Our Words of Wisdom
“The world is beautiful, but it is suffering from a lot of problems such as insecurity, poverty, education, environment pollution....These problems have a huge impact on people's life. So, finding a good solution is a struggle of everyone, especially the youth, because they are the consistency of the world. The transformation of the world depends on you and me. So, never say,'' you will have time''. The time is now for acting and getting everything better. We should be willing and work together to shoulder our responsibility.”
– Widler Fanatis, Haiti
Third Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations
The Third Annual Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations held in Rio de Janeiro at the end of May 2010 brought together representatives from all over the world and the youth portion of the program was no exception. Participation included 140 youth between the ages of 18 to 35 representing over 60 countries.
This is a video about youth at the UNAOC Rio Forum
Cultural Youth Walk
The youth portion of the program began with a Cultural Youth Walk in Rio de Janeiro’s Saara neighborhood. Saara, a marketplace, brings together in a peaceful, respectful and productive atmosphere over 1,500 merchants from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. Participants in the Cultural Youth Walk were led by local students who translated merchants’ stories about their ability to resolve cultural disputes and collaborate for a successful business environment. Alyne, a youth volunteer for the Cultural Youth Walk stated “I had never heard about the UNAOC until I received an email from college informing us about the Cultural Youth Walk and the UNAOC Forum in Rio. The idea of working as a volunteer in a project of the UN involving young people and cultural respect for a better world really got my attention. “The day ended with the youth getting to know one another and a dozen volunteering to speak about their experience in Saara in front of the entire group over dinner.
Youth Event
The next day, the Youth Event was held and topics included: Democracy, Good Governance, and Cultural Diversity; Empowering Women through Education; Living Together in Urban Societies, and many more. These discussions topics were the same chosen for the Forum itself. Discussing these during the Youth Event presented youth with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the various aspects of these topics as well as to develop key messages for their participation in the Forum thematic sessions. Youth took on leadership roles in the organization of their discussions, identifying themselves as discussion moderators, presenters, note takers, or reporters.
After the day of discussions, the youth met as a collective group and reporters delivered the main points from the discussions of the various topics held during the day. After all the reporters discussed their issues, the floor was opened to the group to decide on what major points to convey to all the Forum participants in the formal presentation of Youth Recommendations presented at the UNAOC Rio Forum.
In addition to discussing the various themes of the Forum, youth discussed the upcoming International Year of Youth on Dialogue and Mutual Understanding, commencing on August 12, 2010. This year coincides with the 25th anniversary of the first International Youth Year in 1985 on the theme Participation, Development and Peace. The 2010-2011 International Year of Youth aims to raise awareness about the need to increase commitment and investment in youth, mobilize and engage for increased youth participation and partnerships, as well as connect and build bridges as a way to advance intercultural understanding among youth.
Lastly, young participants discussed the Global Youth Movement for the Alliance of Civilizations (GYMAOC) (http://unaocyouth.org/gym/) and its first conference to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan at the end of 2010.
As result of their work during the Cultural Youth Walk and Youth Event, the young leaders present at the Forum prepared a series of recommendations for the other leaders (Youth Recommendations presented at the UNAOC Rio Forum).
In the context of the Youth Event and the Forum, the UNAOC teamed up with Soliya (http://www.soliya.net/), an international non-governmental organization developing a diverse and global community of young adults who use new media and communication technologies to promote understanding and empathy within and between their societies. A number of selected youth from around the world received advanced new media training to be “Mediators.” Mediators use new media and communication technologies to promote better cross-cultural understanding within and between their societies. Prior to the Rio Forum, these Mediators conducted video interviews with a diversity of individuals in their communities on issues relevant to thematic sessions held at the Rio Forum. The best of those videos produced by young Mediators were presented prior to 5 of the thematic sessions and served to stimulate discussions and add a rich media element while also connecting it to common public perspectives on the issue.
More information about the UNAOC Rio Forum is available here- http://www.unaoc.org/rioforum/