1. Youth Flash
UN Home | UN DESA DSPD - Youth
May 2012
In this issue of Youth Flash, you will find the following:
Feature Article:
UN WOMEN Australia’s Youth Delegates tell us about her work on issues concerning rural women in Australia and
participation in CSW!
News from UN offices
Youth in Action
Publications
Committee. I then served on the executive of the YUNWA
Feature Article: Canberra Committee as Engagement Manager in 2010 and 2011.
I have been interested in the area of gender equality for some
UN WOMEN Australia’s Youth time. Studying social policy, government and international
Delegates tells us about her work in relations in my undergraduate degree at the University of
preparing for and attending the Sydney inspired my interest in the rights of women and the
importance of ensuring that opportunities are available equally
Commission on the Status of Women for women as they are for men. I strongly believe that women
(CSW) should have the right to make choices about their life – to have a
career; to have a family; to have either or both; to follow a
by Lauren Burke, 2012 Australian youth delegate to CSW religion or not; to choose a partner. Most importantly, whether
we are talking about developed or developing countries, women
I was very lucky to be selected as UN Women Australia’s Youth must be supported, and institutional structures need to allow, for
Delegate to the 56th Session of the Commission on the Status of women to make genuine choices.
Women (CSW56), held at the UN Headquarters in New York for
two weeks from February 27th 2012. This year’s Youth Delegate role was also especially relevant to
me, as the priority theme of CSW56 was “the empowerment of
This was the second time that UN Women Australia has included a rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication,
young woman, with the specific task of representing young development and current challenges”, and I grew up in a rural
Australian women, in their CSW delegation. The process for area of Australia. I am very aware of the fact that women, young
selection included a written application in which prospective women and girls in rural areas often face additional and different
delegates discussed their vision for the role of Youth Delegate, and challenges to their metropolitan counterparts, and these must be
how they hoped to represent, consult and engage with young recognised and addressed in order to ensure access to
Australian women before and after CSW56. opportunity and wellbeing.
I first became involved with UN Women Australia when I was Prior to heading to New York, I conducted consultations with
involved in the establishment of the Young UN Women Australia young women throughout Australia to give me a better
(YUNWA) Canberra Committee, a voluntary organisation initiated understanding of their key issues of concern, and to inform my
by UN Women Australia to provide a vehicle for young women in representations at CSW56. I was particularly keen to consult
Australia to become more involved in the fundraising and with young women in rural areas given the CSW56 priority
advocacy efforts for the UN Women Australia National theme. I set up an online survey to better enable young women

2. Youth Flash Newsletter May 2012
in rural areas to contribute to the consultation and I also travelled of backgrounds, from different communities, from all corners of
to some rural centres to talk to young women in those areas the globe - working for the betterment of women in their
directly. communities. This includes in ways that may be considered
small and localised, but that are significant for the women that
The young Australian women in Australia that I spoke to raised are the beneficiaries. I will also seek to pursue some of the key
three key issues. Firstly, there was significant concern about the issues raised by the young women I spoke to in Australia, such
continuing incidence of domestic violence. Young women in rural as the need for positive image and diet messages in the media,
areas were particularly concerned about the difficulties in their and the need to equip more young women with the skills and
trying to access sensitive, culturally appropriate and ‘private’ support they need to recognise, address and overcome situations
services when some towns are so small. Secondly, young women of domestic violence.
throughout Australia continue to feel significant pressure from the
media in regards to body image, and many remain confused by the CSW56 was an incredibly inspiring opportunity for me to meet
mixed messages regarding dieting, exercise and general health. and network with a huge number (approximately 4500!) non-
Finally, young women from rural Australia emphasised the need to governmental delegates, as well as government officials from
ensure that services such as technology, communication or Member States who are working to promote gender equality, to
education are not only available but affordable for rural learn about the situation for women in other areas of the world,
communities. and the successes and challenges that have been experienced. I
am very grateful to have had the opportunity to attend CSW and
see how the important this forum is for women from all over the
world to meet, collaborate, discuss issues facing women at a
global perspective, and learn from the experiences of others. I
was truly inspired by so many individuals at CSW, and I have
great hopes for the future given the dedication, motivation and
genuine will demonstrated to further the global effort to improve
the livelihoods of women everywhere.
