AT UNITED NATIONS FORUM IN GENEVA, YOUNG PEOPLE CALL

 

FOR INVOLVEMENT IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

 

GENEVA, 27 September (United Nations Information Service) -- Young people attending a United Nations-backed summit in Geneva have asked to be involved in initiatives that utilize information and communications technology (ICT) to tackle global challenges.

“Many youth organizations”, said Sarbuland Khan, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development, “have come forward to tell us that they want to remain engaged in creating youth centres of excellence and global youth networks that place ICT in the service of development.”

At the three-day Global Forum on Youth and ICT for Development, which concluded yesterday at the Centre International de Conférences, young people from around the world proposed measures for addressing the impact of the ICT explosion on their lives.

Forum participants adopted a manifesto, “A Declaration to and for the Youth of the World”, stating young people’s commitment “to eradicate poverty”, to share innovative technological tools, to aid development by promoting “equal and unrestricted access”, and to “leverage our familiarity with technology to improve the lives of the impoverished”.

Information technology, speakers said, should be a tool for addressing youth unemployment and lack of political and social participation.  In a changing global economy that can make young people feel displaced at the workplace and in society, information and communications technology “can offer opportunities to stay connected with the world”, one speaker said.

“After the formal opening, the young participants and youth organizations took over the management and running of the Forum,” Mr. Khan said.  “Participation in the discussions and panels has been intense and energizing,” he said, on issues ranging from health to education, participation, empowerment and economics.

More than 600 participants from youth organizations, Government, the private sector, civil society and the technology community attended the Forum’s 6 plenary sessions and 28 workshops, panels and roundtables.  A marketplace featured 12 events and 16 exhibits that showcased young people’s innovations in the use of technology.

Suzanne Mubarak, First Lady of Egypt, told participants she was bringing a message of peace and hope from Sharm el-Sheikh, where she had convened an international youth forum on information and communications technology for peace in early September.  At Sharm el-Sheikh, young people from around the world, with “contagious energy”, had exchanged ideas on ways to eliminate violence, celebrate their diversity and promote innovative strategies for enhancing security.

“Without peace, youth cannot have aspirations for the future,” Ms. Mubarak said, adding that the critical link between information and communications technology and peace offered “a window into a world of infinite possibilities”.  Stressing that young people are key players in promoting peace, she called on Forum participants to join in ongoing efforts.

International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré said the serious development challenges in the world “share inequality as their common element”.  Information and communications technology was an enabler of progress, and young people were well-equipped to lead progress, he said, calling on Forum participants to be innovative in finding solutions to development challenges.

For Carlo Ottaviani, President of ST Microelectronics Foundation, the Forum was “a precious occasion for youth to confront important actors, but more importantly to give us all a chance to hear their perspectives and opinions and listen to what they have to show and recommend.  Their perspectives were profound, their documents remarkable, their recommendations well-documented.”

“I am proud to witness first-hand some of the most exciting ideas for the betterment of the global youth community”, said Johan Farid Khairuddin, a youth participant from Malaysia’s media company Astro All Asia Networks.  “Through this forum, I look forward to turn these into action.”

The three-day gathering was co-hosted by the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development and the International Telecommunication Union, in partnership with several non-governmental organizations and United Nations bodies.

For information, please visit http://www.un-gaid.org/en/node/587 or contact Enrica Murmura at the Global Alliance for ICT and Development, Tel.: +1 212 963 5913, e-mail: murmura@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record