by Tim
March 18, 2013 in Young Professionals
We’re very pleased and proud to announce that one of Generation Development’s long time collaborators Leila Hanafi has been appointed to a new intergovernmental Moroccan commission on National Dialogue on Constitutional Reforms. This is a well deserved appointment, and she will be a great asset to the commission.
You can read more about Leila and her work here.
by Jonny
August 24, 2012 in Guest Author, International Development, Young Professionals, Youth
Heather Smith – regular blogger and writer – writes about how young people can be supported in utilising the array of communication tools available in today’s world
The written language is one of the most valuable inventions of mankind. With written languages, it’s possible for an individual to communicate with people in the present and the future through text. In addition, written languages allowed for the accurate dissemination of different thoughts and ideas. With the advent of new communication methods like the Internet, literacy requires more than just the comprehension of words. It requires an individual to understand how global information systems can be used to retrieve, process and disseminate ideas. The following guide provides simple tips and tricks on how students can achieve 21st century literacy.
Many people consider the Internet to be one of man’s greatest inventions. While lots of people use the Internet for entertainment purposes, it’s important to understand how it can be vessel for social change around the world.
The Internet and Social Revolutions
The days of state-sponsored censorship and indoctrination are largely over because of the Internet. Since people can share thoughts and ideas with people around the globe, it’s possible to communicate on a level that wasn’t possible before. In addition, this new form of communication can be an effective way for people to avoid indoctrination under a fear-based regime.
For example, the Arab Spring was precipitated by social media services like Facebook and Twitter. Since people in middle-eastern countries could communicate with each other, they were able to discover the widespread abuses by their leaders. In addition, social media allowed these groups to coordinate the takedown of several middle-eastern leaders.
In addition, the Internet has allowed technology and science to evolve at an exponential rate. Since news about an invention or discovery can spread around the globe in mere seconds, it’s possible for large groups of people to coordinate on huge research projects.
Teaching Students How to Use Search Engines
It’s essential for students to have a thorough understand of the Internet. While traditional literacy still plays an important role in modern society, it’s pivotal that students know how to search for information online. In addition, it’s essential that students understand how different online collaboration tools can be used to boost productivity.
Teaching Students through Collaboration
A great way to teach children about 21st century literacy is through a collaborative project. Instead of having students work with their peers in the classroom, it’s a good idea to have them coordinate with different students from around the world. Since there are many translation tools that can be used to enhance communication in different languages, there’s no need for people to collaborate on a project in the same language.
For example, students could collaborate on a design blueprint, a computer program, a documentary or an article. By teaching students about social media services, it’s possible for them to leverage these tools for their project.
Teaching Students About Different Perspectives
It’s also important to make sure that students have an understanding of how different people perceive situations in different ways. Like empathy, having a strong sense of one’s own perceptual biases can be a powerful tool when collaborating with people from different cultures.
For example, students can be exposed to different viewpoints of the same situation. After reading a mostly-neutral article, students can be given articles that show different levels of bias. An article on Jewish settlers in Israel will have a different perspective if written by Palestinians.
Conclusion
The Internet plays an important role in modern society. By teaching students how they communicate around the globe, it’s possible to build a future with less war, better quality of life and higher levels of education.
Heather Smith is an ex-nanny. Passionate about thought leadership and writing, Heather regularly contributes to various career, social media, public relations, branding, and parenting blogs/websites. She also provides value to http://www.nanny.net/service by giving advice on site design as well as the features and functionality to provide more and more value to nannies and families across the U.S. and Canada. She can be available at H.smith7295 [at] gmail.com.
by Jonny
August 18, 2012 in Guest Author, International Development, MDGs, Young Professionals, Youth
Our blog this week comes from Nancy Parker who writes her perspective on how development policies can be more youth-friendly
Glancing around the international community shows a clear reflection of the ideas of youth worldwide. In several major international industries such as technology, healthcare, fashion, music and energy, trends make clear the desires of youth: A safer, more innovative, collectively sustainable future.
Sustainable Green Energy
Some of the highest levels of pollution exists in major industrial producing countries. Youth in these countries endeavor to promote their priorities for sustainable green energy to protect their futures and that of future generations.
Potable Water and Crops
International development priorities into water desalinization is helping increase potable water in many parts of the world where access to clean, safe water is compromised. In addition, development priorities in sturdier, more drought and flood resistant crops for increased food supplies are constantly advancing worldwide.
