Bangkok — Allowing for migration—both within and between countries—has the potential to increase people’s freedom and improve the lives of millions around the world, according to the 2009 Human Development Report launched here today.
We live in a highly mobile world, where migration is not only inevitable but also an important dimension of human development. Nearly one billion—or one out of seven—people are migrants. The Report, Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development, demonstrates that migration can enhance human development for the people who move, for destination communities and for those who remain at home.
“Migration can be a force for good, contributing significantly to human development,” says United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark. “But to realize its benefits, there needs to be a supportive policy environment as this Report suggests.”
Indeed, migration can raise a person’s income, health and education prospects. Most importantly, being able to decide where to live is a key element of human freedom, according to the Report, which also argues that large gains in human development can be achieved by lowering barriers and other constraints to movement and by improving policies towards those who move.
Read rest of report on the UNDP website
Monday, October 5, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
International Youth Day
August 12 every year marks the International Youth Day (IYD). A celebration geared towards engaging young people across the world. IYD began on the 17th of December 1999 when the General Assembly, in its resolution 54/120, endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, August 8-12th, 1998) that the 12th of August be declared International Youth Day.
Since it began in 1999, IYD has been celebrated using various themes and current issues. These themes and issues are listed below.
IYD 2008 - Youth and Climate Change: Time for Action
IYD 2007 - Be seen, Be heard: Youth participation for development
IYD 2006 - Tackling Poverty Together
IYD 2005 - WPAY+10: Making Commitments Matter
IYD 2004 - Youth in an Intergenerational Society
IYD 2003 - Finding decent and productive work for young people everywhere
IYD 2002 - Now and for the Future: Youth Action for Sustainable Development
IYD 2001 - Addressing Health and Unemployment
First Observance of International Youth Day 2000
This year’s theme is “Sustainability: Our Challenge. Our Future”. The theme explores the idea that “sustainability” not only refers to maintaining environmental balance and renewal, but it also encapsulates three facets of life: the environment, society and the economy. The actions and inactions of mankind over the years have had adverse effects on the environment. The impact of climate change as a result of green house effect cannot be overemphasized.
As the environment slowly but steadily deteriorates, it becomes more obvious that there will be inevitable consequence for future generations. Water bodies are dry up; the sun’s heat level is increasing; the glaciers or ice on the Antarctic are melting; the sea level is elevating; fisheries population is diminishing; the cost of food prices is increasing.. As these environmental threats become more serious, we are confronted with our future survival and livelihoods as young people..
As young people, we need to take responsibility for reducing if not eliminating the effect of environmental hazards. According to an article published in the March 2009 edition of Newsweek, Earth had a life span of about 5,000 years, but due to environmental damage the planet is now expected to survive for only 850 years.
Fellow young people, our future has been jeopardized! We need to unite to put our shoulders to the wheel by helping our respective governments, civil society organizations, donor agencies, and others deal with this seemingly insurmountable challenge.
Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND), a youth-based NGO in Ghana, has environmental sustainability as one of its key thematic areas of work. We engage young people to learn, understand and contribute to finding solutions to the world’s problem.
SYND is calling all governments, civil society organizations, faith-based organizations and development partners to provide aid, assistance, opportunities and/or platforms for young people. Channeling youths’ talents, energy, and resources into environmentally sustainable activities is an indispensable way of ensuring success in this campaign. Young people have been labeled as “the energizers of today and the holders of tomorrow”!
According to former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, “the future promise of any nation can directly be measured by the current prospects of its youth.” In the same vein, I want to state that the future sustainability of this planet can be directly measured by the level of engagement of our youth. The Management and Executive Members of SYND take this opportunity to salute young people all over the world and to wish them a happy celebration.
Fellow young people, let’s engage in sharing, learning, creating and trading information through the cross-pollination of ideas and ideals as future leaders for our respective homes, communities, societies, nations and the world as a whole.
Long live the positive dreams and aspirations of young people!
Long live our world!
Best regards.
Chibeze Ezekiel
Executive Director
Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND)
+233 244 967931
synd.ghana@hotmail.com
Since it began in 1999, IYD has been celebrated using various themes and current issues. These themes and issues are listed below.
IYD 2008 - Youth and Climate Change: Time for Action
IYD 2007 - Be seen, Be heard: Youth participation for development
IYD 2006 - Tackling Poverty Together
IYD 2005 - WPAY+10: Making Commitments Matter
IYD 2004 - Youth in an Intergenerational Society
IYD 2003 - Finding decent and productive work for young people everywhere
IYD 2002 - Now and for the Future: Youth Action for Sustainable Development
IYD 2001 - Addressing Health and Unemployment
First Observance of International Youth Day 2000
This year’s theme is “Sustainability: Our Challenge. Our Future”. The theme explores the idea that “sustainability” not only refers to maintaining environmental balance and renewal, but it also encapsulates three facets of life: the environment, society and the economy. The actions and inactions of mankind over the years have had adverse effects on the environment. The impact of climate change as a result of green house effect cannot be overemphasized.
As the environment slowly but steadily deteriorates, it becomes more obvious that there will be inevitable consequence for future generations. Water bodies are dry up; the sun’s heat level is increasing; the glaciers or ice on the Antarctic are melting; the sea level is elevating; fisheries population is diminishing; the cost of food prices is increasing.. As these environmental threats become more serious, we are confronted with our future survival and livelihoods as young people..
