 WELCOME TO MEXICO SUMMIT |
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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 old… 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 |
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