Global Warming Trends
Also reflected in international development priorities are the youthful ideas of focused remediation of global warming trends. Ongoing programs monitor various areas of the world’s weather patterns and changes as a means of gauging the damage global warming is causing the planet.
Education And Healthcare
Access to education and affordable healthcare is a global priority that has the potential to become a shared worldwide conglomerate. Sharing of educational courses of study internationally has already been implemented and opens the door to global schoolrooms and educators.
Youthful ideas change daily life in radical ways. In combination with international development priorities, attitudes and social values merge into conceptualism that advance all peoples of the world. This is also true in art, history and literature. Core ideas and traditions persist in making their mark on individuals in society. For innovative youth, they become stepping stones to forward advancement into the future. As an example, literature has had the greatest impact on industrial and social development. Many of the literary ideas contained in classic science fiction are today’s useful conveniences. Present-day writers of mythical and science fiction may well produce hi-tech advancement of the future.
Mindful of ideas of contemporary youth, it would seem convention will play less a role in international development priorities of the future. A greater dimensional initiative to innovate from a base of continuing advancement appears to energize industries. This is particularly true in the computer age. The possibilities of how the ‘age of the internet’ will advance through international development priorities is already seen in cloud computing and social networking. Trends toward a common international language in brief speak, not to mention a more compatible global currency, investment stocks and trades are youthful ideas with prevailing international priorities.
Nancy Parker was a professional nanny and she loves to write about wide range of subjects like health, Parenting, Child Care, and Babysitting, find a nanny tips etc. You can reach her @ nancy.parker015 @ gmail.com.
by Jonny
August 9, 2012 in International Development, United Nations, Young Professionals, Youth
Generation Development team member Leila Hanafi discusses the ‘Arab Spring’ from the perspective of youth in Morocco.
The profound unrest the world witnessed throughout the Middle East and North Africa over the past year has prompted some Arab governments to introduce a series of dynamic and responsive measures via reforms. At the very heart of the unrest, echoed from the Maghreb to the Gulf, was the demand for constitutional reform to promote a more democratic political order that it is both credible, and, equally important, recognized as legitimate by the people. These reforms are designed to ensure that governments are accountable and to empower average citizens to play a more active role in policy-making processes. From the outset, popular unrest in much of the Arab world was triggered by outdated constitutional mandates that denied citizens many basic human rights.
Morocco, the first country to successfully engage its citizens by rewriting its constitution after the start of the Arab Spring, has been commended for its willingness and ability to incorporate the demands of its population. The country’s recently amended constitution has the potential to satisfy popular calls for increased freedoms, fundamental rights, transparency, political reforms, as well as social justice. The King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, announced the constitutional reforms in recognition of youth led demonstrations throughout the nation in a speech given on March 9, 2011. However, the true measure of the success of Mohamed VI’s efforts, of course, is directly related to how the reforms are implemented and the impact they make on the lives of average Moroccans.
The population of Morocco, not unlike other Arab nations, is noted for its “youth bulge”- a demographic of more than half of the population currently under the age of 30. Now, one year after the protests began on the streets of Casablanca and just months after a new government was formed, Moroccans are eager to see how the newly constructed constitution will advance the rights of this key demographic.
Consequently, it is imperative to encourage the participation of engaged youth in civil society, political parties and processes, and to reaffirm that their voices are vital for the future of the country. Often the majority of Moroccan youth feel excluded from these arenas, with some experts concerned that continued youthful frustration could possibly culminate in civil unrest on the same streets where peaceful protests were held not so long ago. While high levels of unemployment and a stifling global economy have created a sense of collective pessimism, it is hoped that broad political and economic reform will effectively foster the potential of young human capital. The unique makeup of the youthful Moroccan population may then be considered a demographic gift.
Moving forward, it is important not to be content with the words inscribed in the new constitution, but, more importantly, their realization. It is a common view that a major challenge for Morocco’s newly formed government is how successful it will be in implementing the reform that many of the politicians promised throughout the campaign period. As the King himself observed in his July 30, 2011 Throne Day Speech, “No constitution, however flawless it may be, is an end in itself. It is rather a basis upon which a new political pact can be built and capitalized on to uphold the rule of law, human rights and good governance, and bolster development, through efficient, credible institutions.”