As young people, we need to take responsibility for reducing if not eliminating the effect of environmental hazards. According to an article published in the March 2009 edition of Newsweek, Earth had a life span of about 5,000 years, but due to environmental damage the planet is now expected to survive for only 850 years.
Fellow young people, our future has been jeopardized! We need to unite to put our shoulders to the wheel by helping our respective governments, civil society organizations, donor agencies, and others deal with this seemingly insurmountable challenge.
Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND), a youth-based NGO in Ghana, has environmental sustainability as one of its key thematic areas of work. We engage young people to learn, understand and contribute to finding solutions to the world’s problem.
SYND is calling all governments, civil society organizations, faith-based organizations and development partners to provide aid, assistance, opportunities and/or platforms for young people. Channeling youths’ talents, energy, and resources into environmentally sustainable activities is an indispensable way of ensuring success in this campaign. Young people have been labeled as “the energizers of today and the holders of tomorrow”!
According to former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, “the future promise of any nation can directly be measured by the current prospects of its youth.” In the same vein, I want to state that the future sustainability of this planet can be directly measured by the level of engagement of our youth. The Management and Executive Members of SYND take this opportunity to salute young people all over the world and to wish them a happy celebration.
Fellow young people, let’s engage in sharing, learning, creating and trading information through the cross-pollination of ideas and ideals as future leaders for our respective homes, communities, societies, nations and the world as a whole.
Long live the positive dreams and aspirations of young people!
Long live our world!
Best regards.
Chibeze Ezekiel
Executive Director
Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND)
+233 244 967931
synd.ghana@hotmail.com
Youth-Led Development and Volunteerism: Making a Case for Sustainable Development
August 12th has been declared by the United Nations and is thus recognised by the international community as International Youth Day. Its purpose is to pay tribute to the contributions of young people in the development of their countries and also the world at large. It also serves to create a forum for discussion about issues surrounding both youth and development.
The theme for the International Youth Day 2009 was: “SUSTAINABILITY: Our Challenge. Our Future.”
Youth development issues continue to be one of the most significant and pressing issues of our era. Among the many issues that confront the youth of today are those such as high risk of HIV/AIDS, unemployment and underemployment, lack of education and skills, social exclusion, limited infrastructure to meet youth interests, civil war, unstable political environments and the struggle for identity.
The World Program of Action for Youth (WPAY) lists ten areas to be considered as of pressing priority. These areas cover a wide range of issues relevant to the youth of today, including: education; employment; hunger and poverty; health; environment; drug abuse; juvenile delinquency; leisure-time activities; girls and young women; participation; globalization; Information and Communication Technologies (ICT); HIV/AIDS; youth and conflict; and intergenerational relations. For the governments of developing countries, bringing these priority areas into their decision-making and policy development in order to promote youth development has proven to be little more than lip service. Countries such as Ghana can do little more than wait whilst the implementation of policies such as Ghana's National Youth Policy continue to be postponed
Young people form a major proportion of population segments in developing countries. This has major implications for policy formulation, resource allocation and the development of youth programs. Unfortunately, more often than not in the development arena, young people are perceived as a 'problem in development', rather than a 'resource for development' that can act as catalysts for the development of their countries. Thankfully, despite this prevailing attitude in some forums, the positive contributions of young people continue to illustrate the fact that if young people are given the required platform and resources they can “be the change” that we want to see.
Youth Led Development (YLD) initiatives are community service projects planned and implemented by young people under the age of 25 (although some African countries tend to define the age category to which ‘youth’ applies in a very broad sense, for example from 10 to 35). Such initiatives are generally grass-roots, small in size, and carried out mostly, but not exclusively, by youth volunteers. Resources are more often than not limited but YLD initiatives make important impacts in promoting human and/or community development.
Ghana is just one country that benefits greatly from YLD initiatives. It is important that this volunteerism is promoted, recognised and sustained, through initiatives such as the National Award scheme and events such as International Youth Day, and the annual Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) held in America. Nevertheless, further incentives are necessary to ensure that young people are motivated to offer their youthful exuberance for the purpose of development.
In his victory message after the United States elections, President Barack Obama remarked that “[Change] can’t happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other.” The Obama campaign highlighted its belief in youth by promising a US$4,000 education credit to students engaging in 100 hours of community service a year. This shows a practical approach towards promoting social entrepreneurship and aiming to reduce blame placed on the state for the all societies woes.
By investing in YLD, unemployment and underemployment among young people can be reduced. In an era where most employers want to see relevant working experience as part of their recruitment policy, volunteerism can be a stepping-stone towards meeting some of these demands. The youths involved in YLD learn invaluable project management, fund-raising and leadership skills, build self-esteem and self-confidence, all of which hugely boost their future employment chances. Additionally, promoting YLD can be seen as a cost effective approach toward promoting sustainable development as most young people value experience and knowledge rather than hard cash salaries, which many employers may not be ready to offer. Moreover YLD is a means of promoting human security towards sustainable development. Young people, who may otherwise fall into activities such as armed robbery and prostitution, find themselves doing something worthwhile that promotes their personal and community’s development.