News from UN Offices
Inter-Agency Network on Youth
Development
The Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development is delighted
to inform you of its newest member: UNRWA –the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and
I was able to share the concerns of young Australian women with Works.
other CSW delegates from throughout the world while I was in
New York. In particular, the Young Women’s Caucus provided an UNRWA provides assistance, protection and advocacy for
excellent forum to discuss these matters with other young women, some 5 million registered Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon,
and use the views I had collected to contribute to the drafting of Syria and the occupied Palestinian territory, pending a solution
the Young Women’s Caucus oral statement read in the formal to their plight.
session of CSW and the drafting of the Agreed Conclusions.
UNRWA recently held a youth conference (19-20 March 2012)
Now that I am back in Australia, I am planning to talk to as many which you can read more about below.
young women as I can about my experience at CSW56. It is very
important as we work towards progressing gender equality that we UN Permanent Forum on
remember that there is a world of women out there who can share
stories, learn from one another and empower others. As a first step, Indigenous Issues kicks off!
I plan to give feedback to all of the women who participated in my
consultations about how I represented their contributions and what The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has kicked off
I learnt from others. for its eleventh session in UN headquarters, New York, running
from 7-18 May. Check out the website for more information on
I also want to share some of the amazing and inspirational stories I what the forum does as well as how you can attend side events
heard about women - including many young women, from all sorts in NY.
www.un.org/youth 2

3. Youth Flash Newsletter May 2012
http://social.un.org/index/IndigenousPeoples/UNPFIISessions/Elev The 2nd Subregional Forum for Youth Participation in Policy-
enth.aspx Making or East and North-East Asia
Dates: 22-24 August 2012
UN Commission on Population and Venue: University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China (UNNC)
Development Organizers: UN ESCAP Subregional Office for East and North-
East Asia, in collaboration with the Model UN Association of
The UN Commission on Population and Development took place UNNC
in New York from 23-27 April for its 45th session under the theme
‘Adolescence and Youth’. Purpose:
- Sharing experiences and reviewing good practice of existing
Find more information and statements here: collaboration between youth organizations and policy-making
http://www.un.org/esa/population/cpd/cpd2012/cpd45.htm bodies.
- Identifying ways to channel youths’ perspectives to policy-
making by bringing policy makers and representatives of youth
UNRWA organizations together and discuss strategies for effective
collaboration.
Engaging Youth: Palestine Refugee Youth in a We are looking for:
Changing Middle East Up to 40 youths (26 years old and younger) representing youth
organizations in the 6 member States of North-East Asia
On March 19-20 2012, UNRWA convened a conference funded by (China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan,
the EU and hosted in Brussels by the Government of Belgium. Mongolia, Republic of Korea and Russian Federation).
“Engaging Youth: Palestine Refugee Youth in a Changing Middle
East” saw world leaders and opinion makers, civil society and For more information:
Palestinian refugee youth come together to discuss their concerns http://northeast-
in a frank, open manner. The youth seized the space, making clear sro.unescap.org/meeting/2012/Youth_Forum.html
that they were more than equal partners in the discussions. There
was consensus among host and donor countries, private partners, International Labour Organization -
NGOs and UN agencies on the need to work with and for youth.
The event provided new clarity to UNRWA’s programming vision. ILO
At the conference’s close, Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi
unveiled an agenda of ten commitments. Many of these build on Youth Employment Forum from 23-25 May 2012,
work that the Agency is already doing; others will enhance ILO headquarters, 23-25 May, Geneva,
UNRWA’s ability to incorporate youth views. Switzerland
To learn more about UNRWA’s work on youth and the ‘ten The Forum will gather around 150 young people from around
commitments’ see below links or contact Liaison Officer, Amira the world, who are engaged in promoting decent work for youth.
