NEWTON, MA | January 30, 2002
As a thousand world leaders meet at the World Economic Forum’s ‘Davos in New York’ Annual Meeting, the Youth Employment Summit will bring together youth leaders from 25 countries to highlight issues of youth employment around the world. The Opening Reception of the two-day YES Youth Forum will take place on Wednesday, January 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Synergos Institute at 9 East 69th Street, New York City.
The youth leaders from every continent will participate in workshops on building national and international networks to promote youth entrepeneurship and to create better employment opportunities for young people around the world. The youth leaders are helping to plan the Youth Employment Summit 2002 (YES2002), to take place September 11-15 in Alexandria, Egypt.
"I’ve come to New York with the goal of implementing the vision of the Youth Employment Summit and to lend my skills towards developing a youth friendly strategy to proactively address youth employment in a tangible way," said Kenroy Roach, representing the Volunteer Youth Corps in Guyana.
The goal of YES2002 is to create productive and sustainable livelihoods for an additional 500 million young adults, especially youth facing poverty.
"Let us be clear. Half educated, unemployed youth with no prospect of being integrated into a better future is a prescription for disaster," said Dr. Ismail Serageldin, chairman of the YES Organizing Committee and a former Vice President of The World Bank, who will deliver the keynote address at the Opening Reception. "If young people do not have a stake in the existing social order and political order, if they do not feel there is a way forward for them, why should they sacrifice for a better tomorrow? Why should they have an interest in protecting the stability and social safety of that system?"
"The Summit and the subsequent Campaign are designed to do three things, said Robert Reich, former US Secretary of Labor and a member of the YES2002 organizing committee: "One, build leadership and commitment to action from a wide variety of partners; Two, empower these partners with the knowledge needed to take effective action; and Three, make a compelling call for global collaborative action."
Joining Dr. Serageldin at the Opening Reception will be José Maria Figueres-Olsen, former president of Costa Rica and the Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, who has recently joined the YES2002 organizing committee.
