We invite your participation in a seminar entitled Youth, Governance, Peace-building and the Role of Social Media at the University of Victoria, Centre for Global Studies and online via a 48-hour Global Teleseminar.

The event, hosted by the Centre for Global Studies (CFGS) and the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD), seeks to share the global experience of young peoples’ use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT)/social media and other collaborative technologies to influence local, national, regional and international systems of governance and to affect peace-building and young citizen engagement.  

As a university, we are also interested in the role post-secondary institutions can play in supporting contemporary and future youth involved in these processes.  Please find attached a brief discussion paper on the seminar.

We are inviting youth-led organizations, UN agencies, government leaders, academics, research institutions and other experts to a 2 day seminar to share experiences, connect networks, and examine present and future youth-led governance trends from different regions of the world.  Key presenters during the 2 days will include:

• Ravi Karkara, UN Habitat, Youth 21
• Don Popo, Colombian Hip Hop Artist and Founder of La Familia Araya
• Canadian Indigenous youth leaders
• Karim Kisma, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Egyptian youth leader
• Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
• Mekong Youth Net
• UN representatives
• Jon Ramer, Compassion Action Network, Alison Ramer, Grassroots Jerusalem
• Phil Lane Jr., Deloria ManyGrey Horses, Four Worlds International Institute

In addition to the group of delegates who will be physically present in Victoria, we will engage other interested persons via our teleseminar social conferencing platform www.youngpartnerindevelopment.org.

The seminar will launch the Young Partners in Development community of practice network.  We encourage you to get involved and contribute to the birth of Young Partners in Development (YPID).