For all those interested in what happened at the World Summit on the Information Society - below is a report on youth activities at WSIS!!! Thanks to a young reporter (Roman Godkin) who followed us through each event!!

TakingITGlobal served as the Facilitator for the WSIS Youth Caucus and played a key role in supporting the organization of many activities highlighted.


REPORT ON YOUTH ACTIVITIES at WSIS (10.12.03)
By: Roman Godkin

1) Organizational matters (documents, guests etc.).
2) Passage for the declaration of principles.
3) Press-releases.
4) National youth campaigns.

December 9, 2003:

10:00 - 12:00 Youth Media Orientation Session (Nick Moraitis) brought together young journalists from different organizations who are going to report live at WSIS via print, radio, television and internet media outlets.

13:00 - 14:00 Youth Hub Opening (Alex Fielding) - formal opening of the Youth Hub exhibition space which simultaneously launched the gender/youth mural photo exposition and project showcase. Young participants got the opportunity to meet in an informal setting facilitating them to get easily
acquainted and to discuss the details of the Youth projects. Furthermore, they had time to get to know the space, and received Participant's Kit containing Pocket Guide and Youth information documents.

14:00 - 15:30 RESCHEDULED! Youth ICT Entrepreneurship (Terry Willard) - the discussion was rescheduled due to the organizational matters. Presumably it will take place on December 12.

16:00 - 18:15 Open Space Workshop on Youth Empowerment (Jennifer Corriero) - taking advantage of the innovative Open Space Technology participants discussed in small groups issues they considered relevant answer to the How "to empower youth as learners, developers, contributors, entrepreneurs, and decision-makers" in the information society question. So far as the bracketed part is an extract from the youth paragraph in the Declaration of Principles, the Workshop turned out to be the first truly participatory and interactive Youth meeting of the Summit. Moreover, it proved to be really representative, having gathered young people from Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Tunis, etc. There were youth representatives of different NGOs and governments among participants which implies explicit interest of these actors in such meetings and their desire to collaborate with the Young. The Workshop was truly productive and fruitful. The participants discussed such topics as (in connection to Youth involvement in ICTs matters):
. local coordination;
. decision making;
. young developers;
. entrepreneurship;
. education;
. cultural diversity;
. online learning;
. understanding of information society;
. encouraging risk-taking;
. youth empowerment;
. technology as an added value in rural areas;
. crisis management;
. role of NGOs;
. governmental e-strategies;
. environment;
. role of political system in creating educated society.

There were more topics sponsored (e-learning, financing, WSIS II preparatory stage), but they did not find mass support, and were not discussed. Meanwhile, political aspects of Youth involvement in the ICTs world enjoyed huge resonance. The discussion of the governmental e-strategies and the role of political system in creating educated society gathered 12 and 10 participants respectively, whereas entrepreneurship and the role of NGOs gathered only 4 and 5 disputants accordingly. Topics and
corresponding suggestions are available in e-form.

December 10, 2003:

9:00 - 9:30 Youth Day Briefing - a special briefing session for the WSIS Youth Caucus will kick-off Youth Day on December 10. It will introduce new delegates to WSIS Youth and outline youth involvement thus far on a policy, project and community level.

10:00 - 11:30 Human Rights, Youth, and the Information Society – a dialogue around "introducing and strengthening human rights within post-conflict peace-building processes". High level speakers will discuss the theme and showcase best-practice initiatives in Afghanistan, Croatia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone where ICTs have been used as resources of knowledge, and tools for rehabilitation, democratization and enhancing human rights.

11:00 - 12:30 Comic Contest Launch - Pastel World Association will launch their contest for young comic artists around the world on the theme of the information society with featured comic artist, M. Gerald Poussin.

11:30 - 13:30 "Local Voices, Global Visions", National Campaigns Workshop - coordinators of the over twenty National Information Society Youth Campaigns will present their activities in an interactive workshop-style presentation.

13:30 - 14:30 Launch of YCDO Action Plan - while the WSIS Declaration of Principles and Plan of Actions contain excellent language regarding youth and the information society, the achievement of these visions will require a concerted effort at the international level. The presentation of the Youth
Creating Digital Opportunities Action Plan 2004-2005 will focus on the document outlining a framework to achieve the WSIS commitment to youth in the Information Society.

14:30 - 15:30 E-learning Workshop - fostering the use of ICTS for a better and more e-inclusive society: What have we achieved so far? Organized by the Digital Youth Consortium this will be a showcase by different organizations of innovative action-oriented experiences from the grassroots.

