YES Mexico 2004
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Welcome to Mexico Summit
Dear YES Family,
We
are delighted to invite you to the Mexico Summit 2004! I first want to congratulate
Esteban Gonzalez and his young team for working tirelessly to make the Mexico
2004 a reality for all of us. Esteban - we are proud of your leadership and
commitment!
By the time Mexico rolls around our YES Campaign will be two years oldĄ
Remember Alexandria?
Over fifteen hundred delegates, 120 countries, 75 government delegations,
99 speakers, over 30 publications and an indomitable spirit characterized
the Alexandria Summit 2002. The Mediterranean backdrop, the colorful city,
warm citizens of Alexandria, dedicated YES staff and volunteers made it an
occasion I shall always treasure.
The
work we began in Alexandria is resonating around the world because of the
hard work and dedication of our YES Country Network coordinators and their
teams. The Networks (self-organizing coalitions of youth and senior leaders)
began emerging, more or less spontaneously, in 2001. Fostered by our dedicated
team in Boston, many of the YES Networks are now evolving into independent
organizations that are achieving notable successes in public policy formulation,
initiating pilot projects, and fostering a entrepreneurial culture. These
Networks are emerging as a viable platform for leadership and action on the
issue of youth employment.
One
of the most exciting developments since the Campaign launch is the hosting
of the Regional Forum on Youth Employment for Asia by the Government of Andhra
Pradesh (Indian State), Dec 14-18, 2003. In addition, the visionary Chief
Minister of Andhra Pradesh Hon. Chandrababu Naidu launched the YES Academy
in partnership with the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation and the YES Campaign.
The Academy concept is aimed at bringing greater intellectual and financial
resources to bear on the youth employment challenge. Concentrated investment
in research into youth livelihoods, and the practical application of it,
is a key goal of the YES Campaign. Our aim is to continue marshalling resources
to identify the realities youth face, to explore new opportunities for youth
to find and generate employment, and to maintain a reservoir of political
will for meeting youth employment challenges.
The
Mexico Summit will be the first milestone meeting of the ten year YES Campaign.
It will be a time to rejoice in our successes and to learn from what did
not work. While we are all busy with our lives, our projects and our plans,
I ask you to take a moment to reflect on the issue of youth employment and
where it stands in the world today. Since YES began as a tiny initiative
in 1998, a range of new and powerful ideas have arisen to focus our collective
attention. Leading us all into the new century are the UN Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), which set deadlines in all areas of poverty eradication. In
addition the powerful Youth Employment Network (YEN) is a vigorous effort
to formulate systemic responses to the global youth employment challenge.
The
YES Campaign commits itself to working with these initiatives and others
to achieve Target 16 of MDG Goal Eight, which directly addresses the employment
needs of our youth.
In Solidarity,
Poonam Ahluwalia
Executive Director
YES Campaign
For more info, go to http://www.yesweb.org/mexico/index.html
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