Operational challenges facing youth structures and organisations are numerous, such as a lack of independence in terms of decision-making, lack of recognition coupled with the challenge of being seen as a credible organization, and lack of resources (both human and financial). One way of mitigating these limitations would be through the support of youth focused organisations by corporate institutions and governments. Similarly, there is a need for fellowship programmes that build the capacity of young people from regions like Africa as well as mentoring programmes that promote adult (experts)-youth engagement. Developments such as these would serve as a great step towards building the capacity of young people for them to make outstanding performances in their entrepreneurial activities.
Most operational challenges that confront young social entrepreneurs can be overcome by well-planned pilot processes, public-private partnerships and an enabling YLD and volunteering policy framework. The invaluable resource of youth needs to be recognized and invested in, in the same way in which other resources are. For development to be sustainable, we need to ensure that the next generation is enabled to participate in every step of the development process. However, rather than relying solely on top-down development and implementation of policy, we as youth can prove our worth by acting, caring, and making a stand.
Michael Boampong,YPWC
The theme for the International Youth Day 2009 was: “SUSTAINABILITY: Our Challenge. Our Future.”
Youth development issues continue to be one of the most significant and pressing issues of our era. Among the many issues that confront the youth of today are those such as high risk of HIV/AIDS, unemployment and underemployment, lack of education and skills, social exclusion, limited infrastructure to meet youth interests, civil war, unstable political environments and the struggle for identity.
The World Program of Action for Youth (WPAY) lists ten areas to be considered as of pressing priority. These areas cover a wide range of issues relevant to the youth of today, including: education; employment; hunger and poverty; health; environment; drug abuse; juvenile delinquency; leisure-time activities; girls and young women; participation; globalization; Information and Communication Technologies (ICT); HIV/AIDS; youth and conflict; and intergenerational relations. For the governments of developing countries, bringing these priority areas into their decision-making and policy development in order to promote youth development has proven to be little more than lip service. Countries such as Ghana can do little more than wait whilst the implementation of policies such as Ghana's National Youth Policy continue to be postponed
Young people form a major proportion of population segments in developing countries. This has major implications for policy formulation, resource allocation and the development of youth programs. Unfortunately, more often than not in the development arena, young people are perceived as a 'problem in development', rather than a 'resource for development' that can act as catalysts for the development of their countries. Thankfully, despite this prevailing attitude in some forums, the positive contributions of young people continue to illustrate the fact that if young people are given the required platform and resources they can “be the change” that we want to see.
Youth Led Development (YLD) initiatives are community service projects planned and implemented by young people under the age of 25 (although some African countries tend to define the age category to which ‘youth’ applies in a very broad sense, for example from 10 to 35). Such initiatives are generally grass-roots, small in size, and carried out mostly, but not exclusively, by youth volunteers. Resources are more often than not limited but YLD initiatives make important impacts in promoting human and/or community development.
Ghana is just one country that benefits greatly from YLD initiatives. It is important that this volunteerism is promoted, recognised and sustained, through initiatives such as the National Award scheme and events such as International Youth Day, and the annual Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) held in America. Nevertheless, further incentives are necessary to ensure that young people are motivated to offer their youthful exuberance for the purpose of development.
In his victory message after the United States elections, President Barack Obama remarked that “[Change] can’t happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other.” The Obama campaign highlighted its belief in youth by promising a US$4,000 education credit to students engaging in 100 hours of community service a year. This shows a practical approach towards promoting social entrepreneurship and aiming to reduce blame placed on the state for the all societies woes.
By investing in YLD, unemployment and underemployment among young people can be reduced. In an era where most employers want to see relevant working experience as part of their recruitment policy, volunteerism can be a stepping-stone towards meeting some of these demands. The youths involved in YLD learn invaluable project management, fund-raising and leadership skills, build self-esteem and self-confidence, all of which hugely boost their future employment chances. Additionally, promoting YLD can be seen as a cost effective approach toward promoting sustainable development as most young people value experience and knowledge rather than hard cash salaries, which many employers may not be ready to offer. Moreover YLD is a means of promoting human security towards sustainable development. Young people, who may otherwise fall into activities such as armed robbery and prostitution, find themselves doing something worthwhile that promotes their personal and community’s development.
Operational challenges facing youth structures and organisations are numerous, such as a lack of independence in terms of decision-making, lack of recognition coupled with the challenge of being seen as a credible organization, and lack of resources (both human and financial). One way of mitigating these limitations would be through the support of youth focused organisations by corporate institutions and governments. Similarly, there is a need for fellowship programmes that build the capacity of young people from regions like Africa as well as mentoring programmes that promote adult (experts)-youth engagement. Developments such as these would serve as a great step towards building the capacity of young people for them to make outstanding performances in their entrepreneurial activities.
Most operational challenges that confront young social entrepreneurs can be overcome by well-planned pilot processes, public-private partnerships and an enabling YLD and volunteering policy framework. The invaluable resource of youth needs to be recognized and invested in, in the same way in which other resources are. For development to be sustainable, we need to ensure that the next generation is enabled to participate in every step of the development process. However, rather than relying solely on top-down development and implementation of policy, we as youth can prove our worth by acting, caring, and making a stand.