One of the key lessons learned from the uprisings in Morocco, and indeed throughout the Arab world, is that governments need be mindful of the crucial role that civil society, including academics, NGOs, and women and youth groups, play in the political processes. Any tangible steps made in the ongoing development of Morocco cannot be successful without the healthy marriage of good governance and the active participation of its citizens.
Prospects for reform in Morocco will depend not just on the King and the redistribution of power, but also on the ability of citizens to voice their opinions and to participate in discourse on decisions that affect them. To improve rule of law in Morocco, and, consequently, strengthen access to justice and promote transparency and state accountability, it is essential to enhance the capability of civil society groups and leaders to promote a strong and fair legal framework, and, ultimately, greater confidence in the constitution as a blue print for future legislative reform. As rightly put by President Zoellick of the World Bank, in a recent address, “governance will not happen without the active participation of citizens. Institutions, however reformed, need citizens to keep them accountable. An important role here should be played by civil society to improve the enabling environment for social accountability.”
Innovation and progress are never a solitary process. Morocco must open to the world, tirelessly expand economic development, encourage the education of its young people, increase rights for women and enact the reforms that encourage equality and transparency. This desire is not held solely by any one demographic, one party or one group. The opportunity for prosperity and an improved quality of life is something that all Moroccans want.
by Jonny
August 6, 2012 in United Nations, Young Professionals, Youth
by Jonny
August 1, 2012 in Guest Author, International Development, Young Professionals, Youth
In this week’s blog a guest author Dabesaki Mac-Ikemenjima writes on what a post-2015 development agenda means for young people around the world. Image from eepa.be
The Millennium Development goals (MDG), a set of goals and targets to halve global poverty by 2015 were endorsed in the year 2000. With less than three years to the deadline, the UN’s latest MDG report suggests some developing countries are unlikely to meet the goals (although some progress was recorded in poverty and gender parity in education). If this occurs, as it appears it would, the effect would be felt mostly by youth aged 15 to 24 (this assertion is supported by the array of recent UN reports, like the ILO global employment trends for youth 2012, which paint a gloomy picture on the status of youth), and perhaps women. While only one MDG target explicitly focuses on youth – ‘the development and implementation of strategies for decent and productive work for youth,’ the MDGs should essentially be about the development of young people – since they address some of the challenges of today’s youth such as HIV/AIDS, environmental sustainability and education, and any process towards setting a new agenda post 2015 needs to integrate the aspirations and values of the youth themselves.
So what will be post 2015 development agenda for young people? What are the ‘developmental guarantees’ – safeguards to ensure youth issues are included in the development agenda, to ensure that youth are able to achieve the ‘functional futures’ – a world where they have adequate opportunities to achieve their full potential, they envisage? The key question in essence is: what role will the youth voices play in shaping the post 2015 development agenda? If the processes towards a post 2015 agenda will present the opportunity for young people to achieve optimal functioning, it should be inclusive, integrating young people’s own account of their aspirations and values. In addition, new goals, targets and indicators which resonate with what is most of value to young people and should in fact be a natural follow-up on the current set of goals – and perhaps a way of keeping with the UN’s recent initiative, ‘the future we want’ but how do we identify these goals?
Inclusivity and ‘developmental guarantees’
The case for youth inclusion is built on the demographic argument. By their sheer numbers – numbering over a billion and constituting around 18 per cent of the world population, young people do deserve ‘a seat’ at the negotiating table. Youth participation is a right. It serves as a developmental guarantee and a means to enable young people negotiate their aspired functional futures. By being inclusive, the process of the post 2015 development agenda avails itself of the potential of being one of the most robust and transparent development agendas to be developed by the UN. In the final analysis, the post 2015 agenda requires a fundamental shift from being just another global political declaration to a framework which provides national governments with a roadmap on measures to meaningfully improve young people’s quality of life.
