“We are committed to realizing our common vision of the Information Society for ourselves and for future generations. We recognize that young people are the future workforce and leading creators and earliest adopters of ICTs. They must therefore be empowered as learners, developers, contributors, entrepreneurs and decision-makers. We must focus especially on young people who have not yet been able to benefit fully from the opportunities provided by ICTs. We are also committed to ensuring that the development of ICT applications and operation of services respects the rights of children as well as their protection and well-being.” Youth Paragraph (para. 11) of the WSIS Declaration of Principles At present, over 3 billion individuals or just over 50 per cent of the world’s population are children or youth. In terms of youth alone, there are 1.3 billion young people aged between 15 and 24, according to the 2003 UN World Youth Report. If there was ever an area where young people are the leaders not only of the future, but also of today, it is the emerging Information Society. From web development to information access, youth are growing up with the latest technologies – extending them, providing innovative solutions to global challenges. Youth are creators and consumers of technologies ranging from mobile telephones to email, to instant messaging, radio, print media and television. As both business and social entrepreneurs, young people are creatively using technology to address community needs. Young people are central to the evolution of a “people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented” Information Society. They are heavily represented in almost every category of the Information Society from the development of software products, establishment of technology infrastructure and creation of Internet communities. With the introduction of the Internet, youth have acquired a powerful new tool to connect and communicate. Today, young people constitute the largest percentage of those online: they go online more than anyone else, they stay online longer, and they have more diverse online activities. Yet, youth are rarely given the opportunity to be engaged in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy development. If the WSIS is to effect real change, it must involve youth in program/project implementation as well as in the broader context of youth participation and multi-stakeholder consultation in ICT decision-making such as Internet Governance and national e-strategies. Like other stakeholder groups, youth are organized within a Caucus. The WSIS Youth Caucus, formed on the occasion of the 1st WSIS Preparatory Committee Meeting in July 2002, is acting as an umbrella for all young people and youth non-government organizations (NGOs) interested and/or involved in the WSIS process and ICT policy formulation. The WSIS Youth Caucus aims to mainstream youth perspectives into civil society, the private sector and government inputs throughout the WSIS process. Youth were one of the most organized and successful stakeholder groupings in the first phase of the WSIS process – participating and speaking at meetings, publishing a regular newsletter, running an award program, conducting significant national-level outreach, and much more. If it is to achieve its ambitious goals, the WSIS must continue to actively engage young people, the pathbreakers of the ICT revolution, in creating digital opportunities for all.1 The WSIS Youth Caucus is represented in many countries across the world. The Nigerian Youth Caucus, after successfully hosting the first phase of a National Youth Consultation and African Online Consultation, continues to involve young Nigerians in the WSIS process - informing and empowering them in order to translate words to action. To learn more about the WSIS Youth Caucus, visit www.wsisyouth.org. For more information on the Nigerian Youth Caucus and Policy Train. |
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