YES Summit Kenya

The dates draw closer and closer…Anticipation is mounting and an amazing wave of global excitement is building as we approach the scheduled YES Kenya 2006 that will take place from September 13th to September 16th.    

 

The third global summit of the YES Campaign will be held at the Kenyatta International Conference Center, Nairobi. His Excellency, Hon. Mwai Kibaki, the President of the Republic of Kenya will chair "YES Kenya 2006". The event, supported by a variety of development partners including the YES Kenya Networks, UN HABITAT, GTZ, and UNDP will pivot around several themes

 

YES Kenya 2006

Now as approach YES Kenya in 2006, the focal points are: Creating Markets…Unleashing Entrepreneurship, identifying markets at the Bottom of the Pyramid,  markets in eco-entrepreneurship, building trade capacity, attracting foreign direct investment and building an entrepreneurial culture.

The YES Kenya is being organized for the leaders and members of the 70 YES Country Networks and other diverse stakeholders from all over the world. It will be a forum to address the issue of creating markets for goods and services for rural areas and unleashing widespread entrepreneurship efforts to eradicate poverty.

Ironically, all of these challenges are exploding at a time when humanity is more prosperous that ever. The challenge is to raise awareness and build an adequate understanding of the issues we face and collaborate in promoting youth employment. It is essential that knowledge is disseminated, capacity is built, and the will generated to resolve this crisis, and build opportunities for youth employment.

YES Kenya is expected to attract around 2000 people, of which 1000 will be youth. This will not be just an event it will be organized as a workshop based learning event to build capacity to conceptualize programs and policies, build partnerships for program implementation to combat youth unemployment. YES Kenya will include Ministerial meetings, plenary sessions, open forums, workshops and skills development workshops.  

 

GCAP at YES Kenya 2006

GCAP’s International Spokespersons; Dr Abiloa Tilley-Gyado (Children) and Anish Kattukaran (Youth) along with GCAP’s Children & Youth Task Force (CYTF) will be present at the summit.

A presentation on the campaign will be made during a plenary session on the 15th of September followed by a workshop on the 16th.

 

YES - an Overview

In September 2002, under the co-chair of President Bill Clinton and First Lady Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, 1600 delegates (1000 youth) from 120 countries launched the decade long Youth Employment Summit (YES) Campaign. The campaign, as the name suggests, is a response led by the youth to the enormous global challenge of youth unemployment. In over 60 countries, young leaders are bringing together diverse stakeholders through the infrastructure of YES Country Networks to take actions that result in productive and sustainable employment for youth. Together with national and global partners, YES works to achieve the following goals:

1.         Develop capacity of youth to lead in-country youth employment initiatives

2.         Promote (in-country) youth employment to address key development challenges

3.         Build in-country coalitions to develop national strategies addressing youth unemployment    

 

YES Timeline

1998 - The YES Campaign was initiated and it took 4 years and 60 consultations held globally to formulate the goals, build global commitment, create a global alliance and prepare thematic documents to launch the YES Campaign in 2002.  

2002 - In Alexandria Egypt, the decade-long YES Campaign was launched – with the goal to work on youth employment issues as one of the most compelling problems the world was facing.

2003 - In Hyderabad, India the Campaign moved to its next level of identifying sectors for employment and 5 sectors were identified and discussed – renewable energy, water and sanitation, ICT, rural development, and HIV/AIDS.

2004 – Veracruz, Mexico, the YES Campaign was ready to showcase the work of its 70 Country Networks juxtaposed with existing expert agencies work and that of NGOs and governments and it was a Summit featuring action and ready to move beyond conversation and debate.

Daamini Shrivastav,
Campaign Reporter