15:30 - 16:30 Labour and Youth Symposium - a panel discussion coordinated by the Youth Caucus will feature young representatives of labour, business and NGOs to discuss the impact of the Information Society on young workers around the world. At the conclusion, the publication will be released, with
articles on topics of concern to youth in the information economy, including entrepreneurship, unionization, education, gender equality and conditions for young workers in high-tech industries.

16:30 - 18:00 GKP Youth Awards Panel Showcase - the winner and category finalists of the GKP Youth Awards will engage in a panel discussion around their best-practice ICT4D projects. From Cambodia to Rwanda, Philippines to Finland, these young people will share their stories and provide lessons
learned.

REPORT ON YOUTH ACTIVITIES (11.12.03)

December 10, 2003:

9:00 - 9:30 Youth Day Briefing (Jennifer Corriero) - a special briefing session for the WSIS Youth Caucus kicked-off Youth Day on December 10. It introduced new delegates to WSIS Youth and outlined youth involvement thus far on a policy, project and community level. The participants set the agenda for the day and made short presentations.

10:00 - 12:30 Human Rights, Youth, and the Information Society (Alex Fielding, Jennifer Corriero) - a dialogue around "introducing and strengthening human rights within post-conflict peace-building processes". High level speakers discussed the theme and showcased best-practice initiatives in Afghanistan, Croatia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and China where ICTs had been used as resources of knowledge, and tools for rehabilitation, democratization and enhancing human rights. The main focus was placed on the speakers and their presentations, which revealed their personal concerns as
citizens:

China (Sharon Hom): I would like to thank the organizers for the possibility of non-discriminatory participation in your event and to provide some background in figures: there are 68 million Internet users in China nowadays, 152 million (anticipated) - by 2005; 47 % of the Chinese users turn to Internet to get information; there remains high level of death penalty sentences in China (2/3 of the world's); 70 % of the Chinese live in rural areas; 1,8 million migrant children are not educated; low percentage
of villages with phones and running water (especially in eastern part) => low level of basic infrastructure. China's human rights challenges: repression of grassroots activists and independent trade unions; legal
reform; development divide; environmental degradation. Peace and justice building process is not linear. The violence of the civil war brutalizes and is carried by children (for instance, from Sierra Leone) or simply by individuals. At the end the idea lies in the generosity and forgiving each other: a story about Chinese soldier.

Rwanda : first, I am going to talk about conflict and how it effects the youth; second, about the role of our organization in the ICTs world. Conflict is a constraint for the development. Poverty results in war, and war causes poverty. About 50 % of Rwandans go to war after another 5 years of peace. So the peace is not enough. We need to sustain it. We need to prevent conflicts. Environment free from violence is a condition for achieving peace. International community should develop youth capacity. Youth have not been involved in many key decision-making processes. We need to increase respect for human rights. Countries have different backgrounds and we recognize the necessity to deal with them separately. We should avoid short-term solutions, focusing on long-term solutions. Youth inclusion is important, and international support facilitates such an inclusion on national level. Countries must provide educational and working opportunities provided by ICTs for youth, and include youth in peace-building process.
Q: the youth protection as justification to censorship (about limitations on Internet use in Internet cafes in China)? A: yes that's the problem, and the answer is that it is not legitimate to punish people for
the belief-sharing in Internet.
Q: is internet censored in China? A: according to an opinion survey, young people feel free to express political dissent and openly. And personally we do a lot to resist censorship.
Croatia: ZaMirNet!!! - an NGO, oriented towards the usage of ICTs in civil societies. A story and the objectives of the organization. For more info visit www.zamir.net.
Sierra Leone: ICTs in post-conflict and peace building process. Peace is not only a value, but a human right as well. I would like to talk about the web-site our organization found supported by Sierra Leone
government. The project touched many people and countries torn by war. Access to ICTs must be key means to eradicate violence. Young people should know their rights, so human rights must be in core of governmental agenda.

There should be more support and funding to the organizations dealing with
human rights campaigns.
Afghanistan: I will be talking about ICTs and their influence plus their progress in Afghanistan. Violence is what we have in Afghanistan. But physical violence is not there now. It gave way to cultural violence. And it's very bad! There are still discriminations in different spheres. We have limitations on movement, belief etc. We have lack of information etc. Many people are excluded from decision-making. Literacy rate is low. Speaks about projects and web-sites against violence. Actually, it is expensive and
technologically difficult to have Internet at home in Afghanistan.

11:00 - 12:30 Comic Contest Launch - Pastel World Association launched their contest for young comic artists around the world on the theme of the information society with featured comic artist, M. Gerald Poussin.