During the early 1990s, Roger Hart presented a framework for youth participation recommending the ideal level for youth engagement as that in which youth are equal partners, with shared responsibilities with adults and policymakers. The consultative processes leading up to 2015 need to recognise the importance of youth issues and ensure their adequate engagement in articulating them. Recently, Brian Head made a compelling case for the integration of young people’s ‘voice’ in policy, based on three rationales. The first derives from a rights based framework, presenting participation as a right to which young people are entitled and a way to demonstrate respect for young people’s views. The second view suggests that young people’s needs assessment and policy design should take an asset based positive youth development approach rather than a paternalistic view of young people’s needs. Thirdly, he suggests that participation in development processes provides an opportunity for social learning, which inadvertently contributes to young people’s development of skills and competences which are valuable to other aspects of their lives.
The UN recognises and has committed itself to an open, transparent and participatory process as espoused in the recent report of the secretary general ‘the future we want for all.’ It remains to be seen to what extent this would be pursued.
Framing the discourse of youth in the post 2015 agenda
Thus far, only few of the writings on the UN’s post 2015 agenda specifically focus on youth. There are two strands to this. The first is about content, the second is about language. In relation to content Emily Freeburg and colleagues make a compelling case for robust investments in the various youth specific issues which were not included in the MDGs. In framing the discourse towards a development agenda post 2015, it is important the both the issues identified in the Freeburg et al report and similar others (including youth conference declarations and statements) are gleaned for their possible content contribution to the post 2015 agenda. Not only should young people be involved in framing the future development agenda, their voices should provide the needed illumination for development policy trajectories. As this generation of youth is possibly the most educated than any previous generation of their cohorts, as indicated by the UN, they posses the capacity to contribute meaningfully to the post 2015 development agenda. This factor should not be ignored.
Secondly, it is important that writings with specific mention of youth appear in the discourse leading up to 2015 and beyond. This is perhaps a meaningful way to gain traction in promoting the importance of youth issues. It is important that the UN and civil society organisations working on youth issues in the context of the post 2015 agenda bring attention to the issues of youth not just by the use of concepts like ‘the future’ but by actual mention of youth or young people. This measure is an important means to ensure that such an agenda would facilitate national level action on youth specific issues. Approaches within well-being research could provide some methodological guidance in terms of keeping the focus on young people’s values and aspirations. Such a focus needs to recognise that there is not a single category of youth and thus no single narrative will ‘fit’ what is most beneficial to the youth in the long term. Perhaps Jan Vandemoortele’s notion of ‘collectivist targets,’ could provide some understanding of how best to weigh what’s beneficial to youth within the broader context of the post 2015 discourse.
Elements of a post 2015 youth agenda
While there is the usual temptation to produce a list of ‘youth areas’ in which the post 2015 agenda, it is beyond the scope of this article to do so. Rather, I point in specific directions as well as methodologies through which such a ‘list of youth issues’ could be derived. Firstly, a viable approach towards collating and these issues is through rigorous content analysis of declarations and statements from youth forums at different levels. Several youth related events have been held in the last decade across all regions (for example the UN’s youth leadership summit series) and the output documents from all of these point in the direction of what young people’s future aspirations are. Drawing these conference declarations, could provide the essential elements needed for a post 2015 youth agenda. Certainly, these documents would provide a valuable avenue towards understanding what’s important to youth and what needs to be captured in the post 2015 development agenda that would otherwise have been lost.
The second method/ avenue through which youth issues could be gathered is the use of ICT tools such as crowd sourcing. This model has already been used by UNAIDS and the World Bank in the development of youth related reports. Many young people including those in developing countries, are tech savvy, and have used this as a means to promote social causes. This is easily exemplified by the Arab spring uprising which took place in the last year or so. ICT tools certainly provide viable and cost effective means of gathering information on what is important to young people. In addition, UN country offices (using the one UN system/ youth taskforce approach rather than multiple efforts across agencies) should commission studies working with young people to understand their view on the ‘future we want’ and how they think this could be realised. This is an important step owing to the fact that not all young people have access to the internet.
Concluding remarks
The MDG era is coming to a close, and already processes leading to the design of a successor framework has been put in place. It is important that such a process recognises the importance of youth inclusion. It is not only the right of young people to be actively involved, it is in fact a meaningful avenue of contributing to their development. It is important that youth issues form an integral component of the post 2015 discourse and that the language of the process integrates specific mentions of youth. It is also important that adequate measures are taken to ensure that not only are tech savvy middle class youth are targeted in the representation at these processes, but a sample as representative of the wide range of young people as possible, including those with special needs, is taken using a range of methods including commissioned studies which work with young people through a participatory outlook.
