity. Also featured will be National Information Society Youth Campaigns, the launch of the Youth Creating Digital Opportunities (YCDO) Action Plan, the GKP Youth Awards Panel Showcase and a Youth Caucus Press Conference.

“Youth Day is not simply a series of workshops, but a celebration of the projects and partnerships undertaken over the last two years. It will affirm the central role of youth in the information society, as a driving force behind technological entrepreneurship and innovation,” said Youth Liaison, Alex Fielding.

Youth Day complements an ambitious slate of youth activities at the Summit

• The focal point of youth activity, the Youth Hub exhibition space will showcase a variety of dynamic projects of the Youth Caucus and the Youth Creating Digital Opportunities (YCDO) Coalition. The presentation area will have scheduled events ranging from book launches to workshops to video screenings, focusing on the 11th of December. It will be located on the “Enhancing Human Capacity and Empowerment Street” of the ICT4D Platform, next to the UNESCO Pavilion.
   
• The Youth Media Programme will bring together young journalists from the British Council, OneWorld, and Webtrotteurs des Quartiers to report live at WSIS via print, radio, television and internet media outlets.
   
• The National Information Society Youth Campaigns will be highlighted in a workshop, exhibition in Youth Hub, bilateral meetings with respective Heads of State/Delegation, and the screening of a WSIS Youth Video on the campaigns.
   
• The Open Space Workshop on Youth Empowerment will discuss in small groups how we act upon the youth paragraph in the Declaration of Principles to “empower youth as learners developers, contributors, entrepreneurs and decision-makers” in the Information Society.
   
•  “Young Women and ICT4D,” an interactive roundtable organized by the Youth and Gender Caucus, will highlight strategies for mainstreaming gender perspectives in ICT4D with a focus on young women.
   
• The final workshop, WSIS Phase II: The Road to Tunis, will be a look back on Phase I by the Youth Caucus and a look forward to Phase II by a team of Tunisian youth, who will present national level activities and their leading vision for the future. 

Youth (aged roughly 14-28) participating in WSIS are organized as a ‘Caucus.’ The Youth Caucus has been active at in the WSIS Preparatory Process since July 2002 on a policy, project and on-line community level. The Youth Caucus is facilitated by TakingITGlobal as part of the Youth Creating Digital Opportunities (YCDO) initiative.
Contact: Nick Moraitis, Facilitator of the Youth Caucus (nick@takingitglobal.org), or Alex Fielding, Youth Liaison, WSIS Executive Secretariat, (alex@takingitglobal.org)