12:30 - 13:45 "Local Voices, Global Visions", National Campaigns Workshop (Nick Moraitis) - coordinators of the National Information Society Youth Campaigns presented their activities in an interactive workshop-style presentation. The visitors received a brochure on the efforts undertaken by
each National Youth Campaign (available in printed form). Yet the presentations were at the core of the events, once again reflecting personal attitudes of the speakers.

South Africa: we concentrate on bridging digital divide; economy participation; social development; skills and development; local content indigenous knowledge; African smart partnership.

Philippines: we began to address the issue of the forthcoming Summit in schools and universities (consultations). We have lack of basic infrastructure. The majority of the citizens live below poverty line. People leave Philippines to become unqualified workers.

India: we aim at connecting youth all over the country, to discuss youth problems and to bridge digital divide. We talk about how ICTs can be used for development. We had three regional conferences aimed at connecting universities, schools, cultural actors, religious etc to ICTs. Cameroon: speaks about the necessity of cultural diversity.

Turkey: we are dealing with youth capacity building and the role of ICTs in new age.
Sierra Leone:we distributed books in universities, schools and villages (2500) as people do not have much opportunity to connect the Internet. We wanted to elaborate draft declaration and to make
recommendations to government. Sierra Leone (another organization): we lost our glory during the
war and now we are trying to revitalize it by uniting young people with the help of ICTs.
Germany: we have three projects. We are trying to enhance school partnership using ICTs for these ends; we promote local actions and publish a brochure to give voice to the young. Another project - "Wh (at) t's Next" book. We conducted national conference on the topics of Information Society - a
kind of Model WSIS.

Ghana: we had a campaign on covering the topic of digital divide.

13:30 - 14:30 RESCHEDULED! Launch of YCDO Action Plan - while the WSIS Declaration of Principles and Plan of Actions contain excellent language regarding youth and the information society, the achievement of these visions will require a concerted effort at the international level. The presentation of the Youth Creating Digital Opportunities Action Plan 2004-2005 will focus on the document outlining a framework to achieve the WSIS commitment to youth in the Information Society. RESCHEDULED!

14:30 - 15:30 E-learning Workshop - fostering the use of ICTs for a better and more e-inclusive society: What have we achieved so far? Organized by the Digital Youth Consortium this was a showcase by different organizations of innovative action-oriented experiences from the grassroots.

15:30 - 16:45 Labour and Youth Symposium - a panel discussion coordinated by the Youth Caucus featured young representatives of labour, business and NGOs to discuss the impact of the Information Society on young workers around the world. At the conclusion, the publication was released, with
articles on topics of concern to youth in the information economy, including entrepreneurship, unionization, education, gender equality and conditions for young workers in high-tech industries. The publication is available in printed form.

16:00 - 16:30 Youth Caucus Press Briefing (Nick Moraitis, Alex Fielding) -interactive dialogue on the Youth Caucus activities with journalists. Brochure on TakingITGlobal (the main Youth Caucus contributor) is available in printed form.

16:30 - 18:00 GKP Youth Awards Panel Showcase - the winner and category finalists of the GKP Youth Awards were engaged in a panel discussion around their best-practice ICT4D projects. From Cambodia to Rwanda, Philippines to Finland, these young people shared their stories and provided lessons
learned. Information on nominations and works is available on GKP website: http://www.globalknowledge.org.

December 11, 2003:

9:00 - 10:00 Youth and ICT4D is a discussion on youth engagement in the multi-stakeholder approach of national ICT policy formation and business opportunities in the Philippine telecom industry.

10:00 - 11:00 Young Canadians in ICT4D - over the past decade, Canadian government agencies and non-profit organizations have developed unique partnership to support youth leadership in ICT4D in Canada and abroad. Many of the programmes are now being used as models for other national and international ICT4D activities. The visitors will be able to meet the young (and young-at-heart) Canadians responsible for these remarkable initiatives.

11:00 - 13:00 Open House: Meet the Youth Creating Digital Opportunities Coalition - launched in February 2003 at WSIS PrepCom2, YCDO now includes 20 organizations striving to realize the potential of young people as leaders in using ICTs to achieve more sustainable development in their communities
and around the world. The visitors will meet coalition members and learn more about how new organizations can become involved.

13:00 - 14:00 UN Reform - changing Global Governance, a youth dialogue on the impact and potential of ICTs to support institutional reform in global governance.

14:00 - 15:00 African Youth Initiative Workshop - a presentation on the African Youth Initiative in the use of ICTs for Development to provide a sustainable livelihood for the people of Africa, focusing on the
CatchITYoung projects.

