Mrs. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UNI-HABITAT, joined the YES Campaign Committee that guides and advises the Campaign on strategic issues of productive and sustainable livelihoods generation for the youth. The Campaign Committee comprises leaders well known for their commitment to the global development and who embrace youth as partner in this development process.

Mrs. Tibaijuka, is the highest ranking African woman in the United Nations system. A Tanzanian national, she holds a Doctorate of Science in Agricultural Economics from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala. During her tenure Mrs. Tibaijuka, oversaw major reforms that led the UN General Assembly to upgrade the United Nations Center for Human Settlements to a fully-fledged UN program, now called UN-HABITAT - the United Nations Human Settlements Programs. The YES Campaign is excited about Mrs. Tibaijuka endorsing the Campaign's goal of youth development and empowerment which seamlessly aligns with the UN-HABITAT goal global development.

During the conference Mr. Gonzales reiterated the importance of youth livelihood initiatives on the global agenda by stating that, "the goal of the Campaign is to develop a global alliance for sustainable livelihoods generation for the youth, provides answer to the challenges of unemployment impacting millions of young men and women." He further added, "Addressing this challenge requires participation of all stakeholders, including youth, governments, private sector and Civil Society Organizations."

Taking pride in the commitment and success of the YES Campaign Ms. Ahluwalia announced that more than one thousand youth delegates from over 100 countries are expected to attend the global event and that during the summit young men and women will have the opportunity to exchange thoughts and experiences, as well as best practices in the generation of productive and sustainable livelihood for the youth. According to her the experience and knowledge gained by the youth would create a ripple effect, touching the lives of thousands of youth worldwide.

The press releases of the event is also available Spanish on: www.yesweb.org/media_room/index.html

The YES Campaign recently announced 300 scholarships for youth for its upcoming YES Mexico Summit 2004, at Boca Del Rio, Mexico. The Summit is scheduled for October 4th to 7th, is expected to attract over 1000 delegates from more than 100 countries.

Talking about the scholarship program, Poonam Ahluwalia, Executive Director of the YES Campaign, stated that, " Preference will be given to those who have successfully demonstrated their commitment to youth employment and empowerment in their communities." She also mentioned that, "In addition gender and geographic considerations will be taken into account".

The scholarships aimed at youth from the developing countries cover shared accommodation, local transportation, meals and registration fee The Applicants are expected to arrange for their own airfare and appropriate documentation like a valid visa. To apply, click here: http://www.yesweb.org/mexico/scholform.html

Learn more on: http://www.yesweb.org/mexico/scholarship.html

The Declaration of Santo Domingo de Guzmán signed at the twelfth First Ladies, Spouses and representatives of the Heads of State and government of the Americas meeting from October 15th to 16th, 2003, makes a specific mention seeking global support for the forthcoming the YES Mexico Summit.

The Declaration addressed the theme of youth and poverty and called on its members to &Quot;…recognize the next World Summit on Youth Employment to be held in Mexico in 2004, with the participation of governmental institutions, the business sector, middle and higher education institutions, international organizations and social organizations in general and youth organizations in particular."

The First Ladies meeting was attended by Laura Bush, First Lady of USA, and Aline Chrétien, First Lady of Canada, among others. Responding to the acknowledgment, Poonam Ahluwalia, Executive Director of the YES Campaign stated that "It is heartening to receive recognition from such high offices and we are grateful for the recognition."

Learn more about the Declaration on:
http://www.xiiconferencia-primes-damas.gov.do/contenidos/archivos/santodomingodeclaration.pdf

The YES Mauritius was officially launched on April 23rd, 2004. The network marked its beginning by starting a mentoring pilot program for young entrepreneurs in Mauritius. The program was inaugurated by Vice President of Mauritius, Hon. Raouf Bundhun at Port-Louis. Dignitaries including the High Commissioner of South Africa, European Union Representative, Director of Youth Development Network (YDN), South Africa attended the program. The event also had enthusiastic representation from private sector, youth entrepreneurs and media.

Mahendranath Busgopaul, YES Mauritius Coordinator and Clayton Peters, Director of YDN and YES Regional Coordinator- Southern Africa, introduced the audience to YES Campaign and its role in youth employment and empowerment. They also gave a briefing on the Mentoring Program and how the local youth would benefit from such initiatives.

The three-day program conducted by YDN included entrepreneur orientation sessions imparted by the YES Mauritius.