Hassan, email: hassan94@un.org This will provide a platform for young people to share their
experiences and views on the current employment situation, as
http://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/2012042914138.pdf well to discuss successful initiatives that create more and better
http://www.engagingyouth.eu/index.php jobs for youth. The discussions will focus on the youth
employment crisis, youth transition to decent work and
ESCAP – Economic Social partnerships for more and better jobs for young people. There
will also be a marketplace setup where innovative youth
Commission for Asia and the Pacific employment initiatives and good practices are shared and
discussed.
ESCAP Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia will be
organizing its second Subregional Youth Forum in China this year. Leading up to the Forum, 46 national youth employment events
It is part of the Office's 3-year project to bring youths in direct are being organized to discuss the youth employment challenge
dialogues with governmental policy-makers so that youth voices at country level. The outcome of these results will also be
are better reflected in national policies. Eligible young people (26 discussed at the Forum in Geneva.
years and younger) based in the 6 countries of North-East Asia are
encouraged to apply before 25 May 2012. More information on the Youth Forum:
http://www.ilo.org/global/meetings-and-events/events/youth-
Call for Application - Deadline 25 May 2012 employment-forum/lang--en/index.htm
www.un.org/youth 3

4. Youth Flash Newsletter May 2012
employment stakeholders can come to find or exchange
More information on the national events: innovative ideas, expertise, advice and partnership.
http://www.ilo.org/employment/areas/youth-
employment/WCMS_176020/lang--en/index.htm YEN Manager Susana Puerto Gonzalez says, “We (at YEN) face
continuous requests to broker partnerships, to facilitate
Youth Employment – Good Practices information exchange, to provide expertise, and to encourage
youth participation. The Marketplace is our answer to these
The ILO Youth Employment Programme has launched a call for requests and a fun interactive way of exchanging with young
nominations of good practices that have proven effective in people, youth development practitioners, and policymakers.”
promoting decent work for young people. All nominations will be
evaluated based on 6 specific criteria: (i) relevance, (ii) efficiency, One of the website’s features is the What’s Working?
(iii) coherence, (iv) novelty, (v) sustainability and (vi) replicability. competition, where members can submit a successful youth
The persons in charge of the top good practice from each region employment project for a chance to get their project published
(Africa, Americas, Arab States, Asia, Europe) will be invited to the and win a cash prize! The deadline to enter is May 25, 2012.
ILO Youth Employment Forum taking place in Geneva,
Switzerland, from 23 to 25 May 2012. To participate in this call for The website also features an online mentorship program for
nominations, you are kindly requested to complete, by 11 May young entrepreneurs, a live webinar series, and a Trading Center
2012 before 12.00 Pm GMT (a second phase will be launched as of where opportunities are posted daily.
12 May 2012), an online registration form that can be found on the
Good Practices on Youth Employment platform. For further Visit the website at: http://yenmarketplace.org
information please visit: http://youthpractices.org
UNCDF
Upcoming Deadline for What’s Working?
Competition YOUTHSTART UNCDF
Given the need for more effective youth employment YouthStart, a UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
interventions, the Youth Employment Network (YEN) and the programme funded by The MasterCard Foundation aims to reach
ILO's Youth Employment Programme (YEP) have partnered up to 200,000 youth in Sub-Saharan Africa with demand-driven
create the What's Working? competition to find out what financial services and non-financial services, in particular
approaches are working, and share them among the youth savings and financial education, by 2014. To date, US$7.2
employment community. The competition is hosted on YEN’s new million have been awarded to 10 Financial Service Providers
website, the Marketplace. (FSPs) in 7 different countries, of which US$1.3 have been
disbursed, to design, deliver and scale up demand-driven youth
The What’s Working? competition highlights success stories. financial services and youth-centric programmes in partnership
Organizations who have had positive results from their youth with Youth Serving Organizations.
employment projects can submit an entry. The winning projects
will have their project published on the Marketplace and receive a During the first quarter of 2012, the 10 FSPs participating in
monetary award. YouthStart, launched their pilot tests, reached more than 7,000
youth with savings accounts, and provided financial education to
The competition is free to enter. Just fill out the online entry form more than 2,500. To ensure the financial services offered by the
and get your friends and supporters to vote for you! The deadline FSPs participating in the programme are protective of the rights
to enter is May 20th, and voting closes on May 24th at noon. of Youth, UNCDF sponsored a training on Youth Client
Protection Principles delivered by Reach Global. Finally,
Feel free to visit and explore the website at UNCDF published its paper “Policy opportunities and
http://yenmarketplace.org. To see the competition page, go to constraints to access Youth financial services” and released it at
http://yenmarketplace.org/whats-working-competition. the Child and Youth Finance International Summit in
Amsterdam, where the UN Secretary General released a
Youth Employment Network statement in support to programmes like YouthStart.