15:00 - 15:30 WSIS Youth Video - the visitors will learn about the development of a documentary about the WSIS Youth Caucus profiling youth-led ICT initiatives and National Information Society Youth Campaigns in their countries and at the Summit, to watch advance clips, provide creative input
and get involved.

15:30 - 16:00 Short Film Festival - the visitors will see the screening of a collection of films on the subject "Youth's Vision on Development" by CONGO/WFUNA, and one-minute stories on "Communication" developed by children in partnership with UNICEF.

16:00 - 17:00 IICD Presentation - Global Teenager Programme Learning Circle on the Information Society - Over the past two months, high school classes from nine countries in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe have engaged in an intensive dialogue regarding the information society. The
visitors will join the dialogue facilitators in a discussion of the principles and priorities raised by these young people.

17:00 - 18:00 YOIS Book Launch: Wh (at) t's Next - youth for intergenerational Justice and Sustainability will launch "Wh (at) t's Next" a vibrant book showcasing the writing of young people from around the world on key information society subjects, including human rights and the role of ICTs in sustainable development.

December 11, 2003:

9:00 - 10:00 Youth and ICT4D was a discussion on youth engagement in the multi-stakeholder approach of national ICT policy formation and business opportunities in the Philippine telecom industry.

10:00 - 11:00 Young Canadians in ICT4D (Terry Willard) - over the past decade, Canadian government agencies and non-profit organizations have developed unique partnership to support youth leadership in ICT4D in Canada and abroad. Many of the programmes are now being used as models for other
national and international ICT4D activities. The visitors were able to meet the young (and young-at heart) Canadians responsible for these remarkable initiatives.
Santiago Reyes-Borda - Senior Advisor, Office of International Partnerships, Information Highway Applications Branch, Industry Canada: support for Canadian Youth in ICT4D is rooted in domestic programmes dating back to 1996. The Community Access Programme (CAP) Youth Initiative (YI) is
coordinated by Industry Canada and is funded through Human Resources Development Canada's Youth Employment Strategy. Participants (youth 15 - 30) work as interns at CAP centre's throughout Canada, helping individuals, community organizations and small business improve their knowledge and
effective use of the Internet and related information technologies. Diane Trahan - Director, NetCorps Canada International: support for international ICT4D work experiences was built on successful domestic
experiences. NetCorps Canada International formed as a coalition of Canadian volunteer-sending organizations to offer exciting internships in developing countries for people 19 to 30 years old with appropriate skills in ICTs.
Louis Dorval - VP Finance, Engineers without borders - McGill: it wasn't long before young Canadians started organizing themselves to develop innovative partnerships using technology to address MDGs. Formed in 2000 by recent engineering graduates, Engineering Without Borders is Canada's fastest growing development organization. In the past two years they have sent over 60 young Canadian engineers to work on 30 projects in 20 countries. Many of these have focused on developing IT and education programmes in some of the poorest communities in the world.

Jennifer Corriero - Co-founder, TakingITGlobal: young Canadians also began to catalyze development activities by their global peers through the establishment of a powerful Internet platform. Launched in 2000, TakingITGlobal brings together young people in more than 200 countries within international networks to collaborate on concrete projects addressing global problems and creating positive change. Membership is free of charge and provides peoples with the ability to interact with various aspects of
the website, allowing youth to contribute ideas, experiences and actions.

11:00 - 13:00 Open House: Meet the Youth Creating Digital Opportunities Coalition (Nick Moraitis, Alex Fielding) - launched in February 2003 at WSIS PrepCom2, YCDO now includes 20 organizations striving to realize the potential of young people as leaders in using ICTs to achieve more sustainable development in their communities and around the world. The YCDO members met visitors and answered their questions on the YCDO activities and other matters of interest. The chosen communication format was quite informal and thus more beneficial for everybody facilitating people to discuss absolutely different issues in a friendly setting.

Launch of YCDO Action Plan (Terry Willard) - while the WSIS Declaration of Principles and Plan of Actions contain excellent language regarding youth and the information society, the achievement of these visions will require a concerted effort at the international level. The presentation of the Youth Creating Digital Opportunities Action Plan 2004-2005 focused on the document outlining a framework to achieve the WSIS commitment to youth in the Information Society. Terry Willard showed a presentation on the YCDO Action Plan. There were about 20 people listening. Undoubtedly, the presentation was a success, attracting public and (what is more) youth interest and outlining the main points in the YCDO strategy which can be well applied to those of National Youth Campaigns. The visitors had an opportunity to learn detailed information on the YCDO response to the Information Society challenge. The PowerPoint presentation is available in e-form.