Going forward, the UN and civil society groups should take specific interest in ensuring that youth issues are not ‘missing’ or deliberately left out of the discussion towards 2015 and beyond. This is perhaps the most viable means to achieve the ‘future we want.’ After all, there is no sustainable future without today’s generation of children and young people.
Dabesaki Mac-Ikemenjima is a researcher on youth quality of life and Policy and Strategy Adviser at the Centre for Youth Development and Research Initiative. He can be reached at [email protected].
by admin
July 17, 2012 in Africa, Guest Author, International Development, Young Professionals, Youth
Figure 1 MOBILE MONEY USERS IN AFRICA (2011)
In this week’s blog in our ‘What’s Your Priority’ campaign blogger Jesse Muraya from Kenya argues Africa is leading the way with new information technologies for mobile payments. Is this a model the remainder of the world should adopt? Read further & comment below with your responses!
“In Tanzania, a hospital sends money by text message to women in remote areas so they can pay for bus fare to travel for critically needed surgery. In Afghanistan, the government pays its police officers by text message to skirt corrupt middlemen. In Pakistan, the biggest financial network is not a bank, but a unit of Telenor, the Norwegian mobile phone operator.” says the NY Times.
The above story is not really about Tanzania or Afghanistan, but about a little known company in the heart of Kenya that came to inspire the world (Having lived most of my life in Kenya, I will unashamedly boast about Kenya in this article.)
In April 2007, following a donor-funded pilot project, Safaricom launched a new mobile phone-based payment and money transfer service known as M-Pesa (Safaricom is the largest mobile phone operator in Kenya.) The service allows users to deposit money into an account stored on their cell phones, to send balances using SMS technology to other users (including sellers of goods and services), and to redeem deposits for regular money. Charges, deducted from users’ accounts, are levied when e-float is sent, and when cash is withdrawn. M-Pesa has spread quickly, and has become the most successful mobile phone-based financial service in the developing world.
The ‘dark continent’, as it was referred to in the 19th century, is now brighter due to such innovation. In Africa, many more people possess mobile phones than bank accounts. Telecoms, followed by banks, were amongst the first group of people to notice this. At first there came the introduction of an innovative way to transfer funds from one person to another via a GSM enabled mobile phone. Banks then felt like they got the raw deal out of this whole innovation as mobile banking picked up immensely. A marriage however, was inevitable between the two industries. Three years after launching M-Pesa, Safaricom took its innovation to a new level by teaming up with Africa’s leading microfinance bank, Equity Bank, to launch the pioneering M-Kesho. M-Kesho (‘mobile tomorrow) is an M-Pesa Equity Bank affordable bank account, which can be started with a deposit of as little as $1.30. At their convenience, customers can deposit money into their bank account as well as withdraw money from the same account using M-Pesa. They can also request for mini statements and make balance enquiries. Today, most banks in Kenya have set up such linkages with telecom operators to enhance such a service offering. This model is proving successful all over Africa. Adding a bank account to an existing mobile phone number would narrow the access gap to financial services considerably. If one goes to Kenya right now, they will notice that one can make quick money transfers from their mobile to any bank account securely. Allowing mobile phones to provide financial services to those without bank accounts was the result of this successful marriage.
Britain is also at the dawn of the mobile banking craze that hit Africa. Recently, O2 (UK) introduced mobile money transfer services following the success of ‘Pingit’, yet another successful mobile money transfer product of Barclays Bank Plc. While undertaking my postgraduate studies in the UK, I very well remember asking my professor whether the Western world would ever adopt such mobile payment methods as those seen in Africa. His answer was a staunch NO! It would not work because there are already established payment systems like Visa cards, ATMS, established bank branches and so on. He saw no need for the use of mobile phones for such transactions. However if one looks at the successful adoption of ‘Pingit’ a few months down the line, he would have taken his answer back. There is essentially a universal need to enable easier transfer of money from one party to another. Therefore the African success story seems to have been duplicated all over the world.
SO WHAT?
The backdrop of this article lies in the development debate. As part of the Millennium Development Goals, many of the world’s leading nations have committed to reduce poverty by 50% by 2015. Through innovation and engagement with the private sector, this goal has moved a step closer. For example, with mobile banking we have seen a level of financial inclusion never seen before in the history of the developing world. This level of financial inclusion is stimulating growth within every sector of the economy as it easing methods of doing business. Access to finance facilitates entrepreneurial activity. In turn this creates wealth through economic activity, job creation, and trade. This is through a savings culture and thus a greater access to larger financing of economically viable activities.
