Despite the challenges facing an average Jamaican youth and youth all over the world, Paul says change is possible. But youth must not wait for it… #UNESCOYouth

Cross Posted on UNESCO.ORG

Paul McFarlane is the Jamaican youth delegate at this Year’s UNESCO Youth Forum. “I’m a full time medical student and part time marketing manager of an NGO called Junior Achievement.” He says, while introducing himself.

 Paul expects the 7^th UNESCO youth forum to be very phenomenon. “When I spoke with the Jamaican youth delegate of the 6^th forum, she explained to me how much she was able to incorporate what she learnt into her work in youth development. And being in dialogue with other youth delegates in the online youth forum UNESCO set up before the main forum, it was helpful in getting me energized to participate in the discussion.” He says.

Adding that the key issues being discussed- youth in political and public life; countering youth exclusion, vulnerability and violence; and breaking through employment barriers- are relevant to realities in Jamaica. “It is very important we as Jamaicans explore additional ways that we can use to solve problems that exist in our country.”

Like some of the delegates, if not all, Paul is very optimistic that his expectations will be met during the forum. “I hope to take back a lot to my country and contribute a lot to the forum.” He says.

“I’m interested in youth being involved in political life- people say youths are the future but I believe youth are part of population now. It is important for them to be active in political life now and get involved in decisions that affect the lives of everybody.”

Paul says that young people cannot drive change if they are relegated to the background and not included in decision-making process. “They should be part of the process because decisions that are made for 50 years old affect 15 years old. Therefore youth should be involved with the process.” He says.

According to him, in Jamaica young people are active to some extent. But they are limited to being members on committees and boards but not from the perspective of actively being involved in the legislative process. There is a need for more work to be done. “There is much more to be done in terms of developing legislative framework for youth development.”

Despite the challenges facing an average Jamaican youth and youth all over the world, Paul says change is possible. But youth must not wait for it; they have to be actively involved in the process. In his words, “Don’t wait for things to be done for you. Do it yourself. If you wait for things to be done for you by people we regard as the “authorities” it is either not going to be done in the time it should be done or in the way that is best suiting for youth development and wider development of country at large. Don’t wait for government, teachers or banks to grant you loan to start your business, you have to start creating that force of change yourself by using creative means, by being innovative and by taking charge.”

#UNESCOYouth Forum: Inaguration (Photo Report)

Photo courtesy of: Rajneesh Bhandari. Multimedia Journalist based in Nepal- Website: rajneesh.com.np, Follow it Blog:http://rajneeshtimes.blogspot.com

Click here to view the slide show

Interview with some female delegates at the 7th #UNESCOYouth Forum @UNESCONow

By Jennifer Ehidiamen (cross posted on UNESCO and CP-Africa)

About 54% of the youth delegates at the 7^th UNESCO Youth forum are females. As the event formally kicks off today,  Sibongile Nkosi talks about her work in Malawi that qualified her to be selected to represent her country at the forum. Sarah Ayewah, representing Nigeria at the forum, shares her takeout at the first session of the youth forum- Conflict Resolution Workshop with Forest Whitaker, Academy Award Winner and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. Sylvia Namukasa, from Uganda, reflects on her experience as the youth delegate from the 6^th UNESCO Youth Forum and how it has inspired her to drive change locally, while gaining global recognition. All the three young women have a message of change for youth in Africa and all over the world.

The full interview below:

Sibongile Nkosi is a young delegate selected to attend the 7^th UNESCO Youth Forum. Back home in Malawi, Sibongile works in a youth organization that focuses on creating behaviour change intervention among young people in rural areas by implementing different capacity training programs to build capacity of young people and impact knowledge. The beneficiaries of their programs are equipped with vocational skills to reduce unemployment rate in Malawi. “So that once they have these skills they can employ themselves by starting small scale business” says the Malawian delegate.

Like Sibongile, about 230 young change-makers were selected as youth delegates to participate in this year’s

Youth Forum taking place October 17^th to 20^th in Paris. According to the news report on UNESCO Youth Forum’s website, in the course of the forum, these delegates “will discuss, debate, and exchange ideas on the Forum’s timely themes and have the opportunity to present their recommendations to the representatives of Member States during the 36th UNESCO General Conference.”

Tagged “How Youth Drive Change,” the sub-themes of focus includes, “Citizens in action: youth in political and public life; Countering youth exclusion, vulnerability and violence; and Breaking through employment barriers.”
For Sibongile, her expectations at the forum includes learning from other African delegates, sharing knowledge and different skills so that she can take the new knowledge back home and implement in different project areas. “I must encourage youths back home to stay focused no matter the challenges and achieve something for the good of the entire nation.” She says.

