http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=28829&Cr=un-habitat&Cr1

"Known as the Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development, the fund is initially being financed by Norway and will work to engage young women and men in achieving sustainable urbanization and tackle issues including rampant youth unemployment, barriers to entrepreneurship and lack of appropriate training and education."

There are many opportunities for youth-led development that exist across the globe. Youth like you are taking charge and creating ways to fund ideas. This Facebook group called "Opportunities Fund for Youth-Led Development" is a great platform for discussion of ways to get involved. This is their statement on their group page:

"The Opportunities Fund aims to facilitate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and their youth-related targets. It will help young people in the poorer neighborhoods of cities in the developing world find new opportunities in life, especially when it comes to employment and entrepreneurship. It will also be used to strengthen youth-related policies, help governments, civil society organizations and the private sector address youth concerns, and support new information and learning channels for young people. It will help pilot innovative ideas on employment, governance, shelter and secure tenure; share best practices, and assist vocational training and credit mechanisms to promote entrepreneurship and employment for young people. It will also seek to ensure that gender concerns are incorporated into all policies."

Youth Assembly Delegates will be working on the success of the Millennium Development Goals. The Opportunities Fund takes this idea and puts it into practice. Visit this link http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?sid=999d0949cb118387667df35b53e9d74c&gid=22460376177 to join.

This information is taken from an article by David Woollcombe, the director of Peacechild International. It appeared in the February 2008 UN News Flash.

He makes the statement that the investment in youth-led development is the best one that a company or individual can make. Youth Assembly attendees, pay close attention!

Reasons youth-led development makes the most sense:
"Demographics for one: with young people under
the age of 25 forming 60-70% of least developed country’s (LDCs) populations, logic dictates that they should have a central role. Logic, and years of research, has also proved
that experiential education is far and away the most effective way for young people to learn. Information retention rates are double those achieved by cognitive classroom teaching. Training, mentoring and financing young people to start and run small businesses teaches
young people most of the business skills that they need to be employable graduates. Doing a social or environmental programme teaches project management skills that are invaluable in any career. This is why I argue that YLD should form part of all Government education and training budgets: it’s logical!

There is a school in Paraguay where students are running 14 businesses from their classrooms – earning money for themselves and for their families. How cool is that?!"

You can make a difference in your community and the world simply by speaking up. The next post will be a collection of stories about youth who have made their own footprints on the world.

Do you have a success story to share? Did you attend a previous Youth Assembly? If so, what are you doing now?

Post it!

Spain pledged one billion euros to boost food security in poorer nations over the next five years, according to a recent article in the Australian.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said that "A total of € one billion ($2 billion) will go during this period towards the nations which are the most vulnerable and most affected by the global food security crisis,” according to the article.

The statement came during a two-day conference on food security. The move aims to raise Spain’s development aid to 0.7 percent of its GDP. The world’s richest nations promised to provide this much in development aid by 2015 as part of the MDGs.

The current food crisis has brought the number of hungry people in the world to one billion. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addressed this as unacceptable.

“We worked hard to bring food assistance to those who needed it in 2008. I expect we will have to work even harder in 2009, this year of recession," he said, adding the UN provided emergency food aid to over 100 million people last year, according to the article.

It seems that Spain is taking a lead, then, in striving to help achieve the Millenium Development Goals.

As you prepare to arrive in New York for the big event this August, you should brush up on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and their implications. Knowledge of these aims is crucial to a successful assembly in August.

So, how do the Millennium Development Goals relate to the Youth Assembly (YA)?

The main objective of the YA is to strengthen commitment to the achievement of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs were adopted by 189 countries at the United Nations (UN) Millennium Summit in September 2000. This was a meeting of world leaders to determine a concrete plan for improving the quality of life in developing countries.

We need YOU, the youth of the world, to help the goals progress as planned. Your ideas, action plans and passion can contribute immensely to these initiatives.

The MDGs are as follows:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve Universal Primary Education
3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
4. Reduce Child Mortality
5. Improve Maternal Health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Check out these sites for more information:

•Official Site for the U.N. Millennium Development Goals
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

•List of Related Sites provided by the U.N.
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/relatedsites.html

Once again, we appreciate your participation in the 6th Annual Youth Assembly at the United Nations. We look forward to meeting you in August!