Michael Boampong,YPWC
Monday, August 17, 2009
MDG 8 in Real Practice towards Promoting Sustainable Development
YPWC MDG Clubs, which are operated in junior high schools in Ghana, serve as communication hubs, resource centres and inspiration for engaged youth and their communities. These clubs provide youth with the facts, the advisory support and financial resources to make their action plans a reality rather than just a dream. This programme seeks to equip youth with the right tools to gauge what their communities need and to motivate others to take on responsibilities and roles that are necessary to achieve the MDGs and to eradicate poverty in Ghana.
This year one of the functional YPWC MDGs Clubs in Ghana joined the rest of the world to mark the Global Youth Service Day (GYSD). The event was hosted at Bunkpurugu in the Northern Region from the 24th to 25th of April, 2009. The theme for the event was “Empowering youth to plant trees for environmental sustainability”.
The GYSD is an annual event that recognizes and celebrates the contributions of youth towards sustainable community development through voluntary service and the contributions made by the community (public, private, and nonprofit sectors) to empower young people. The day also provides a platform for young people in the world to take practical action that benefit their communities.
The two-day programme included a capacity building session and a tree planting session. There were a total of 25 participants at the event. Godwin Yidana and Gayle Pescud, both of YPWC, facilitated the event with the help of Matthew Nyannube Yosah, the YPWC MDG coordinator for the area. The programme was funded by Youth Service America.
The objectives of the event were:
1. To inspire participants to take action locally and to empower them for effective community development by equipping them with communication, leadership, time management and report writing skills.
2. To construct a tree nursery in the community that provides young people with seedlings to encourage tree planting, which is in line with the MDG 7 to ensure environmental sustainability.
ACTIVITIES:
The first day of the event, 24th April, marked the first day of the GYSD celebration which featured a capacity building seminar facilitated by Godwin Yidana and Gayle Pescud, both of YPWC.
The capacity building workshops were focused on four important topics:
• Leadership and time-management skills
• Report writing
• Communication skills
• Goal setting
The second day of the event, 25th April, started with a reflection exercise that provided participants with an opportunity to share with the group what they had learned on the previous day. They also had the opportunity to present to the group assignments that they had been given the previous day. This was a very practical exercise in presentation and communication skills.
After the reflection exercise, participants worked together to create a tree nursery to care for the seedlings that were bought. The tree nursery was successfully constructed and 65 seedlings (five Tig seedlings and 60 Mango seedlings) were cared for there. These seedlings have since been transplanted around the school compound in town.
IMPACT OF THE PROGRAMME
Though the programme was only two days long, it did make a lasting impact in the lives of the youth who participated.
The programme provided the participants with a platform to learn effective communication skills and how to apply those skills in their work. They learned about effective communication and group dynamics and then applied the lessons the following day during the construction of the nursery.
The programme also empowered members with leadership and time management skills. During the capacity building seminar, members were taken through a series of important leadership, time management and effective communication exercises.Some of them had the chance to stand before other people to do a presentation for the first time in their lives.
OTHER NEWS
In a related development, our Global Sister School partners-, Step by Step, a community education nonprofit in the USA, hosted an “Earth Day Block Party” at the Big Ugly Community Center on Saturday, 18th April, 2009 as part of their activities to mark GYSD. Over 80 young people took part in discussions, presentations and community service activities relating to water sanitation. Community members and youth worked on service activities, including a stream clean-up and planting trees on stream banks.
Youth and volunteers waded through a creek for a half mile and picked up 236 lbs of garbage and 75 lbs of recyclables. Volunteers planted over 150 riparian trees, including silky dogwood and tulip poplar. Volunteers also interviewed 10 people and recorded their thoughts about local water issues.
The programme was coordinated by Mathew Walker, YPWC’s Global Sister School Programme Coordinator and funded by a Learn and Serve Project FLOW grant through the West Virginia Commission for National and Community Service and a West Virginia DEP Stream Partners Grant. Project FLOW is a water education program that uses hands-on service learning to introduce environmental concepts, stewardship, and leadership development. Project FLOW teens will use the information collected from the interviews about weather issues to create videos that highlight community concerns.
The Global Sister School/Youth Groups programme of YPWC has its basis on Goal 8 of the MDG-Developing Global Partnership for Development. The main objective of the programme is to connect and network with youth groups around the world in order to build relationships and work towards social and economic development and the realization of the Millennium Development Goals. Schools and groups in African countries connect with, communicate and tackle issues with groups and schools from other continents, sharing best practices and implementing action projects related to the MDGs. The main activities of the organization include classroom and youth programming, internet based communication, and project development and management.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Millennium Campaign Releases New Stand Up and Take Action Video
Young People,
Have you seen the new STAND UP AND TAKE ACTION Video? It's :here and remember to join the rest of the conscious world to STAND UP and TAKE ACTION to make poverty HISTORY!
Have you seen the new STAND UP AND TAKE ACTION Video? It's :here and remember to join the rest of the conscious world to STAND UP and TAKE ACTION to make poverty HISTORY!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Achievements in International Development Award ‘09
Know somebody who's made a real difference to the fight against global poverry? Why not nominate them for the DFID/Marie Stopes/Guardian 'Achievements in International Development Award'. Closing date Friday 24th July - http://bit.ly/BHZp2
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Monday, July 6, 2009
Young People Move to Save the Planet: Flow Day of Service
An Earth Day Block Party, hosted by Step by Step http://www.stepbystepwv.org/ a community education nonprofit, was held at the Big Ugly Community Center on Saturday, April 18th from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Students from Logan, Lincoln and Kanawha counties were joined by AmeriCorps VISTAs and
FLOW (Future Leaders of Watersheds)- http://www.stepbystepwv.org/blogs/ - participants from four sites gave short presentations about water to the public. Ric MacDowell, Director of the EPA Alternative Wastewater Demonstration Project, gave a presentation about septic tanks and wells, then led a brainstorm session that determined two pressing water issues. Youth and adults broke into two discussion groups then reported their recommendations back to the group. Community member Dale Kennedy participated in the event. “It was quite educational. I took away from it a few tid-bits about my water treatment system that I will be using.”