Sarah Ayewah from Edo State in Nigeria currently lives in Paris. “I am a student here getting a masters in International Law.” She says. Although she is not involved in grassroots youth work, in the course of her studies she has developed an interest in the role of youth in development in Nigeria. “My thesis was on the youth problem in the Niger Delta. It is interesting how youth drive change.” She says.

The first session of the youth forum today was a Conflict Resolution Workshop organized by Forest Whitaker, Academy Award Winner and UNESCO Goodwill Abassador. The session was declared opened by Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General.

In her opening remark, Ms Bokova reiterated the importance of UNESCO’s work in improving human rights around the world. Forest Whitaker said that she is the one who inspires him and others. Afterwards, he introduced his workshop to the youth delegates.

“I like the fact that they say conflict start with the individual…the individual attitude towards a given situation. A lot of times when we look at conflict in Nigeria we just look at the government and the other party, such as MEND rebels and Boko Haram.” Sarah says.
While sharing her take-out on the conflict resolution workshop, Sarah added “When you want to talk about conflict resolution and peacemaking, you have to start with the individuals… their personal struggles before we can deal with the situation. In order to achieve conflict resolution, we need to find out what is really causing the conflict.”

“In Nigeria I think we don’t really know what is causing the conflict. We have perception of what the conflict situation is about.  We need to find out from a personal level what the key issues are- whether it is Education, access to Employment, clean water, good environment to carryout fishing or farming activities etc. We need to get to root causes of conflict to resolve it.”

On her expectation for the rest of the sessions during the forum, Sarah says, “I expect to learn a lot…it will be interesting to learn what other youth are going through in their countries. I am looking forward to getting a lot of information.”

She advised youth, particularly Nigerian youth, not to be indifferent to the situations in their communities. “Don’t stay indifferent, there are people with real struggles, if you become more active in the process of development, it will shake up the government to change things.”

Aside the 2011 youth delegates in attendance, the youth forum also brought together “civil society participants, UN entities, intergovernmental organizations, academics and the private sector.” In addition, some youth delegates from the 6^th UNESCO Youth forum, which took place in 2009 were selected to share their experience on how the UNESCO youth forum has helped them drive change.


Sylvia Namukasa is currently the director and founder of Kirinda Youth Environment Management and Poverty Alleviation Program Uganda (KYEMPAPU). She started the organization right after her participation at the youth forum. “They advised us to put in practice what we learnt here.” She says.

“For this 7^th, I expect to expand my network. I have noticed there are other youths at this forum, I expect to network with them. I think it is possible for African youths to drive change.  They say we should face the risk, unless we face the risk we cannot achieve. I think they should come out and face the risk so that at the end they can achieve. I think youths should be open to elders, consult them on how to move on. But with how fast things are going; we must remember that unless we change things, no one else will do it for us.” She says.

Sylvia was recently recognized for her efforts to improve livelihoods and climate change. She was awarded ENO environment Awards for advocating for climate change.

“I must appreciate this opportunity given to me.” She says, referring to the opportunity to serve on the panel. “I applied knowing so many people applied for it too. I must appreciate UNESCO and other youth who have worked with me to achieve this.” She says.

Photo courtesy of: Rajneesh Bhandari. Multimedia Journalist based in Nepal- Website: rajneesh.com.np, Follow it Blog:http://rajneeshtimes.blogspot.com

About UNESCO Youth Forum
The UNESCO Youth Forum, held prior to UNESCO's General Conference, brings together young delegates from all over the world to exchange views, share experiences, reflect together and, above all, detect common preoccupations and problems. The event allows young people to voice their ideas and concerns and make suggestions directly to the UNESCO General Conference.

Today’s youth are raising their voices to shape the present and futures of their countries. They want to be heard, to be included in decision-making debates and to make change. Student engagement, social innovation, fostering democracy, youth employment, conflict and sustainable development are among the issues that will be discussed on the floor of the 7th UNESCO Youth Forum.

• 7th UNESCO Youth Forum, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France, 17-20 October 2011

To learn more about the 7th UNESCO Youth Forum, click here
To follow the story on Twitter follow @UNESCONow and/or Storify: http://storify.com/disgeneration/unesco-youth-forum-2011

The dangers of allowing your career stifle your talent by Onyi Uchegbulam

By Onyi Uchegbulam, Human Resource consultant (Dis Generation Guest Writer)

 Why do I have to ‘work’? Can ‘work’ be more exciting than it is already? Can it be something I can look forward to? Can I synchronize my career with my activities of interests, talents and abilities? Can I build for myself a career path that excites me and genuinely gets me up every morning?

