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Hello everyone. Thanks for being with us here bright and early on Saturday morning.
I want to kick it off with the reflection question.
I want you to imagine how you felt back when you were a kid.
What did you dream of? What were your hopes? What were your ideals?
Who were your role models? Who inspired you?
And who helped you become the person that you are today?
What opportunities did you have access to?
Ten years ago, I was 19 and I was rollerblading with a friend
and I was thinking about my teenage years and my youth and my childhood
and how privileged it was for me to grow up having access to opportunities
and to have people who asked me my opinion
and who gave me an opportunity to find my voice.
And I launched an online community in an international organization
called Taking It Global
and we’ve created a community with over hundreds and thousands of youth
from all around the world who are connecting with one another,
supporting one another,
and it’s about providing that access to opportunity and exposure
and possibility and encouragement
to create change in local communities around the world.
And so several years ago I was selected to become a young global leader.
And earlier, this... well, last year in 2009, we formed a youth taskforce
and many young global leaders
are very committed to helping empower young people.
And as we think about this whole global redesign initiative,
we formed the youth taskforce
and our mission was really to provide input from young people
into the global redesign initiative.
So we launched online consultations
reaching thousands of young people from all around the world
through all of our different networks.
Over 30 of us YGLs we came together,
we ran online consultations on the six different pillars of the GRI,
you know, the pillars are expanding.
And, in addition to the online consultations, we ran town hall meetings,
we created a tool kit for decision makers
whether it be from the media, from business, from government,
to work with groups of young people
and ask them what are the challenges that you’re facing,
what recommendations do you have for world leaders,
and what can you do,
what action can you take in your community to make a difference?
And so I’m here to show some of those highlights with you.
From Columbia, they talked about how important it is to have exchange
and how you can’t hate someone that you get to know as a friend.
From Mongolia they talked about having a global anthem.
What about at every global conference and event?
We all sing one song as one community and one humanity.
In Jordan, they talked about having safe places for kids to play,
how important it is for kids to be able to go outside and have safe places to play.
In China they talked about the importance of China being a bridge to other cultures
and being more open.
In Israel they talked about what if we can get community service hours
to have access to free education?
In Rwanda they talked about investment and youth opportunities.
Can we allocate funds to give young people support to develop their own projects
and to have access to infrastructure to organize meetings and campaigns?
In L.A. they want internships.
They want access to job, creation skills through access to internships,
whether it be four months or six months.
In London, the United Kingdom, what they talked about
was how important it is to have voice and how important it is to focus on prevention.
Don’t just solve the problems after they’ve blown up.
Try to anticipate and focus on prevention whether that be related to health.
Also in Cincinnati, what do they talk about? *** prevention.
Emphasis on prevention was huge.
For sustainability in Canada a huge statement
was that water should not be polluted as an act of warfare.
Also in Lebanon, can we invest in renewable energies
and think about new ways to actually have more sustainable energy?
In Tokyo, Japan, nine year olds were talking about not polluting our oceans and rivers.
Enhancing security is all about investing in opportunity
in Mexico What the young people talked about
was how unemployment, when it rises, people turn to crime
as a way to survive for themselves and for their families.
So we need to focus on addressing issues of unemployment among youth.
And in Nigeria they really highlighted the importance of issues of corruption
and naming and shaming those who are corrupt.
And so my question to you here today is are you listening?
Are you listening to the young people in your lives
whether it be in your family, in your organizations, in your community?
Are you asking them, what do you think, what do you care about?
Are you becoming a bridge for intergenerational dialogue and partnership?
My other question to you is, are you enabling?
One of the ideas we came up with is the five percent for the future campaign
which is actually to invest five percent of funding
towards 50 percent of the world’s population, youth led solutions.
We’re also developing a tool kit for decision makers
to be able to work with youth more effectively
and we hope to launch that in Tanzania
the next young global leader summit in a few months from now.
Finally, we’re calling upon world leaders
to just think more broadly about their youth engagement strategies.
How are you partnering with youth?
And we just invite you to imagine a world where young people everywhere
are actively engaged and connected
and shaping a more peaceful, inclusive, and sustainable world.
Thank you.