"In the service of youth since 1949"
MPAC 2010-2014
“THE CATALYST FOR TRANSFORMATION AND IMPROVEMENT”
BACKGROUND
Helping youth and youth leaders globally to reach their full potential, is a high priority for WAY. WAY fully recognizes that young people need support to maintain good health and well being, access to education and strong youth community network. Youth are concerned about study, work, health and their future and they want opportunities to have fun and get engaged in culture, sports and recreation. Importantly they want to be safe and feel safe.
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In realization of this essential aspect WAY is presenting an overview of new direction and strategies that will be applied subsequently to the fifteenth General Assembly.
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WAY has accomplished many milestones since the last Action Plan was issued. WAY’s Second Millennium Plan of Action has been use to guide WAY’s direction between 2005 and 2010, the theme was “WAY Towards Millennium Development Goals”, and this was based on the eight core millennium development goals identified by the United Nation member countries to be achieved by 2015.
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In WAY’s Third Plan of Action for the new direction, the concentration will be more on the current issues affecting youth around the world which are part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) that was adopted by the United Nations. The focus will also be on reinvigorating WAY and reestablishing the organization to play the required key role in the contribution to youth development around the world. Considerations will also be taken towards the programs and strategies required to achieve the desired planned goals. With that in mind, WAY has chosen “The Catalyst for Transformation and Improvement” as the theme for its Third Millennium Plan of Action.
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At present, youth are surrounded by various factors affecting their lives, and there is a great need for them to understand the causes and nature of these factors. There is a need to bring awareness and to prepare the youth and youth leaders to work together and make necessary changes in the following issues: Education, Poverty and Hunger, Unemployment, Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, Health and HIV/AIDS, Environment, Leisure time Activities, Global Partnership and other related issues. When we focus on these particular issues and put all our efforts to develop the young people, we will be able to create a better future for the youth globally.
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The collaboration of national, regional and international programs must be systematically organized in the implementation of WAY’s Third Plan of Action. WAY will develop and organize programs on related themes thus engaging youth and youth leaders, government leaders, parliamentarians, private sector bodies and other potential contributors to assist and participate. Various strategies will be utilized in tackling the youth issues. The variation of how it is to be done will be in accordance to the issues of the affected region. WAY’s Third Plan of Action can also be achieved by working with multilateral partners such as WAY Members, Governments, Youth Organizations and United Nations programs and agencies.
THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Goal 1: Achieve Universal Education
Background: Education is the basis for the cultural identity of the individual and society. Every individual has the right to an education and is entitled to satisfy their basic learning needs. The purpose of basic education is to encourage learning, facilitate the ongoing learning process, and promote independent thought and problem-solving. Besides literacy and numeracy, people must also acquire life skills, for example self help skills. A good basic education increases self-confidence and autonomy. Knowledge is a self-determined action and participation.
Statistics: There are 862 million adults and young people worldwide who cannot read and write. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. Denying people access to education means denying them a basic human right. Without education, human development is impossible. Promoting education is therefore a key task in this action plan.
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WAY will take the necessary action to:
• Return 40% of displaced school students aged between 15-19 years old back into the classroom, globally by the year 2014.
• Increase the opportunities of the available seats for students in the universities to 10% by 2014, especially in member countries.
Goal 2: Eradicating Poverty and Hunger
Background: Poverty has various manifestations: hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; high mortality from illnesses; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments; social discrimination and exclusion. A basic education empowers people to improve their social, cultural and economic status. It helps to increase opportunities for economic growth and is therefore a key prerequisite for poverty reduction.
Statistics: Over one billion people in the world today live in unacceptable conditions of poverty and chronic hunger. Almost one billion people go to bed hungry every day. Almost half the world lives on less than $2.50 a day. Every 3.6 seconds, 1 person dies of starvation.
WAY will take the necessary action to:
• Reduce by 30%, the number of people living in extreme poverty conditions globally by 2014.
• Reduce by 30%, the number of people who suffer from hunger and malnutrition, globally by 2014.
• Ensure that youth and youth leaders play their role in combating extreme poverty and hunger, especially in member countries.
Goal 3: Unemployment
Background: Unemployment occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively looked for work within the past four weeks and in several countries, it takes a longer period of time getting employed.
Statistics: More than 160 million people in the world today are unemployed. Nearly 40 percent of them are youth, resulting in them becoming economically unstable, and thus cause the spread of the social ills among young people and the probability of the increase in crime.
WAY will take the necessary action to:
• Decrease 10% of the unemployment rates globally by the year 2014.
• Train the young people in entrepreneurship programs and assist them in establishing small business enterprises.
• Work together with member countries to develop skills that will create and provide employment opportunities.
Goal 4: Gender Equality and Women Empowerment
Background: Discrimination against females is grounded in a series of traditions and norms based on the assumption that biological difference between females and males justify that females are denied access to rights, opportunity and voice. Employment opportunities continue to be biased towards females with males being favored in terms of salaries, promotions and opportunities for advancement. All these hamper the attainment of the full potential of the female. Other challenges include violence against females as well as attitude and values towards them.
Statistics: Two thirds of the world’s illiterate population is female and the discrimination against women can also be seen in the employment statistics; unemployed women are only two thirds that of men.
WAY will take the necessary action to:
• Globally reduce gender disparity in the work place by 10%
• Achieve gender equality in education, work force and community by 2014.
• Empower women to participate actively at all levels within the community.
Goal 5: Health & HIV/ AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
Background: The HIV/AIDS epidemic is increasingly a problem of youth, especially in parts of the developing world. Governments have noted with grave concern the fact that new HIV infections are heavily concentrated among youth and that there is a lack of information available to help them to understand the issue. Although a breakthrough has taken place for other diseases, chronic diseases are still taking lives, especially among young people.
