The United Nations proclaimed an International Year of Youth under the theme Dialogue and Mutual Understanding to harness the energy, expertise and capacity of today’s youth to foster respect and cooperation among people of different cultures and religions. Starting on 12 August 2010, this international year aims to create awareness about the need to invest in young people; mobilize and engage young people for participation and partnerships; as well as connect and build bridges to increase intercultural understanding. These three objectives are very closely linked to those of the Alliance Youth Program.
The presentation was a joint briefing with UNESCO. A partnership between the Alliance and UNESCO led to the creation of a joint fact sheet for the International Year of Youth on Dialogue and Mutual Understanding. The fact sheet entitled “Youth Fostering Dialogue and Mutual Understanding” is available at http://social.un.org/youthyear/launch.html#fact
The Alliance underlined the fact that its own programming is based on a clear understanding that young people are both partners and stakeholders in today’s efforts to foster dialogue and mutual understanding. The Alliance Youth Program advocated for young people’s meaningful participation in larger processes and for a clear recognition of their expertise and their own initiatives.
The International Year of Youth on Dialogue and Mutual Understanding offers a unique opportunity to raise awareness about the need to partner with youth to foster dialogue and transform it into global understanding. With that in mind, the Alliance Youth Program supports young people and youth-led organizations in progressing along a development continuum from simple individual interest to global collective actions in intercultural dialogue. More than 2000 youth networks and organizations are currently connected with the Alliance Youth Program.
The Alliance Youth Program is comprised of many initiatives that exemplify this good partnership practice. The Youth Solidarity Fund is one such example. It provides funding, networking, technical support, outreach and media exposure for projects developed and implemented by youth organizations. In just over two years, the Youth Solidarity Fund has supported 24 projects progressing intercultural dialogue. These 24 projects directly impacted 45,000 people.
For more information on other initiatives of the Alliance Youth Program, please see www.unaocyouth.org or contact Isabelle Legare, Youth Program Manager, at isabellel@unops.org.