Author(s):
Chayer Amelie <amelie@icbl.org> .
Wednesday 09 September 2009
As part of its Youth Leadership, Education and Action Program (Youth LEAP), Mines Action Canada will be coordinating the Youth Leaders Forum at the Second Review Conference in Cartagena, Colombia.
The 2007 Youth Model Review Conference in Jordan, a professional development experience for youth campaigners involved and active in mine action. Photo: Mines Action Canada
The 2009 Youth Leaders Forum builds on the successful 2007 Youth Model Review Conference in Jordan, the International Youth Symposia in Nairobi in 2004 and Zagreb in 2005, and the regional Youth Leaders Workshops in Moscow, New Delhi and Cairo in 2005 and 2006.
Youth LEAP is an innovative and effective way of engaging young people in the campaigns to ban landmines and cluster munitions. One participant in the 2007 Youth Model Review Conference said, gThe Youth Model Review Conference was my first exposure to landmines and cluster munitions issues. It deepened my interest and knowledge so much that after MRC, I was tasked to handle the national campaign against cluster munitions.h Another Youth LEAP graduate declared that the 2005 International Youth Symposium ggot me understanding that this was truly a global movement and cemented my commitment to it.
About 30 young women and men from around the world will participate in the five-day Youth Leaders Forum in Cartagena. Participants will build their skills and knowledge as civil society advocates for achieving universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Cluster Munitions. They will participate in skills building sessions led by seasoned campaigners on topics such as fundraising and grant management, media relations, volunteer recruitment and management, lobbying and advocacy, as well as the essentials of mine action.
Training events such as these are important to build the capacity of the next generation of campaigners. Delegates to the Youth Model Review Conference highlight how useful events like these are. In their words: gBefore I left home, I wanted to organize an awareness campaign and after this week I feel confident that this will be a successh; gI feel that the skills and contacts I have developed here will help me immensely in my professional life.
Youth Leaders Forum participants are also expected to produce a youth campaigning action plan to focus and direct youth campaigning efforts over the next two years. This is a critical time in the movement as we head into the post-Second Review Conference period of the Mine Ban Treaty and the lead-up to the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Youth Leaders Forum participants will add momentum and bring their newfound skills and knowledge to international efforts. Keep your eyes on them!
For more information, please contact YLF2009@minesactioncanada.org
Christa McMillin, Mines Action Canada