To answer these questions I began searching everywhere for ‘The Solution.’ Then it dawned on me, all I needed was a Balance! We all need a balance between our activities of interests and career, between our inherent skills and abilities and our educational/professional training.  We must know how to choose the right course of study or how to make a successful career choice.

There are a lot of possibilities and satisfaction derived from an excellent career fit; from matching personality with career choice.

As a Consultant who has been involved in numerous selection assignments, it breaks my heart to see displaced and unharnessed skills and abilities in people. Trust me, I have seen a lot of them, which explains why we have development issues in Nigeria.

What is the place of talents or gifts or inner skills and abilities in our chosen career path? Everything! The reason most people are dissatisfied with their jobs/professions is ultimately because it does not allow them express who they are, it does not allow them engage in activities that incite their brains and personalities.

We are created with passions and desires. These passions come with inherent talents, skills and abilities that help its realization. It could be really hurtful to disregard these inherent abilities and passions or categorize them as hobbies or leisure activities as we mostly do.

Think about this. When are you more productive? When you approach your profession from a burdensome or nagging necessity point of view or when approached from relaxed, leisure and fun-filled point of view?

Do you have to look forward to the end of a workday or vacation period before you can really be ‘alive’ and do the things you naturally love to do?

The secret to an ideal work satisfaction is a balance. A talent/skill/ability discovered (no matter when) should be given the requisite educational/professional training and steered in the right career path. Can you imagine what this will do in our society? The multi-facet development our country will experience? How it will reduce the rate of unemployment and create more jobs and contribute to a well-balanced society?

What to consider when choosing a Career

I once interviewed a young lady for an administrative position. This lady is extremely cheerful, very relaxed, a conversationalist, enjoys planning parties and having fun. You tell me, how can she ably function as a Senior Administrative Officer, a position that requires some level of strictness and accountability in managing resources and people as well, to say the least. If at all employed for this position, she will be unable to adequately function as expected. The pressure to be ‘more this’ or ‘more that’ will arise and the employer will end up trying to make her who she is not (if he has the patience to do so). Hence both parties are unsatisfied! She will resent her job descriptions, the environment, her appearance (which is determined by the environment and job descriptions to a large degree) and finally feel unproductive. This gives way for an individual second-guessing him/herself in terms of the ability to achieve and excel in career and life.

What would be considered the best fit for this lady? I would recommend and Events Company. The environment will be a good soil for her seeds to be harnessed and developed- she will grow and flourish. Now how did we arrive at this conclusion? Through discovering her passions, inherent skills and abilities.

I am suggesting that individuals cannot be trained to be better at a particular function or to handle efficiently a set of activities unless the individual’s passions, desires, talents, skills and abilities align with the function and responsibility from the holistic point of view.

Also, passions and desires can be initiated and developed but there is no better passion to follow than the one that your personality supports. It makes for a more enjoyable life and excellent productivity level.

Think about it!

Guest Writer: Onyi Uchegbulam discovers and manages talents; career counsels and consults in beauty and style management. Her professional career experience is in Human Resources Management. She is a Behavioural Assessor, a skill much needed to make an excellent selection judgement/career fit. You can follow her works on her Blog: http://www.prettyonyi.blogspot.com

Check out the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWiN!) competition!

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has launched Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWiN!) competition, an initiative organized in collaboration with the Federal Ministries of Finance, Youth Development and ICT.

According to the organizers, the goal of the competition is to generate jobs by encouraging and supporting young entrepreneurs to develop business ideas that will lead to job creation.

YOUWiN will serve as a springboard for youth entrepreneurs to showcase their business acumen, skills and aspirations to business leaders, investors and mentors in Nigeria.

Objectives of the Programme include to: 

• Attract ideas and innovations from young entrepreneurial aspirants from Universities, Polytechnics, Technical colleges, and other post-Secondary institutions in Nigeria; 
• Provide a one time Equity grant for 1,200 selected aspiring entrepreneurs to start or expand their business concepts and mitigate start up risks; 
• Generate 40,000 to 50,000 new jobs for currently unemployed Nigerian youth over the three years during which the three cycles will be implemented; 
• Provide business training for up to 6,000 aspiring youth entrepreneurs spread across all geo-political zones in Nigeria; 
• Encourage expansion, specialization and spin-offs of existing businesses in Nigeria; and, 
• Enable young entrepreneurs to access a wide business professional network and improve their visibility. 

