2010 is going to be an important year, and not just because of the football World Cup, the completion of the world’s tallest building, and the release of the next Harry Potter movie. For us at YPWC it is an exciting and important year because the UN has announced the International Year of Youth beginning from August 12, 2010 to August 12, 2011. The theme for the year is “Dialogue and Mutual Understanding”, with the aim to “encourage dialogue and understanding across generations and promote the ideals of peace, respect for human rights and freedoms, and solidarity.”
With the strong belief that young people are not only the leaders of tomorrow but are partners of today, YPWC has been working to inform, empower and involve youth in their own personal development and that of their communities.
YPWC recognizes young people as change makers and agents of social transformation and hence encourages them to take leadership to bring about positive changes in the societies they live in while growing to their fullest potential.
As part of our efforts to promote Youth-Led Development[1], empower young people and also inspire youth to take action in their communities, we are calling for submissions from young people for our “Celebrating Youth-Led Development” book project, which will honor youth who are making a difference in their communities through various social and non-profit interventions. YPWC will give recognition to these young people in Global Youth Service Day from 23rd April – 25th April 2010. While these projects will form the content of the book we will publish about their interventions, we will also make sure that the work of these young people are given enough visibility through the media on Global Youth Service Day[2] and on International Youth Day through a complimentary video documentary, which is expected to inspire other young people and let citizens know that some youth are doing extraordinary things which, when given the needed resources, can enable them to make great impacts on their communities.
Submissions can be made to address any of the following topics.
- Youth Leadership Development
- Peace Building Cross-cultural or inter-community Dialogue
- Youth Entrepreneurship & Employment
- Environmental Conservation
- Agriculture
- Health
- Tourism Promotion
- Youth Activism
- Education
- ICTs and Digital Opportunities
- Community/Social Development
Submission Eligibility:
- Young people aged 10 – 35 years.
- Must be resident in a region/state or country in Central Africa or West Africa
- Applicant should demonstrate leadership/entrepreneurial qualities.
- Should be an innovative/creative idea that has been able to produce some tangible results
- On-going projects or new projects can be proposed, completed projects or research proposals will not be considered.
- Application must be made by completing the Application Form (in English).
- The YPWC staffers or Youth Action Ambassadors cannot apply.
If you meet the above eligibility criteria please download the application form.
Timeline:
- Application process begins: 20 March, 2010
- Application Submission deadline: 15th April 2010
- Selected youth Profiled in Newspapers and internet platforms on Global Youth Service Day on 23rd April 2010
- Interview of the selected youth and other eminent people on their perspective of youth led development for video documentary: 5th May – 25th May 2010
- Video finalized: 10th July 2010
- Video documentary broadcasted on TV: 12th August 2010-International Youth Day
CONTRIBUTE NOW!!
When you are ready, please send your contributions or submission electronically to: gysd@ypwc.org
Or by Regular mail to:
GYSD Task Team, Young People We Care (YPWC)
P.O. Box SN 369,
SANTASI-KUMASI.GHANA
Looking forward to hearing from you and receiving your contributions!
[1]We want to give recognition to Youth Led Development. Youth Led Development (YLD) initiatives are community service project and businesses 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 and entrepreneurs. Resources are more often than not limited but YLD initiatives make important impacts in promoting human and/or community development.
[2]GYSD is the largest an annual event that celebrates, recognizes, and mobilizes the year-round contributions of young people to build their communities and their world through voluntary service, and the contributions made by the community (public, private, and nonprofit sectors) to empower young people. In 2010 GYSD will be observed from 23rd to 25th April. For more information visit: www.gysd.org. Working from Ghana with our partners, YPWC will serve as a Regional Lead Agency for the 2010 GYSD.
This project is being implemented by Young People We Care in partnership with Youth Service America and Peace Child International.