After an outdoor lunch, community members and youth worked on service activities, including a stream clean-up and tree planting on stream banks. Youth and volunteers waded through the creek for a half mile and picked up 236 lbs of garbage, and 75 lbs of recyclables. Mark Buchanan, with the Conservation Agency, directed the riparian (stream bank) tree planting project where volunteers planted over 150 riparian trees, including silky dogwood and tulip poplar. “It was very good thing for the community,” Kennedy commented. “A lot of the trees we have now are dying, and we needed some new life in this area.” Volunteers also interviewed 10 people and recorded their thoughts about local water issues. Project FLOW teens will use this information to create videos that highlight community concerns.
Project FLOW is a water education program that uses hands-on service learning to introduce environmental concepts, stewardship, and leadership development. This event is funded by a Learn and Serve Project FLOW grant through the West Virginia Commission for National and Community Service and a West Virginia DEP Stream Partners Grant. The WVDEP’s Make it Shine Program provided supplies for the cleanup and trees were provided by the Conservation Agency. The Block Party is a combination event to celebrate FLOW Day of Service, Global Youth Service Day and Earth Day. Participating Project FLOW sites are the Big Ugly Community Center, Harts Primary, Omar Elementary, and East End Family Resource Center. Please contact Matt Walker at 304-855-5402 or mwalker@stepbystepwv.org for more information about Project FLOW or to learn more about the Big Ugly Community Center.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Freedom of Movement with Restrictions
A few weeks ago I was reading a newspaper item in the March 21st 2009 edition of the Daily Graphic. In the course of reading the article, I realized a big and yet timely challenge has been thrown out by the Secretary General of the West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF), Mr. Oumar N’dongo. Mr. N’dongo has called on governments of member states of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) to ensure the full implementation of the regional protocols on the freedom of movement people and goods, which was adopted some decades ago.
Prior to reading this, I had participated in TakingITGlobal’s ‘Live Chat on Youth Migration’, which was held in commemoration of the 2008 International Migrants Day celebration. The chat was sponsored by Young People We Care (YPWC), a youth-led organization founded by myself and based in
International migration has arguably become one of the most topical issues of today’s global order. Migration has been facilitated in the 21st century by 'globalization' and the global development disparities of economic development and human development. In recent times, climate change and conflict have also resulted in an increase in migration.
There is currently a new way of thinking that is emerging on the migration and development agenda. Remittances sent through official channels were estimated to have reached US$318 billion in 2007; nearly US$240 billion of these funds went to developing countries. Remittances now exceed Official Development Assistance and can be seen as a new way of financing development and advancing the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. However this relies on remittances being well managed and invested in sustainable forms, such as education and health.
In the past, the idea that migration could contribute to development was overshadowed by the negative implications such as “brain drain.” However, recent studies have shown that there are positive contributions of return migrants and people in the diaspora. Brain drain can now be turned into “brain gain,” provided that migration is well managed.
While considering the prospects of regular migration in the context of international migration, I began to also think of this in the context of sub-regional migration. In the case of a sub-region such as ECOWAS, we have been able to work towards improving migration because we respect the human rights of immigrants, regardless of their status. In retrospect, I realize that we have not fully implemented the protocols on freedom of movement of people and goods to promote development.
It has become a well-known fact that immigration officials as well as some customs and security officials extort money from immigrants who are not aware of their rights. However, those immigrants who are aware of their rights are not safe from harassment either. For example immigrants who try to exercise their rights are intentionally delayed by unnecessarily long queues. The recent massacre of 44 Ghanaians in the Gambia underscores the fact that there have not been credible attempts to promote the freedom of movement protocol.
It was exciting to learn from the live chat that the ICRMW calls on countries to “ensure the rights of migrants in every country regardless of their legal status, inter alia, guaranteeing equal treatments and working conditions par with nationals.” I can – as I’m sure can you – imagine the utopian society that will be created if all human beings are treated with equality and the human rights of immigrants are respected regardless of origin or color.
When there are global forums promoting dialogues on migration, it becomes embarrassing for actors from Africa to call on western countries to change trade strategies and also treatment meted out to immigrants. As a regional body, ECOWAS heads of states cannot work towards promoting migration within its own territory, yet they always want to call on other countries to open up their borders and markets for trade and other activities. We have not been able to deal with our own challenges, which should be a priority for us. There is a wise saying that “before you tell someone ‘let me pull the mote out of your eye’, you should first cast out the beam of your own eye.”