Contact: Mahendranath Busgopaul, YES Mauritius Coordinator yes-mauitius@halleymovement.org
Website: www.yesweb.org

Two new state level YES networks were launched in Bihar and Jharkhand, on April 16, 2004. It was a moment of pride for the YES Country Network in India to be able to penetrate into two of India's poorest states. The states are characterized by low development and high growth rate of population. Extensive poverty and lack of opportunities in the area has caused an exodus of youth to urban areas affecting the social fabric of the society. The members of the YES Network aim to stem the migration trend and generate livelihood opportunities in the area through entrepreneurship development programs.

The new Network comprises youth activists, youth leaders, entrepreneurs, government officials, media, NGOs, and the Panchayati Raj Institutions (grass root level of governance in the villages set-up by the Indian Government).

Learn more about the YES local networks in India, on: www.projects.takingitglobal.org/YES-India

YES Kenya a principal player in "Stakeholders Roundtable Initiative on Youth Employment" participated in the national youth employment workshop titled "Rethinking Youth Employment Strategies: The Road Ahead". The workshop, sponsored by the Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development, Government of Kenya and the UNDP, brought together key stakeholders to deliberate on policy formulation and implementation.

The agenda of the meeting was to identify and establish intervention measures for youth employability; strategize for sustained stakeholder linkages and create a roadmap of progress.

The World Bank expressed keen interest in joining the youth development efforts in Kenya, at a recent workshop in Nairobi. The YES Kenya network is playing an important role in enabling the World Bank involvement and is also assisting in a study of feasible activities for the Bank to get involved in.

Learn more about the YES Kenya Network on: www.yesweb.org

The UNIDO-YES project on Renewable energy Zambia is on fast track and well on schedule. YES Zambia has already completed the recruitment process for key work force and identified youth organizations involved in the renewable energy sector. The Network is now focused on building capacity of YES Zambia members and developing training curriculum and material for the project.

The primary objective of the UNIDO-YES project is to harness the potential of renewable energy technologies through youth entrepreneurship. The project will also enable the Zambian Government to provide electricity and energy services to rural areas.

Contact: Francis Chigunta, YES Project Coordinator. francis@yesweb.org

YES Egypt has recently been awarded a project by the USAID - the United States Agency for International Development - to encourage youth entrepreneurship. Speaking about the project, Mr. Abdallah Salem Sobeih, the YES Regional Coordinator - Middle East and Northern Africa, said, "The project is a great opportunity for YES Egypt Network to showcase its outreach and capabilities." He further elaborated, "The aim of this project is to help youth enhance their skills-sets and making them more effective in finding sustainable livelihoods"

The Network is putting high emphasis on building linkages with other NGOs in Egypt and other countries. The Euro-Med Youth Exchange Program is one of its well-established relationships involving the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the European Commission.

Contact: Abdallah Salem Sobeih at abdallah@yesweb.org

Website: http://projects.takingitglobal.org/YES-Egypt

1. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Annual meet held in Lima, Peru last month was an exciting time for the YES Campaign. Mr. Esteban Gonzalez, Co-Chairman of the YES Campaign committee was invited as a speaker in the workshop titled, "Mobilizing Civil Society through Networks" where he shared the achievements of the YES Country Networks in the Latin American region with the audiences. To make the moment even more remarkable for YES was the selection of Mr. Jorge Barroso, YES Honduras network member, for his IT project, as one of the top 40 Youth Entrepreneurs in the Latin American region at the IDB Youth and MasterCard Award ceremony.

2. At the " Dialogue Roundtable on Youth Leaders working in Latin America" organized by YES Peru and the German foundation Fiedrich Ebert at Ursula Carrascal, the YES Peru Coordinator and a YES Renewable Energy Fellow a addressed the meeting and talked the YES Campaign.

Contact: Dacil Acevedo Riquelme, Regional Coordinator - Latin America dacil@yesweb.org
Website: www.yesweb.org

YES Country Network Russia has launched a new networks in Moscow region. The first YES Country Network in Russia was setup in the Yaroslavl region. The setting of this new network is a great example of how the YES Networks proliferate regionally - when an active member of YES moved to Moscow, she took up the task of setting up the Network there. She has already conducted three workshops of school and graduate students in Babushkinskiy region of Moscow and launched a local network there.

Contact: Dr. Nugzar Meladze, Regional Coordinator, Eastern Europe at nugzar@yesweb.org
Website: http://projects.takingitglobal.org/YES-Georgia