13:00 - 14:00 UN Reform (Luis Davila Ortega) - changing Global Governance, a youth dialogue on the impact and potential of ICTs to support institutional reform in global governance. The discussion brought a better understanding of the place of the UN reform at the moment as well as the broad view on how to promote youth participation in the UN reform process, especially in the local communities.

14:00 - 15:00 African Youth Initiative Workshop (Jennifer Corriero) – a presentation on the African Youth Initiative in the use of ICTs for Development to provide a sustainable livelihood for the people of Africa,
focusing on the CatchITYoung projects. It took the speaker 5 minutes to express his view on the matter in a press-conference style. That was it.

15:00 - 15:30 RESCHEDULED! WSIS Youth Video - the visitors will learn about the development of a documentary about the WSIS Youth Caucus profiling youth led ICT initiatives and National Information Society Youth Campaigns in their countries and at the Summit, to watch advance clips, provide
creative input and get involved. RESCHEDULED!

15:30 - 16:00 RESCHEDULED! Short Film Festival - the visitors will see the screening of a collection of films on the subject "Youth's Vision on Development" by CONGO/WFUNA, and one-minute stories on "Communication" developed by children in partnership with UNICEF. RESCHEDULED!

16:00 - 17:00 IICD Presentation - Global Teenager Programme Learning Circle on the Information Society - Over the past two months, high school classes from nine countries in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe have engaged in an intensive dialogue regarding the information society. The visitors joined the dialogue raised by these young people.

17:00 - 18:00 YOIS Book Launch: Wh (at) t's Next - youth for intergenerational Justice and Sustainability launched "Wh (at) t's Next" a vibrant book showcasing the writing of young people from around the world on key information society subjects, including human rights and the role of ICTs in sustainable
development. The book is available in printed form.

December 12, 2003:

10:00 - 11:00 Information Society and Sustainable Development: Exploring the Linkages (Terry Willard) - the two phases of the World Summit on the Information Society provide an excellent window of opportunity to integrate sustainable development principles and practices into the institutions and
policy frameworks that are shaping the information society. Similar to earlier United Nations summit processes, the WSIS has sparked wide-ranging multi-stakeholder dialogues at the regional, national and sectoral levels. In some instances, these civil society groups are introducing national WSIS delegations to the policy development processes and priorities that have resulted from the WSSD and the MDG negotiations. While this may help to ensure that the WSIS Declaration and Action Plan address previously negotiated development priorities, the national level policy outcomes may, in the long run, be even more profound. Environment and social development organizations that have become active in the WSIS process are increasingly demanding involvement in the crafting of national e-strategies and
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policies and insisting that these reflect sustainable development goals. While December 2003 will mark the end of the first phase of international information society policy development, it is merely the beginning of a truly multi-stakeholder
national information society policy process in many countries. Such a process requires an extensive cadre of applied policy analysts at the national level who are familiar with the language and methodologies of both sustainable development and the information society. In 2003, IISD undertook a scoping study with young policy researchers from around the world to design a program which would build their capacity to serve as proponents for such policy integration. It is anticipated that the
results of this scoping study will lead to national level research in 10 countries in 2004. (abstract from IISD press-release)

11:00 - 12:00 TakingITGlobal: Connecting youth through on-line networks -TakingITGlobal is an international organization connecting youth in 200 countries through global online networks. Members of TIG's team shared best practices and lessons learned regarding youth engagement and knowledge
management, and outlined ways others can get involved. Brochure on TakingITGlobal is available in printed form.

13:30 - 15:30 Young Women in ICT4D - this roundtable with the Youth and Gender Caucus highlighted gender challenges we face and strategies for mainstreaming gender perspectives in ICT for Development with a focus on young women's empowerment. Participants evaluated the report of the online
forum "Talk to Her", a YCDO initiative, in an offline context. The ideas discussed: youth organizations should devote more attention to the gender problems; the role of church in developing countries
as the source of education; necessity of bringing women into new stream of the ICTs and teaching them how to use new technologies; ensuring the access of women to new technologies; the role of the problem setting in its subsequent solution. As far as the "Talk to Her" programme is concerned,
there were 3 issues discussed in online: supporting young women in ICT4D policy (the role of local and cultural conditions, etc.); supporting young women in ICT projects (connecting women, mentorships and internships, the role of networks, etc.); from dialogue to action. As a corollary, the idea was bought out that it remains hard for women (generally) to penetrate in the ICT world and much effort is still needed to change the situation.

13:30 - 16:30 WSIS Phase II - The Road to Tunis: in the context of this unique two-phase Summit, this event be a look back on Phase I and a look forward by a team of Tunisian youth, who will present national level activities and their leading vision for the future.