Statistics: Over 40 million people have died due to the infection of HIV/AIDS. Nearly 40% of the world’s population is living with the risk of contracting Malaria. Every second, an individual is affected with Tuberculosis. Every year there are 350–500 million cases of Malaria, with 1 million fatalities.
WAY will take the necessary action to:
• Raise awareness among young people of the dangers and disastrous impact that HIV/AIDS has globally.
• Reduce 10% of the death rate resulting from HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.
• Encourage all members to organize programs to combat the causes of those deadly diseases or pandemics.
Goal 6: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Background: The youth have both concerns and special responsibilities in relation to the environment. A number of environmental risks and hazards have affected young people. There is a need for young people to engage in action and activism that can generate effective responses to ecological challenges. There are so many challenges pertinent to the changes in the world environment; for example, global warming, climate change, deforestation and pollution.
Statistics: In mainly developed countries, up to 90% of all forest has disappeared to urbanization and agriculture, and the rest of the world is following the same path up to 80%. In summation, human development has cost the world 80% of the forests, leading to a climate change that is expected to get much worse and pick up pace and those species who can't adapt including ourselves will face extinction. Two million people die yearly, 6000 a day from preventable infection spread by dirty water or improper sanitation facilities.
WAY will take the necessary action to:
• Create public awareness on the importance of the sustainable development and its effect on the young people.
• Reduce by 20% the effect of environmental degradation globally by 2014.
• Maintain environmental integrity among members by increasing responsibility towards achieving sustainable access to safe drinking water.
Goal 7: Leisure time activities
Background: In every culture, there are hours in the day when young people are not formally required to be in school or engaged in household or paid work. They choose to be involved in various activities, and there are public and private programs, organizations and individuals who support their participation. It is understood that work and leisure do complement each other towards the development of young people and their communities.
Statistics: Leisure time does offer a wide and positive range of outcomes when accomplished properly. These may include: social or emotional development, vocational development, physical development, cognitive development and civic development.
WAY will take the necessary action to:
• Increase youth involvement by 40% in youth development centers.
• Ensure that 50% of young people are participating in voluntary work.
• Encourage its members to organize activities that will help to build the youth in mind, body and spirit.
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
Background: In every region of the world there are now initiatives, projects and programs that encourage active engagement of young people to have full and effective participation of youth in society and decision-making.
Statistics: Aid is increasingly focused on the poorest countries, with the least developed countries receiving about a third of donors’ total aid flows. Official development assistance stands at 0.31 per cent of the combined national income of developed countries, still far short of the 0.7 per cent UN target. Only five donor countries have reached or exceeded the target. Only 1 in 6 people in the developing world has access to the Internet.
WAY will take the necessary action to:
• Provide opportunity for youth involvement on the decision making process to matters pertaining to global partnership for development.
• Involve all member countries to exchange programs to increase development for poverty and debt reduction.
• Increase information technology literacy and make available the benefits that new technology offers to the young people.
Goal 9: Improve Maternal Health
Background: Maternal death and unsafe motherhood primarily results from the lack of comprehensive, reproductive and sexual education and health services. For both biological and social reasons, young mothers are a vulnerable group. Gender-based violence, particularly domestic violence, human trafficking, rape, economically coerced sex and sexual harassment, are among other forms of violence affecting the health of young mothers all over the world.
Statistics: Pregnancy is the leading cause of death for girls age 15-19 in the developing world. While as the maternal mortality is twice as high for female of the ages 15-19 than those of 20-29. More than 50 million women suffer from poor reproductive health and serious pregnancy-related illnesses and disabilities. Half a million of women die every year from complications of pregnancy and child birth.
WAY will take the necessary action to:
• Provide medical assistance to young mothers to help reduce the mortality ratio by 10%.
• Establish awareness programs and produce publication to assist young people to lessen unsafe motherhood.
• Request all member countries to create and fund facilities for single young mothers.
IMPLEMENTATION OF WAY’S THIRD MILLENNIUM PLAN OF ACTION
Proper organization, hard work, group effort, and commitment are the required ingredients to make WAY’s Third Millennium Action Plan to succeed. The implementation strategies will need to be in accordance with the capabilities of national youth councils and youth organizations to make certain that those goals can be achieved to its fullest.
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All programs, projects, campaigns, conferences, seminars and trainings that will be put into operation will involve all members of WAY and will ensure that the Third Millennium Plan of Action meets its desired goals by 2014.
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The following programs will be organized by WAY between 2010 to 2014.
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National level:
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Create national partnerships between National Youth Councils and local governments, private sectors and UN agencies.
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Publication of annual National Youth Reports on Progress of WAY‘s Third Millennium Plan of Action.
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Involve the Ministries of Youth in the implementation of the Third Millennium Plan of Action.
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Setting up national youth committees to monitor the progress and the implementation of the Third Millennium Plan of Action.
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Organizing events to bring awareness among young people concerning the Third Millennium Plan of Action.
At Regional level:
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Collaboration between the national youth councils at the same region on implementing WAYs Third Millennium Plan of Action.
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Creating regional partnerships with UN agencies and other multilateral organizations.
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Organizing regional events based on the Third Millennium Plan of Action.
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Developing peer support network among the member countries in each region.
At International level:
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Organizing annual events for the National Youth Councils on the Third Millennium Plan of Action.
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Participating in UN and international meetings on World Program of Action for Youth (WPAY).
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Create publications and training manuals on youth and the Third Millennium Plan of Action.