In order to move to the next level, i.e. post-MDG status, there needs to be greater encouragement towards innovation led technology. Infrastructure in IT is still very low within sub-Saharan Africa.
The private sector has never really been a part of “team development”. This has always been the domain of government agencies, non-governmental organizations and donor agencies. I firmly believe corporations have a huge role to play in the future we want for tomorrow. Safaricom, through their introduction of M-Pesa has come to bridge the divide between the for-profit model and social development. Not only has Safaricom made billions in profits out of such a venture, they have also helped millions in Kenya out of poverty.
Young people should therefore make an effort to steer private organizations towards innovations that benefit the organization as well as the community. For the rest of the developing world, Africa should act as a model. The mobile phone represents a grand opportunity for the provision of financial services to the unbanked population. In addition to economic and technological innovation, policy and regulatory innovation is needed to make these services a reality. Only through this can we see a framework that would work in a post-MDG world where poverty would be, but a rumor. http://www.economist.com/node/21553510
See links:
1. http://www.economist.com/node/21553510
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8100388.stm
3. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/business/global/29iht-mobilebanks29.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
by Jonny
June 27, 2012 in Guest Author, International Development, United Nations, Young Professionals, Youth
In our blog this week as part of our 2nd week of the ‘What’s Your Priority’ campaign new team member & blogger for Gen Dev Rebecca Scheiddeger summarises the outcomes of the Rio+20 conference. We want to know your thoughts on what lies next for sustainable development so as always get in touch or post your comments below!
week, delegates from over 100 UN countries met in Rio de Janeiro to discuss the progress and future of sustainabledevelopment. It was a follow-up to a similarly themed UN conference held in the same location in 1992.
The main outcome of the summit was a list of 283 statements each state agreed to. This document has largely been criticized as being watered-down, repetitive, and spineless. Many of the statements begin ‘We reaffirm’ or ‘We recognize.’ This passive language ignores the urgency of the problems at hand. The document also failed to set specific targets or deadlines.
However, it did call for the creation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in statement 246 and noted ‘They should be coherent with and integrated in the United Nations Development Agenda beyond 2015’ and ‘should not divert focus or effort from the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.’
Notably present were big businesses, including giants such as Unilever and Aviva. It has been argued by some that their presence detracts from the core mission of the UN. However, there were about 700 commitments made by governments, NGOs, and businesses, such as a $175bn pledge led by the Asian Development Bank for sustainable transport schemes. Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, actively argued for the creation of the SDGs. UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced that companies listed on the London Stock Exchange will have to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions as of April 2013. These are all steps in the right direction and show that business is serious about sustainability.
Politically, the conference was not as successful. Notably absent from the summit were US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron. Being the leaders of three of the most influential countries in the world, it is disappointing they did not attend. Another reason for a lack of political coherence could be contributed to the presence of developing countries, such as China or Brazil. They are much more vocal than 20 years ago and are reluctant to make binding commitments.
Although the statement produced may not have been ambitious as it could have been, it did lay the groundwork for future collaboration and discussion. In Ban Ki-Moon’s closing statement, he said: ‘Rio+20 has given us a solid platform to build on. And it has given us the tools to build with. The work starts now.’ Rio has established the mountain that needs to be scaled. Now we must work together to do this.
The tag line of the conference was ‘The Future We Want.’ At the onset of the conference Brittany Trillford, 17, delivered a speech from the youth perspective: ‘We, the next generation, demand change, demand action, so that we can have a future.’
So what is the future you want? How do you best think sustainable development can be achieved? Should the SDGs and the MDGs work in collaboration? What is your priority? Let’s keep the conversation going and remind our leaders that the well-being of both the planet and countless people are at stake.
March 29, 2012 in MDGs, Young Professionals, Youth
As we near 2015 and the expiry of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), policymakers and campaigners will be asking themselves how to construct newer and better goals for development. But what would a perfect framework for development look like? Are more goals better? Or should we focus on a trimmed set of achievable targets? In this week’s blog, we consider the ‘excluded’ issues of the MDGs, and what future development rounds may look like.
