Approximately one billion
youth live in the world today. This means that approximately one person in
five is between the age of 15 and 24 years, or 18% of the world’s population
are "youth", and children (5-14 years) comprise of 19.8%.
By 2025, the number of youth
living in developing countries will grow to 89.5%. Therefore, it is
necessary to take youth issues into considerations in the development agenda
and policies of each country.
(Source)
Young people are best
promoters of ICTs and are key contributors to
building an inclusive Information Society.
Therefore, this should be taken into account in
all actions and projects targeting the use and
access of ICTs, not only as a way to open up
ICTs opportunities for children and young people
but also as a way to accelerate bridging the
Digital Divide and to contribute to the
development of the telecommunication sector as a
whole. (Dr. Hamadoun Touré SG ITU)
ITU has made young people a
high priority in its projects and ongoing activities for many years. As avid
and creative users of ICTs, young people are often key contributors to
building an inclusive Information Society and bridging the Digital Divide.
This is the reason that the ITU’s Telecom event has included a youth stream
since 2001. Attention to young people and their ICT needs is also an
essential component of ITU’s digital inclusion activities, a main goal of
which is to promote broadband school connectivity. By mainstreaming the
youth agenda and offering projects and learning activities which provide
young people with crucial ICT and life skills, ITU helps to boosts their
educational level, and therefore their economic potential.
In response of ITU Member States and Sector Members request
the ITU-D developed in April 2003 a dedicated Youth Programme
which launched activities targeting the promotion of tertiary
education and job experience in telecommunication and related
fields, such as the “Youth Education Scheme - YES” , internships
programme and projects aiming at providing access to and use of
ICT for youth. ITU Youth Programme was reinforced and expanded
with aspects related to children during the WTDC-06.
Our mandate is to support children and young people from
developing countries and those in transition to improve their
access, use and knowledge of information and communication
technologies to bridge the Digital Divide and integrate them
into the Information Society.
The Youth Forum Alumni Network provides Youth Forum Alumni a
platform to connect, discuss ideas, share information about
their work or studies and learn from and collaborate with one
another to keep alive the spirit of the Youth Forum. The network
also serve as a bridge between Youth Forum Alumni and ITU,
allowing Alumni to voice their opinions on the latest ICT issues
and stay informed about ITU activities. We developed this
website to enable Youth Forum Alumni to build upon their Youth
Forum experience and emerge as leaders in the field of
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
Connect A School Connect A Community
Initiative
An ITU flagship initiative endorsed by the UN Secretary General during the
2009 ITU World TELECOM Youth Forum, this initiative aims to connect all
primary, secondary and post-secondary schools to ICTs by 2015 (a target set
by world leaders at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held
in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis). Connect a School, Connect a
Community is a public-private partnership which not only promises to bring
broadband Internet connectivity to schools in developing countries around
the world, but these same connected schools are able to serve as community
ICT centres for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, including women and
girls.
In 2010, ITU helped countries like Mauritania, Nicaragua and Tanzania to
develop their National School Connectivity Plan, as well as assisting with
related pilot projects.
(For more information on the modules and training materials developed within
the “Connect a School” Initiative see: www.connectaschool.org/)
THE
ITU TELECOM YOUTH FORUMS
Since 2001, ITU has organized a Telecom Youth Forum, alongside the
ITU-TELECOM events. Traditionally, this Forum has provided young people from
around the world the opportunity to participate in high level discussions,
helping them understand the nature and potential of the global
communications industry and encouraging many to embark upon careers as
engineers, policy-makers and business people in the ICT industry.
YOUNG LEADERS IN ICTs’ NETWORK
One of the projects developed by ITU, as a follow-up to the 2003 ITU-TELECOM
Youth Forum, was a dedicated Youth Forum Alumni Network Platform, which
allowed Youth Forum alumni to share their knowledge, experiences and views
around ICT. Renovated and newly launched in 2011, this collaborative network
will continue to facilitate a global dialogue between ITU and the Youth
Forum alumni as well as between the alumni themselves.
BASIC COURSE ON EMERGENCY TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Stemming from a need voiced by young people themselves, ITU developed a
“Basic Course on Emergency Telecommunications”, aimed specifically at youth.
Providing basic knowledge of emergency situations and the role of ICTs, this
course enables young people to make a positive contribution in preventing or
mitigating disasters. The course is freely available in all six (6) UN
languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish).
STATISTICAL
REPORT ON USE OF ICT BY CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
ITU-D developed in 2008 a statistical report on use of information and
communication technology by young people to measure use of ICT by children
and youth (including by gender and disabilities), as a follow-up project to
the ITU Youth Forum 2006. The publication is jointly produced by the ITU-D/
Youth Programme and ITU-D STAT and enable users and analysts to have a
better perspective on the evolution of the digital divide among youth and
children. Need for this publication also arose from ITU’s recognition of the
important relationships between ICT use and young people including the role
of ICT in enhancing the development of children, and the contributions that
young people can make to the development of an inclusive Information Society
(World Summit on the Information Society, Tunis Commitment, articles 24 and
25).
This will enable ITU member states and sector members to monitor
developments and to prepare a roadmap for actions and projects that would
facilitate young people’s integration into the Information Society. The
report was distributed to ITU member states and is freely available on the
ITU website.
PROTECTING
CHILDREN IN CYBERSPACE: CHILD ON-LINE PROTECTION (COP)
Well aware of young people’s particular vulnerability online, ITU created a
specialized initiative within ITU’s more encompassing Global Cybersecurity
Agenda. The global Child On-Line Protection (COP) initiative aims to tackle
cybersecurity holistically, addressing legal, technical, organizational and
procedural issues as well as capacity building and international
cooperation. Through this initiative, ITU is taking the next steps to
develop a cybersecurity strategy for youth and children everywhere.
We are grateful to ITU-D Members States and Sector Members who participate in
the implementation of some of our activities (Youth Education Scheme) and
projects for children and youth.
We call upon others to join us in this mission
Youth Education Scheme YES project was developed from 2003 to 2009 in support of
needy and deserving young people, from Least Developed Countries (LDCs),
developing countries and countries in transition who wished to complete their
tertiary education in the information and communication technologies (ICTs) and
related fields. The target objective was to enable motivated young people to
contribute to the development of their communities, country and region using
their achieved ICT knowledge and skills.
Alcatel-Lucent (Alcatel Initiative) – France ( YES projects in
2006,2007,2008 and 2009)
Anacom & Portugal Administration (YES projects in 2004, 2007 and 2008)
Czech Administration (projects for children in Africa, 2004,2005,2006 and
2007)
Nokia Administration (YES project in 2006)
Netherlands Administration (projects in Africa 2005 and 2007)
Norway Administration (YES project in 2009)
NTI – Egypt (YES project in 2004)
Spain Administration (YES projects in 2008 and 2009)
Thales Communications – France (YES project in 2005)
Vodafone – UK (YES projects in 2003, 2004 and 2005)
