The Youth Forum will be held at the United Nations on
Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006 as an exciting prelude to the day-long
conference on the following day, "Our Common Humanity in the Information Age".
Young leaders in various fields will be invited to engage in an
interactive forum whose goal is to provide input into the values and
issues to be discussed the next day. Six youth representatives will
take the results of Tuesday's youth deliberations into Wednesday's
panel discussions, alongside of experts, celebrities, UN officials, and
outstanding members of various disciplines.
An interactive webcast may be available to several colleges for remote participation.
This event is being organized by the Friends of the United Nations,
under the auspices of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
in partnership with the World Association of United Nations
Associations, the Young Professionals for International Cooperation,
the One World Youth Project, and others.
Our Common Humanity in the Information Age
This conference will gather top-level speakers, including Nobel
laureates and some of the leading thinkers and innovators of our times.
They will focus on the values that unite our common humanity and how
these values may be expressed globally through the Millennium
Development Goals, empowered by the rapidly developing new information
and communication technologies.
On-line outreach and media coverage will call attention to the United Nations as a forum for "Our Common Humanity" and the need to focus, as a global community, on facing common threats through shared values.
Youth Leaders
Six invited youth leaders will serve as the facilitators for the Youth Forum.
Their role will be to present the subject of the panel in which they
will be participating. They will steer the breakout session on that
topic, listen deeply to the contributions of the participating students
and represent the voices of youth at the "Our Common Humanity"
conference, on the following day.
Delegates
Participants in the Youth Forum will consist of approximately
60-100 college students and young professionals who have demonstrated
leadership areas of global concern.
Those invited will include:
- College students engaged in political or social issues
- Campus newspaper editors and Internet communicators
- Young leaders in business and technology
- Youth NGO leaders
- International students
Special Note: Although the Youth Forum will have limited number of delegates, many more young people will be invited to attend the Nov. 29th conference.
Objectives
The purpose of the Youth Forum is to facilitate:
- Youth voices input into "Our Common Humanity in the Information Age"
- Youth activists focusing on UN values & agendas
- Creative exchange of ideas, solutions, projects
- Opportunities for new ideas to emerge
- Networking with one another
- Networking with leaders in various fields
- An electronic forum reaching university students and the general public
- Informing students and alumni about UN issues through college news media.