There is a need to promote the protocol on freedom of movement and goods to promote migration within the sub-region. This would provide sustainable jobs to young people who otherwise would consider more dangerous illegal migrating options. Today, migrants – who, more often than not, are youth - are drowning while attempting to cross from North Africa into
One of the first steps towards reducing the rate of abuse of migrant rights is to educate would-be immigrants on their rights. The government’s openness in dealing with corruption should not only target political offices but should also look carefully into prosecuting public officials that promote corruption through extortion and bribery at the borders of the nation.
It is very important to note that the current global economic crises calls for much greater regional cooperation within the sub-region. This cooperation would promote trade and development since some western countries are adopting protectionism approaches towards protecting their own economies.
Changing people's perception of migration and immigrants might be the biggest hurdle of all. I thought the xenophobic attacks in our sister country of South Africa was a great reason to think about this issue. I don’t know if ECOWAS has considered creating strategies towards avoiding the kind of horrible situation that occurred in
In fact, communities that welcome these people and make the best use of their skills often benefit from them. Most migrants continue to look for jobs that indigenes would never have considered doing. Albert Einstein is a pretty good example of the benefits and contributions that a foreigner can bring to a nation.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Pragramatic Youth Unemployment Solutions needed in Philippines
Last year i visited Manila in the Philippines as a youth delegate for the Global Forum on Migration and Development.
During my one week stay it was obvious to see young adolescents engaged in prostitution. I began to question some of Philippinos whether prostitution has been legalized in the Philippines and the feedback was "no!"
I think the Philippines government will need to do more to tackle the youth unemployment situation to solve this crises and also empower young females. As some people told me when i asked them the reason why there is so much prostitution in Manila, they mentioned that there are less job opportunities for young people.
I think mere negligence of responsibilities like this has a wild rippling effect as in cases of high rate of HIV/AIDS cases and increase gender inequality just to mention a few. In this case no amount of migrant remittances can solve or cure diseases like HIV/AIDS if the government does not take pragmatic steps to solve this issue despite the fact that the Philippines is one of the world's leading recipient of migrant remittances.
In Ghana we have a saying that if you empower a woman you empower the nation but if you empower a man then you have just empowered an individual. This analogy connects with the fact that adolescents who will grow into womanhood sometime to come will be the likely people to stay for longer hours with children at home as compared to men. Thus they are likely to agents of change for both male children and females children.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Gobal Cooperation: needed more than ever before
In the recent weeks a lot of topical issues have arisen that relate to migration and development. The G20 Summit, the lost of hundreds of lives of immigrants which were fear dead off the cost of Libya and the announcement by CNN that in United States, 5.1 million jobs have now been lost since the beginning of 2008.
The job loss in the
My deepest sympathy for the hundreds of irregular migrants from Africa who lost their lives off the coast of
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Live on Twitter
Young People We Care has join the online community, TWITTER.
Twitter which has been described as the next killer app on the internet is a social networking tool that allows users answer the question 'what are you doing now?'
As simple as it seems the tool can be used as a publicity tool for YPWC's work and aspirations.
With a growing population of users , the possibilities are limitless.
You can read more about twitter and how you can put it to positive use here.
Follow YPWC on twitter here and let's go tweeting!
Twitter which has been described as the next killer app on the internet is a social networking tool that allows users answer the question 'what are you doing now?'
As simple as it seems the tool can be used as a publicity tool for YPWC's work and aspirations.
With a growing population of users , the possibilities are limitless.
You can read more about twitter and how you can put it to positive use here.
Follow YPWC on twitter here and let's go tweeting!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Twitter (I)
Hello Peeps,
Many thanks for doing what you do -the world needs many more people like you.
Just thought to let you in on Twitter in case you are not using it yet or like me, you are considering it with skepticism.
Twitter is about the hottest social networking tool and it seems to have a strong global appeal and NEWSWEEK magazine has called it the next KILLER APP on the internet.
Twitter now provides and may continue to provide a growing potential audience for users - which may be groups and or individuals.
How does it work?
Twitter is a micro-blogging tool,that combines the global reach of networks like facebook, myspace etc. with the ease and convinice of use over many application plstforms. It simply allows you an avenue to answer the question what are you doing right now ? -that is what the advertisement on its homepage says :).
In truth you are allowed 140 characters to tell the world whatever you want to tell it - a brief announcement, post a link, recomend something and so on as ones creativity permitts.
Your friends on twitter can follow your updates using many platforms including: third party websites e.g. NaijaPulse.com; twitter client (still in beta); mobile phones, website application (you can install on your website and wordpress blogsites) etc.
Users and potential users can login and sign up respectively on its homepage at www.Twitter.com. Twitter allows majorly for two types of connections (1) to follow others or; (2) to be followed by others. A third possible connection is groups but I am yet to expolore this and cannot talk about it here at this time.
To follow is to connect with people whose messages (changes in status notice) you want to be informed of. In this case each time someone you follow creates a new update it appears on your twitter page (or you get an alert via your selected medium). And following allows others to connect with you and get notified of updates to your status as they change. The catch is you can pass messages quickly to those following you by simply updating your status message.
And you can know what others want you to know by following them.
How can YPWC benefit from Twitter ?
Twitter is the newest and hottest online application as we speak and it has a growing followership in terms of users who are simply in love with its convinience and techies trying to build applications and tools to interface twitter with other media (online and offline) thus furthering the ease of its use.
Thus twitter provides an avenue for driving traffic to YPWC website, blogsites, thus expanding our circle of visibility and perhaps influence in our bid to change the world.
