Youth Assembly (M.Phair)

Recommendation:
That the September 29, 2006, Community Services Department report 2006CSW046 be received for information.

Report Summary

This report responds to an Administrative Inquiry regarding the United Nations Youth Assembly 2007.

Previous Council/Committee Action

  • At the October 23, 2006, Community Services Committee meeting, the September 29, 2006, Community Services Department report 2006CSW046 was postponed to the first meeting in February 2007.
  • At the August 21, 2006, Community Services Committee meeting,Councillor
    M.Phair made the following inquiry:

“During the summer the JohnHumphreyCentre submitted a proposal to the United Nations to hold the 4thAnnual Youth Assembly of the United Nations in Edmonton in 2007. I understand the bid was successful.

I would like the following information:

  1. When would the Youth Assembly take place?
  2. What is the estimated number of attendees?
  3. What other partners would work with the John Humphrey Centre to hold this assembly? What is the estimated budget of this event?
  4. What support might be requested from the City?
  5. Any other information that Council might find useful about the Youth Assembly that Administration is aware of?”

Report

  1. The Youth Assembly will take place from July 30 – August 4, 2007. The Assembly is described in Attachment 1.
  2. It is anticipated that 750-1000 national and international delegates will attend.
  3. The John Humphrey Centre will be working with the following community partners:

United Nations Association of Canada

University of Alberta

Northern Alberta Alliance on Race Relations

Alberta Council for Global Cooperation

Change for Children Association

Grant MacEwan College

Seminar on the United Nations and International Affairs

Treaty 8

The estimated budget of the event is $449,000.

  1. A formal proposal requesting support from the City of Edmonton has not yet been submitted; however, it is anticipated that the request will be between $50,000 and $65,000. There are a variety of other potential funding sources available (Attachment 2).
  1. Other information:
  • The Youth Assembly is a program organized by the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation ( in coordination with the United Nations.
  • The Youth Assembly is an annual gathering of outstanding individuals and young leaders from around the world at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
  • The 2007 Youth Assembly in Edmontonwill be the 4th annual, and will be the first time that the event will be held away from the United Nations headquarters in New York.
  • The 2007 Youth Assembly provides Edmonton an opportunity to host young leaders and professionals from around the world and aligns with the City’s support of youth through the Youth Council, as well as the Edmonton’s Next GenCommittee, both of which will be sending a number of representatives.
  • The 2007 Youth Assembly offers Edmonton the opportunity to showcase Edmonton as a dynamic, and global city.
  • The event will likely bring in representatives from the United Nations and other international agencies.
  • The 2007 Youth Assembly is anticipated to coordinate with other community events and initiatives such as the Heritage Festival. The Assembly’s kick off will coincide with the Heritage Festival in Hawrelak Park.
  • The Youth Assembly is a major gathering of young people, providing avenues for students and young professionals (16-28) to:

learn about and become involved with programs that address global and local issues,

network among a large international group, and

become engaged and empowered to take leadership roles in their communities.

  • The Youth Assembly in Edmonton will be focused on learning opportunities, and promote the values of diversity, community, responsibility, individual capacity, and global citizenship.

Background Information Attached

  1. Youth Assembly – Briefing and Concept Proposal
  2. Youth Assembly – Expected Income
  3. Youth Assembly – Expenses

Others Approving this Report

J.Tustian, General Manager, Corporate Services Department

(Page 1 of 2)

Attachment 1

Youth Assembly – Briefing and Concept Proposal

Youth Assembly – Edmonton 2007

- a satellite project of the Youth Assembly at the United Nations -

Dates:July 30th – August 4th, 2007

Anticipated Attendance:750-1000 delegates (international and national)

Overview of the 2006 Youth Assembly at the United Nations

The Youth Assembly at the United Nations is an annual gathering of outstanding individuals and young leaders from around the globe at the United Nations headquarters. This is a program organized by the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation ( in coordination with the United Nations. The Youth Assembly is about showing how one person can make a difference by engaging with the challenges of the present and being an educated and active citizen. This year, the third Annual Youth Assembly took place from August 16-23, 2006 at the United Nations in New York. The Assembly has grown to become a major gathering of young people, providing avenues for students and young professionals (16-28) to learn about and become involved with programs that address global and local issues, network among a large international group in attendance and become engaged and empowered to take leadership roles in their communities.

