The Kingdom of Morocco is hosting the Pan-African Youth Leadership Summit II at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, on August 18-23 , bringing together more than 200 youth leaders from across the continent, as well as youth representing previous summits for the Asia and the Pacific region and Latin America and the Caribbean. The Summit is being organized by the UN New York Office of Sport for Development and Peace, the United Nations Development Program, and the Global Peace Initiative of Women, with support from the private sector.
As the Summit's first private-sector sponsor, Sun will provide the network technology and training needed to assist the delegates to better connect with each other and participate at the event, as well as stay in contact, monitor progress of initiatives and plan future activities following the conference. Sun will also host a Web site to help increase participation by using streaming proceedings, real-time inquiry forums and tools for interaction with other delegates and youth activists around the world.
Sun's support for interconnectivity can play a key role with the new generation, since only 1 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa and 4 percent of those in developing countries worldwide use the Internet, while more than half the population of the U.S. does so. The energy and commitment of this new generation of leaders are vital for efforts to achieve these and the other Millennium Development Goals for 2015, which were endorsed by world leaders. The Summit will use the occasion of the International Year of Sport and Physical Education 2005 to highlight the positive role that sports can play in promoting health, education, development and peace.
Sun Chief Researcher and member of the United Nations Information and Communications Technology Taskforce John Gage will keynote at the conference to discuss the power of information and communication technologies to connect global youth leaders and help them to join the Participation Age. Sun will also run a workshop offering delegates training on information technology, including how to share information, create Web sites and blogs, and use chat groups. Sun's participation is a component of its "Share the Opportunity" global giving strategy designed to help break down barriers to network access around the world.
"We are looking forward to partnering with Sun since access to technology is crucial to engaging and connecting young people, but is largely unavailable in developing parts of the world," said Dr. Djibril Diallo, director of the UN New York Office of Sport for Development and Peace and chair of the UN Youth Summit series. "The Pan-African Youth Leadership Summit is an important channel for demonstrating how the power of sport can help accelerate progress towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals."
"We are one of many technology companies who have built global connectivity," said Gage. "Today, we are working to move beyond connectivity to participation, to enable a new generation to use ubiquitous global access to build a new future for themselves, their families, and their communities."
The regional Youth Leadership Summits are mobilizing young leaders worldwide and will culminate in a Global Youth Leadership Summit at United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York in August 2006.