The tool can also be used as a means of calling attention of a large audience to the issues that interests us at YPWC and encourage them to contribute to our work in ways they can or just follow our strides and see how they may support us or replicate our activities elsewhere.
To find additional Help
Please follow this link in order to find help http://help.twitter.com/portal - twitters help tool. Or semd me an email and with specific questions and I will seek out answers.
Hope this is useful in some way.
I will create a twitter profile for YPWC and ask that it be shared on our mailing list and our social network pages and groups.
Regards,
'Korede
Many thanks for doing what you do -the world needs many more people like you.
Just thought to let you in on Twitter in case you are not using it yet or like me, you are considering it with skepticism.
Twitter is about the hottest social networking tool and it seems to have a strong global appeal and NEWSWEEK magazine has called it the next KILLER APP on the internet.
Twitter now provides and may continue to provide a growing potential audience for users - which may be groups and or individuals.
How does it work?
Twitter is a micro-blogging tool,that combines the global reach of networks like facebook, myspace etc. with the ease and convinice of use over many application plstforms. It simply allows you an avenue to answer the question what are you doing right now ? -that is what the advertisement on its homepage says :).
In truth you are allowed 140 characters to tell the world whatever you want to tell it - a brief announcement, post a link, recomend something and so on as ones creativity permitts.
Your friends on twitter can follow your updates using many platforms including: third party websites e.g. NaijaPulse.com; twitter client (still in beta); mobile phones, website application (you can install on your website and wordpress blogsites) etc.
Users and potential users can login and sign up respectively on its homepage at www.Twitter.com. Twitter allows majorly for two types of connections (1) to follow others or; (2) to be followed by others. A third possible connection is groups but I am yet to expolore this and cannot talk about it here at this time.
To follow is to connect with people whose messages (changes in status notice) you want to be informed of. In this case each time someone you follow creates a new update it appears on your twitter page (or you get an alert via your selected medium). And following allows others to connect with you and get notified of updates to your status as they change. The catch is you can pass messages quickly to those following you by simply updating your status message.
And you can know what others want you to know by following them.
How can YPWC benefit from Twitter ?
Twitter is the newest and hottest online application as we speak and it has a growing followership in terms of users who are simply in love with its convinience and techies trying to build applications and tools to interface twitter with other media (online and offline) thus furthering the ease of its use.
Thus twitter provides an avenue for driving traffic to YPWC website, blogsites, thus expanding our circle of visibility and perhaps influence in our bid to change the world.
The tool can also be used as a means of calling attention of a large audience to the issues that interests us at YPWC and encourage them to contribute to our work in ways they can or just follow our strides and see how they may support us or replicate our activities elsewhere.
To find additional Help
Please follow this link in order to find help http://help.twitter.com/portal - twitters help tool. Or semd me an email and with specific questions and I will seek out answers.
Hope this is useful in some way.
I will create a twitter profile for YPWC and ask that it be shared on our mailing list and our social network pages and groups.
Regards,
'Korede
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
UNICEF Rural Voices of Youth, Ghana's 2008 Rural Representative Application is now available! - Deadline: April 20th, 2009
Dear Friends,
Are you between 10 years and 25 years old? Do you care about child rights related issues? Do you have an interest in promoting the concerns of young people in rural areas? Do you want to help inspire young people in your local community to take positive action? UNICEF Rural Voices of Youth is an innovative initiative that links young people from rural areas in different countries, who do not have access to Internet, to explore, speak out and take action on global issues that are important to them in order to create a world fit for children. By becoming a Rural Representative you join a team of youth working hard to promote the voices of young people for action! To access the application form please visit: http://www.ypwc.org/images/docs/unicef_appform.doc
Good luck in your application.
Regards,
Michael
Friday, March 13, 2009
A message from Jillian Schroeder
Message submitted on behalf of Jillian:
Dear Friends,
Each of us tries to make a difference in the world in some small way.
I want this to be my way. I entered a photography contest and I need
the help and support of the YPWC community to win the opportunity to
carry out my dream photo session. "Children of Hope" is the name of my
dream.
As all of us know, many children in Africa struggle with extreme
poverty, insanitary conditions and violence,. Yet, many of them are
still hopeful of their future and of the future of their countries. I
want to travel through Africa and document the hope that these young
people have. These children are the future. Their hope is what can
change their communities, their countries and ultimately even the
world. I want to share the stories and struggles of these children
with the world to bring attention to the cause. After the trip, I plan
on selling the photographs and donating all of the profits to local
children's charities throughout Africa.
I would really appreciate your help in making my dream come true.
Hopefully, by helping me you ultimately help the children of Africa.
Let's band together and change the world! Please visit the website
below. You will need to register in order to vote, but it only takes a
minute and the organization will not send you spam emails after this
contest. Voting ends on April 3, 2009.
http://www.nameyourdreamassignment.com/the-ideas/JillianSTL/children-of-hope/
(Click on the yellow box on the left that says "Pic it" and vote for me.)
I really appreciate your help!!!
Sincere thanks!
Jillian Schroeder
I want this to be my way. I entered a photography contest and I need
the help and support of the YPWC community to win the opportunity to
carry out my dream photo session. "Children of Hope" is the name of my
dream.
