“We (young people) are experts, we live the experience and through the Global Youth Mobilization we have seen the impact that has been brought by young people. Invest in young people with meaningful engagement!”, a clear call to action made by Global Youth Mobilization (GYM) Youth Board Representative, Helga Mutasingwa, at the opening ceremony of the 2022 World Health Summit on Sunday, 16 October in Berlin.
As the United Nations General Assembly meets for the first time in three years, education reform is at the top of the agenda. Over three days, young people, policy makers, civil society organisations, governments and leaders came together to debate, discuss, and prioritise actions as part of the Transforming Education Summit.
The Transforming Education Summit, which brought together world leaders to address the global education crises that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, concluded on 19 September 2022 in New York. The summit was an answer to the Our Common Agenda report, that calls for more inclusive and effective cooperation in response to arising global issues for the next 25 years. During the summit the Secretary General’ s Youth Envoy and youth activists presented the Youth Declaration that looks at the disproportionate impact of education inequity for students in low- and middle-income countries.
From 9 - 13 September 2022, interested parties, organizations and young people are invited to submit a video statement, in support of the upcoming public hearings with member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the negotiation process for the Pandemic Accord, to strengthen the global pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
On International Youth Day, 12 August 2022, the Global Youth Mobilization (GYM) initiative showcased how young people are working to alleviate the long-lasting impacts of the Covid pandemic, addressing the inequalities that young people face in their communities, and advocating for change through Local Solutions and National Projects. Loris Tarazi, member and volunteer at East Jerusalem YMCA and the YMCA Youth Board Representative for the Global Youth Mobilization, took over the GYM social media channels on the day. She shares her experience of the Day with us and couches it within a special message to the leaders of today from the leaders of tomorrow.
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, young people have seen rise in challenges that not only has immediate effects but also impacts their futures. Despite these challenges, one thing remains fundamentally true, young people, globally, continue to show their initiative and support to overcome the negative effects of the pandemic.
This year’s theme for International Youth Day is “Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages”, which will be commemorated on Friday, 12 August 2022. This theme aims to address raise awareness on the barriers of ageism and how it impacts both young and old people. As young people are at the forefront of the pandemic it is paramount that they are given us access to and part of global development strategies and mechanisms.
On 7 July 2022, the Global Youth Mobilization (GYM), powered by the Big 6 Youth Organisations*, won the Excellence in Healthcare Partnerships award at the prestigious Communique Awards in London, UK. The Communique Awards celebrate the best work in healthcare initiatives and communications that achieve results and deliver successful campaigns in the healthcare sector.
The Global Youth Mobilization (GYM) is commissioning an external evaluation to review the achievements, impact, effectiveness and efficiency of the activities and operational collaboration between the Big 6 Youth Organisations completed throughout the GYM project.
Hosted by GYM and the Big Six, join us for this side event, Powering Change: Young People Leading the COVID-19 Response and Recovery, at Stockholm+50. The session will include a panel of young people to showcase youth-led solutions in their communities and will include a discussion with youth policy development practitioners and policy makers on lessons learned since our start in 2020.
Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in three regions across Madagascar are supporting 2,000 young people to overcome the impact of the pandemic by providing education on menstrual hygiene and building entrepreneurship capacity.
Polish Scouting and Guiding Association has implemented a project to combat the psychological and effects of the pandemic by building a psychological support for young people. Supported by a team of psychologists and educators, the project aims to address the needs of their participants through workshops in their local communities.
This month Global Youth Mobilization will focus on youth-led solutions from our national projects and local solutions to highlight stories of impact on mental health and wellbeing in collaboration with our partners. Read the stories from global projects that are at the forefront of the recovery efforts from the pandemic this Mental Health Month!
As weeks and months have passed, people have been faced with the pressures that mount from an uncertain future. COVID-19 has had and continues to have a massive impact on mental health, causing widespread emotional stress and anxiety as people struggle to cope with the pandemic’s impacts on themselves, their families, and their communities.
With Girl Scouts at Home, families everywhere can access self-guided, free activities to keep them engaged and connected to their communities and the larger sisterhood of girls. This new national platform reflects the exploration and interactive learning of Girl Scouts in a one-stop-shop format that lets both members and the public enjoy a variety of activities that cover STEM, Entrepreneurship, Life Skills, and the Outdoors (including from indoors!).
For more than 100 years, there has been one group of little women on the front lines always finding a way to make a big impact. Girl Scouts. While they're especially known for selling baked goods outside grocery stores during a brief six- to eight-week Girl Scout Cookie season, the coronavirus pandemic has once again changed a few plans.
As part of the national campaign to combat COVID-19, the Ivorian Scouts have also donated face shields to law enforcement officers at the Administrative Police Station in Abobo. “Police Officers are in contact with the population in the exercise of their function to protect the people. It is therefore important to give them all the help they need,” says the Regional Commissioner, Bamba Ousmane.
#YoMeQuedoEnCasaRD is a social media campaign started by Fersobe in Dominican Republic to fundraise for providing food to families in need, in the form of coupons that they can redeem at selected stores. Shortly after the campaign kick started, many public figures in Dominican Republic have joined and contributed to the campaign.
COVID-19 has changed the face of the entire world in the past couple of months. It has gravely affected the lives of thousands and livelihoods of millions of people from all sections of society. But the most affected, by far, are the people from the underprivileged sections. I reflected on the conundrum, whether there is any disease worse than hunger.
“I cannot imagine that service could not be in my life. My whole life is service and it is Scouting that taught me this attitude." Krysia, an 18-year old girl Scout from Poland, was awarded a European Civil Solidarity Prize by the EU's Economic and Civil Committee, for her domestic abuse campaign, “Chamomiles and Pansies”.