Qualification for Participation in YouWiN! All applicants for the Business Plan Competition must meet following criteria: 
• The applicant is a proven citizen of Nigeria, no older than 35 years (proof of identity international passport/voters card)
• The applicant is proposing a business venture within the national borders of Nigeria, and with the intention of employing Nigerian citizens.
• The proposed venture does not entail the production and distribution of weapons, alcoholic beverages, tobacco or/and gambling, or any activities that is in contradiction with the Nigerian constitution
• Applicants have prepared an innovative business concept summary
• The promoter should be willing to make an equity contribution in kind, but does not need to have long experience in managing a business.

For more information on how to get involved, please visit www.youwin.org.ng

Watch Video Intro by the Minister of Youth Development

Cashless Society: The Way Forward for Nigeria

As part of an effort to prepare Lagos for the implementation of the test-run phase of the new proposed Cashless Policy scheduled to kick off in January 2012, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Bankers committee are carrying out different sensitization program within Lagos.

On October 7, 2011 a one-day Youth stakeholder’s forum tagged “Operation Cashless Lagos” was held at Lagos Airport Hotel. The event brought together students, youth leaders and young professionals from different parts of Lagos. According to the organizers, one of the objectives of the forum was to engage people face-to-face. It was noted that even though the policy has been announced, it is not set in stone, as feedback from people at the grassroots will be taken into consideration and applied as necessary.

The cashless policy was introduced to discourage the high usage of cash across the economy which has many negative consequences including- High Cost of cash, High risk of cash-related crimes, high subsidy and high usage which limits the effectiveness of monetary policy in managing inflation.

According to CBN, the high usage of cash in the society result in high cost of banking services, which limits access to credit.

The cashless policy is expected to kickoff in Nigeria from June 1^st 2012. However a pilot scheme will kick-off in Lagos on January 1^st 2012.

CBN and banks are working with all stakeholders to ensure the appropriate infrastructure is in place for smooth transition. Systems are also being put in place to minimize electronic fraud, and ensure a transparent dispute resolution process.

What are some Nigerians saying about this new policy? Click here to read Nigerians debate itsPros and Cons.

Feel free to leave a comment!

Youth Leadership and YLEAD Empowerment Program by @graceiheji

Guest Writer: Grace Ihejiamaizu

That young people constitute the majority of the Nation’s population is a well known fact. There is no doubt also that the future of the nation rests on the shoulders of the youths. Without youths, the nation’s future and existence is threatened. Youths are like the catalysts that will lead to progress and change especially in the economy of the nation. They are the hub of the nation and the agents that will foster development. Their concerns and needs must therefore be taken care of if we must have sustainable development in Nigeria. It is however overwhelming that most of our youths do not have the necessary leadership skills to serve as agents of change in Nigeria. The value system and principles of ethics seem to have been swept down.

Recognizing these challenges, RYPE Initiative has introduced the “Youth-Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Academic Development (YLEAD)” program supported by the Michelle Obama’s Young African Women Leader’s Forum. YLEAD begins with a 5-day intensive training program for 15-24 year old secondary school leavers who are awaiting admission or JAMB examination.

YLEAD goes beyond the training program to provide mentoring and place these young people on internship programs to learn various skills. YLEAD also creates the platform for them to develop and start their own small businesses. It is positively aimed at engaging young people and helping them develop their personal, leadership and entrepreneurial skills for positive engagement. We want to help them utilize the one year period that they have to stay at home before enrolling in a University Program.

The essence of this program is to infuse independence, self-awareness, ethical values, leadership and entrepreneurial skills into young people. Instilling these values and skills in them at a young age would help them recognize the challenges we face and develop problem-solving ideas to make a difference in Nigeria. In the long term, it would curb youth restiveness and unemployment. Rather than engage in criminal activities, idleness and other unproductive activities, we want young people to use their inherent talents and leadership capabilities to initiate innovative ideas that will develop into small sustainable businesses in Nigeria. Entrepreneurship is key in the growth of any nation’s economy and must be encouraged.

Since the youths are the ones who would meet the specific manpower needs of the nation, then they must be inspired, empowered and prepared to become leaders, movers and shakers of Nigeria and the world at large.

Bio: Grace Ihejiamaizu is the founding coordinator of Y-LEAD, a youth empowerment program for young people in Calabar. For more information on how to get involved, please visit: http://youthleadcamp.wordpress.com