More information please visit our website at
www.uncdf.org/en/youthstart
The Youth Employment Network launches The
Marketplace website
The Youth Employment Network (YEN) has launched a new UNAIDS
website. The Marketplace is an online space where youth
www.un.org/youth 4

5. Youth Flash Newsletter May 2012
Young people present first-ever ‘crowdsourced’ Debi will begin by working with YUNGA on its biodiversity,
recommendations for AIDS response in UN history forests and oceans initiatives as well as other key activities
related to nutrition and hunger.
New youth-led recommendations to shape UNAIDS Secretariat’s
work on HIV and young people See more at: http://yunga-youth.weebly.com/debi-nova.html or
join YUNGA Facebook at: www.facebook.com/people/Yunga-
On April 24th, youth leaders from around the world presented a set Un/100000379705546
of youth-defined recommendations that will guide the UNAIDS
Secretariat’s work on HIV and young people through 2015. Based UN Department of Public
on the voices and views of more than 5000 young people from 79
countries, the recommendations resulted from CrowdOutAIDS, an Information - DPI
innovative youth-led policy project initiated by UNAIDS.
In June, the UN will bring the world together in Rio de Janeiro,
Leveraging crowdsourcing technology and new media tools, the Brazil, to discuss and decide how to accelerate action for a
five-month project enabled young people to fully participate in the healthier, more equitable and more prosperous world for all. The
development of strategic recommendations for the UNAIDS “Rio+20: The Future We Want” platform invites people around
Secretariat’s youth agenda. the world to take part in a global conversation to share their
hopes, aspirations and ideas on ways to build a future that
The full set of recommendations are presented in Strategy promotes prosperity and improves people’s lives without further
recommendations for collaborating with a new generation of degrading our planet’s natural environment. It is up to all of us
leaders in the AIDS response—the first-ever “crowdsourced” to build our future, so join the global conversation and tell us
AIDS-related document in UN history. The recommendations, what future you want! The contributions will be compiled and
together with an internal organizational assessment on HIV and turned into a multimedia exhibition to be shown at Rio, on the
young people, will inform the UNAIDS Secretariat’s New Internet and then around the world. #futurewewant
Generation Leadership Strategy.
Contact person: Mikaela Hildebrand, hildebrandm@unaids.org http://www.un.org/en/sustainablefuture/conversation.shtml
Links
CrowdOutAIDS Youth in Action
Strategy recommendations for collaborating with a new generation
of leaders in the AIDS response
WFUNA
World Health Organization - WHO The World Federation of United Nations Associations
(WFUNA) will be holding a youth seminar for their youth
On April 25, the Lancet published a series of reports on the health network on 8-11 August in New York, New York. All youth
of the largest generation of young people in history. Four reports members of United Nations Associations (UNAs) affiliated to
analyse the importance of adolescent health from a life-course WFUNA are invited to apply. This youth seminar will train
perspective; examine how social determinants influence adolescent youth on how to implement a youth project on the MDGs in
health; present evidence from prevention trials, and present their communities, and requires a draft one-page overview on
available data from multi-country datasets on 25 suggested core the project in their application. The training includes sessions on
indicators. Among the authors, leading academicians and project management, fundraising and proposal writing, and a
practitioners in the field of adolescent health are WHO and communications strategy for in-country projects.
UNICEF staff
Contact person: Jane Ferguson, WHO fergusonj@who.int Information and details on the application process are available
at http://www.wfuna.org, with a participation fee of USD
120.00.
Food and Agricultural Organization -
FAO For questions on the youth seminar, write to
youthseminar@wfuna.org, or youth@wfuna.org.