The MDGs were in some ways the first of their kind. While previous international summits had succeeded in constructing human rights agreements, trade agreements, and a range of grandiloquent statements on various development issues, there were usually a few key parties reluctant to sign away their support. Few agreements managed to create precise targets, nor timelines to judge their lofty aims. And the majority of these frameworks were based around single issue campaigns – for instance specific diseases such as polio, smallpox, and various others.
The MDGs in contrast brought all governments to the table. Business and NGOs were targeted also, making these new development targets about ‘everyone’ and not specifically government initiatives. All countries of the time were willing to give their support, a success unparalleled until then. The goals even managed to encompass issues as wide-ranging as maternal health, poverty and global partnerships, all in one condensed set of targets.
If many at the time were impressed with their efforts, the MDGs have certainly not been without their criticisers since. Issues were left excluded from the agenda: where were non-communicable diseases, mental health, climate change, and water & sanitation? Some complained the goals’ contents were reflected by the successful campaigning by a small crowd of NGOs in the run up to the Millennium Summit. Others took issue with the neoliberal approach of the poverty targets – governments being expected to open up their markets along with other economic policies much criticised by many. At Generation Development, a further objection we have is the lack of civil participation in the goals’ creation. Where was the grassroots discussion on goals that would go on to affect millions of people’s lives?
One interesting new approach proposed by a Commission put together to discuss the future of development post-2015 involves agreeing a general vision for development globally – with local ownership and stipulation of what this would entail at a community- or national-level. They suggest 5 principles – holism, equity, sustainability, ownership and global obligations – as defining a new approach to goal-setting. As opposed to setting narrow targets for all corners of the world, regions would be encouraged to set their own targets, with all the usual auditing and monitoring of past development systems supporting the realisation of these.
At Gen Dev we don’t have any specific idea of what the future of the MDGs will look like. Our priority is your participation in discussing this. We have a critical opportunity to shape the lives of future generations through our efforts to create a fair and just system for international development. Get in touch and tell us your thoughts – we look forward to hearing from you!
By Jonny Currie
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February 23, 2012 in United Nations, Young Professionals, Youth
The UN is running a number of competition aimed at youth and young people and the good news is there is still time to enter them:
| Deadline is 16 March, 2012 | Visit the website |
 The Stockholm Convention celebrated its 10th anniversary in May 2011. On this occasion, the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention is organising a global art contest for children and youth.
The theme for the competition is “Stockholm at 10: Chemical Challenges, Sustainable Solutions” and what it means to young people around the world. The contest is open to three possible art media categories: drawing, photography and short videos. There are also three age categories: 5-10 years old; 11-15 years old; and 16-20 years old. |
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| Deadline is 1 April, 2012 | Visit the website |
 The 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report will examine how skills development programmes can improve young people’s opportunities for decent jobs and better lives.
Youth, skills and work – What skills do you need to create a better future? The artwork should illustrate ideas linked to youth, education, skills and the world of work. The winning entry will receive a trip to Paris and will feature in the 2012 EFA Global Monitoring Report. To enter you must be between 18 and 24 years old. |
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| Deadline is 30 April, 2012 | Visit the website |
 The Office for Disarmament Affairs has launched a disarmament education contest for young people.
Youth from ages 5 through 17 are being urged to be creative and tap into their imaginations to draw, paint, sketch, use pens, pencils, crayons, charcoal, oil, acrylic paint or watercolours to illustrate a world free of nuclear weapons, without wars, without fear. |
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| Deadline is 30 April, 2012 | Visit the website |
 The theme is: “Write a letter to an athlete or sports figure you admire to explain what the Olympic Games mean to you”.
The Olympic Movement seeks to create a better world through sports, by promoting the universal values of excellence, friendship and respect. With these values in mind, young letter-writers are invited to express their thoughts on what the Olympic Games, which are being organized in 2012, mean to them. |
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| Deadline is 30 June, 2012 | Visit the website |
 The annual essay contest is organized in an effort to harness the energy, imagination and initiative of the world’s youth in promoting a culture of peace and sustainable development. It also aims to inspire society to learn from the young minds and to think about how each of us can make a difference in the world.
The theme is “Creating the Future We Want” – The future begins with the vision we hold now. What kind of future do you wish to create for yourself and the world? |
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