As all of us know, many children in Africa struggle with extreme
poverty, insanitary conditions and violence,. Yet, many of them are
still hopeful of their future and of the future of their countries. I
want to travel through Africa and document the hope that these young
people have. These children are the future. Their hope is what can
change their communities, their countries and ultimately even the
world. I want to share the stories and struggles of these children
with the world to bring attention to the cause. After the trip, I plan
on selling the photographs and donating all of the profits to local
children's charities throughout Africa.
I would really appreciate your help in making my dream come true.
Hopefully, by helping me you ultimately help the children of Africa.
Let's band together and change the world! Please visit the website
below. You will need to register in order to vote, but it only takes a
minute and the organization will not send you spam emails after this
contest. Voting ends on April 3, 2009.
http://www.
(Click on the yellow box on the left that says "Pic it" and vote for me.)
I really appreciate your help!!!
Sincere thanks!
Jillian Schroeder
Managing the issues of irregular migration among young people: Perspectives from Youth People
Today a lot of young people are migrating across boarders. Whereas some people have migrated through legal forms other have done so under clandestine manners. Daily, the images are portrayed – pictorially as well as verbally – of the different accounts of the harsh realities confronting thousands of youths of African descent staking attempts at finding the so-called greener pastures in the Western countries, particularly Europe and America. Over the land and across the sea, they made the tortuous journeys which frequently resulted in tragedies, with many of them either losing their lives or ending up in jails or detention camps before the shame of deportation to their countries of origin. There is, hardly, a group comparable in friendlessness to irregular immigrants. Neither could there have been a more community of citizens with overwhelming recorded cases of wanton abuse, traumas, humiliation with precipitates of anguish of physical and psychological defeat than as occurring among the migrants from the Northern to the South hemisphere. But even under such unsuccessful attempts are not going behind their intentions of migrating.
What question that comes to mind under this kind of situation are that what are the driving forces and what can both sending and host countries do in partnership to save the thousands of lives that are lost through migration?
During a study that was conducted recently by a team of young people from Young People We Care and also on our recent youth consultation on Migration and Development there were some interesting comments that some young people shared with us.
Its is expected that if these young voices of would-be migrants and migrants are handled and addressed with some strategically youth design interventions the situation high trend of irregular migration of young people to reach the Europe through the high-seas and the Sahara Desert as in some trend of migration will reduce.
Young people recommended that governments should implement policies that encourage youths to stay and engage themselves in positive activities that can contribute to development of their country. National Youth Policies that entails strategies and programmes for developing the capacity of young people and also the creation of well paying jobs and good working conditions for young people are important in reducing the level of migration on the basis of unemployment or underemployment as one Ghanaian participant suggested.
Youth migration should not be seen as purely negative; a positive aspect of youth migrating is that young people are exposed to how things are done politically and socially in their host countries, allowing them to see that things can be done in a different way improves the standards of living upon return.
It is thus important for us to share ideas on some strategies of promoting return of young migrants to facilitate some development and change on some critical issues of development in the countries of origin.
To read the full report of the consultation please visit: • Report on the Youth Consultation on Migration ( http://www.ypwc.org/images/
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
World AIDS day In Nigeria
The 2008 World aids day (1st December, 2008), was marked all across Nigeria and especially in Cross River State with the theme, Lead, Empower and Deliver. The atmosphere in Cross River State, South South Nigeria was indeed peaceful and soothing. The key highlight of the day was a 6 kilometers walk across the beautiful city of Calabar, the state capital.
The walk was motivated by the common desire of all stakeholders in the state to create awareness on the preventive mechanisms in place for the fight against HIV/AIDS and to sensitize the public on the need to treat People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWA) as normal human beings and citizens as well, without any form of stigmatization or discriminations.
Dignitaries who participated in the walk included the State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, his wife Obioma and other Civil Society Organizations and AIDS advocacy groups. Youth People We Care (YPWC) Nigeria Ambassador was also on ground as one of the volunteers to mobilize people at the occasion.
The event for the day ended with goodwill messages from the Governor, development partners and other stakeholders in the fight against the disease.
For Enquiries please contact: Emma Ngwu
African Desk Officer
Young People We Care (YPWC)
# 3 Otop Abasi Street, Calabar, Cross River State,
# 8 Aliyu Jodi Road, Sokoto, Sokoto State,
Nigeria
ngwu@ypwc.org, engwu2002@yahoo.com
+234 80 3480 0360
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A brief Introduction
Profile
Young People We Care (YPWC) is a registered youth-led, non-profit organization that is headquartered in Ghana and has satellite offices in the UK, Canada and USA. The organization is operated by young people (ages 15–30) and adult allies working on youth and development related issues worldwide. At YPWC, we are passionate about sustainable development, the realization of the Millennium Development Goals and the promotion of a culture of peace and universal human rights for all.
Our vision is to provide a 'youthful voice' that seeks to address the numerous challenges facing leaders of tomorrow by effectively using young resourceful minds to influence the course of global policy formulation and development in a consistent and harmonized manner.
Our mission is to:
- Educate and inform the youth on global issues;
- Inspire youth to take action;
- Encourage youth participation in global issues;
- Identify and build sustainable partnerships aimed at youth development;
- Provide young people with tools and resources for effective action.
Pay us a visit at: www.YPWC.org, find helpful resources and information and get in touch to see how we can change the world together!
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