FAO is pleased to announce Debi Nova has been appointed as
Ambassador of Youth and United Nations Global Alliance Women's Business Group
(YUNGA) and joins fellow musicians Anggun, Fanny Lu, Lea
Salonga and other celebrities in supporting the United Nations and Foundation
partners to educate, inspire and promote action of children and
young people in undertaking social and environmental initiatives. A GANAR Suriname combats youth unemployment
www.un.org/youth 5

6. Youth Flash Newsletter May 2012
Supported by Partners of the Americas, the Women’s Business It is an unparallel overseas summer opportunity which cultivates
Group Foundation in Suriname started in January 2012, the A Global Citizenship and provides Service Learning experience for
GANAR Suriname program. excellent youth from all round the world. There will first be a 3-
day Global Development Youth Summit at Xian followed by a
A Ganar, which means “ to win”, combats the serious problem of 3-week Service Learning at multi-cities.
youth unemployment, by utilizing soccer and other team sports to
help youth, ages 16-24, find jobs, learn entrepreneurial skills, or re- The event initiator and main sponsor organization Education
enter the formal education system. Association for China Tomorrow (EACT), a US 501 (C) (3)
The core of this program is the application of sport lessons to non-profit organization, primarily planned to endorse the US
personal skill development essential to employment training. To Presidential "100,000 Strong" Initiative and the 2011 IYF was
win on the sports field, one needs to understand, practice, and officially included in "UN's International Year of Youth"
promote the core values (August 12, 2010 to August 11, 2011). Generous rewards and
of respect, teamwork, discipline, communication, focus on grants are provided!
results, and continued self-improvement.
These skills form the foundation of the A GANAR methodology, as For more detailed information, please visit EACT website at
“employability skills” that are learned on the field and in the eactus.com and also feel free to email to Program Manager
classroom. Amanda Ding at amanda.ding@eactus.com.
In Suriname sixty youth are being trained in the A GANAR 2012
program.
Publications
Contact: drs.Lilian M. Wiebers: lilianwiebers@gmail.com
YPARD
MultiKulti Youth Radio - youth voice
has a choice! A new study released by the YPARD highlights the
skills and competencies required by the new
In Macedonia, the Center for Intercultural Dialogue (CID) in young professional in agricultural development
Kumanovo is running a youth radio that is created by multicultural
group of youngsters. It is called MultiКулти Youth Radio. It is YPARD - the Young Professionals’ Platform in Agricultural
first bilingual youth radio in Macedonia and one of the kind in Research for Development (YPARD) is a network of young
Kumanovo. professionals active in agricultural development, worldwide. A
recent study has examined the employability of young people in
MultiКулти Youth Radio is part of the MultiКулти Youth center the agricultural sector.
in Kumanovo, Macedonia that is run by CID. One of the main
focuses of CID is to work with intercultural issues. The youth radio A revised set of skills is needed by young graduates to address
is an effective way to bring youngsters from different background new challenges in agriculture. YPARD has contributed to the
together and have their own say. Youth radio project is very debate on change in formal higher agricultural education with
strongly addressing intercultural issue, but doing it through music the study “Working towards a new generation of Young
– through something energetic and engaging. Professionals in ARD”. This study focused on tertiary level
education, asking young professionals to identify those
The radio officially started in January 2012. The content is being competencies that they were not adequately provided adequately
kept fresh for the listeners – with program of 24 hours a day, 7 during their education. This study differs from previous studies,
days a week something new is provided by every visit. by focusing on the perspective of young professionals
themselves.
Connect and enjoy with MultiКулти Youth Radio
(http://multikulti.mk/radio/) UNIDO
2012 US-China International Youth Article: Jobs for Tunisian youth: "We must have a
vocation and take risks"
Festival
http://www.mdgfund.org/story/jobs-tunisian-youth-we-must-
The 2012 US-China International Youth Festival (2nd IYF) will
have-vocation-and-take-risks
take place at Xian, Beijing and multiple other cities in China
between July 1 and 30, 2012.
www.un.org/youth 6