The Assembly started with a 3 day conference style program which provided educational and learning opportunities for youth on critical global issues. The conference program was then followed by a 5 day intensive leadership training program which focused on developing the individual strengths of the delegates, and their practical knowledge of how to set up their own NGOs, mobilize communities, and effectively identify and address the challenges they face.

Youth Assembly – Edmonton 2007

In July 2006, the Friendship Ambassador Foundation indicated an interest in hosting the 4th Youth Assembly outside of New York. Edmonton was made aware of this interest from Randal Kabatoff, a visual artist from Edmonton, and the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights was approached to take a lead on submitting the bid and planning for the event due to the Centre’s involvement in facilitating the development of Edmonton as a Human Rights City under a UNDP initiated program. Bringing the Youth Assembly to Alberta and Canada appears as a unique opportunity that positions Edmonton, without competition, to host and event that is of international caliber. The potential international recognition offers us a unique opportunity to showcase on the world stage, Edmonton and, Alberta as a whole, as a dynamic, and global city.

A proposal from the Centre as well as a letter of support from Mayor Mandel were submitted to the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation in early July and four weeks later, the Centre is pleased to announce that Edmonton will be hosting the first ever, off-site Youth Assembly in August 2007. It is anticipated that the 2007 Assembly would coordinate with other community events and initiatives such as the Heritage Festival. The kick off of the Assembly would coincide with the Heritage Festival in HawrelukPark. In lead up the event, the Centre has also coordinatedover 25 youth participants to travel to New York to participate in the 2006 Youth Assembly at the United Nations. These youth will be an integral component for planning for next year’s assembly in Edmonton.

The 2007 Assembly provides Edmonton an opportunity to host young leaders and professionals from around the world and coincides with the City’s interest in youth through the NextGenTaskforce and to attract and welcome new professionals to our community. It also offers us an opportunity to showcase Edmonton as a global city along with our tourist destinations in the area and province. The event will also likely bring in representatives from UN and other international agencies.

A Community Project

The JohnHumphreyCentre will implement this assembly in collaboration with key community partners. These community partners will include the United Nations Association of Canada, the University of Alberta, the Northern Alberta Alliance on Race Relations, Alberta Council for Global Cooperation, Change for Children Association, GrantMacEwanCollege, Seminar on the United Nations and International Affairs, and Treaty 8. We anticipate that this will be a community focused project that will bring groups together working in fields of common interest to educate and work with youth from around the world.

Draft Concept Proposal from JohnHumphreyCentre for Peace and Human Rights, EdmontonAB

Youth Assembly of the United Nations

Vision

Create a forum for bridging diversity, building common understandings and strengthening youth capacity to affect change and take on leadership roles in their communities.

The Edmonton Assembly would be focused on learning opportunities. It would promote the values of diversity, community, responsibility, individual capacity, and global citizenship.

Objectives:

  1. Education/Learning

The first component of the Youth Assembly will be to provide educational and ‘learning’ opportunities for youth on critical global issues. This will be facilitated through two particular mediums: a) providing an opportunity for personal self reflection and identification of ‘passion’; life’s path; and b) creating a space for safe, open dialogue among diverse groups of youth; demographically, racially, socially, culturally, etc.

The personal aspect of the learning will be to develop an opportunity for youth to realize their power; their power to affect change and to act. The group activities will be to provide the space for learning collective strength and the notion of not being alone in struggles surrounding critical issues. Both of these levels of engagement are essential and complementary for youth to understand and know how to affect sustainable change.

The educational aspects of the forum will be to define issues, but also to explore how they are interrelated. Delegates will explore how the issues impact people at various levels – the individual, the community and globally. The notion of exploring the complexity and interrelatedness will lead into an opportunity to develop solutions that recognize the individual importance of each issue, while building harmony between them. We also want to use this as an opportunity to celebrate diversity and our common humanity and build potential for a common vision for the future.

We anticipate that delegates will have an opportunity to have a creative space to learn and to apply human rights to their individual lives. We hope that they will be able to walk away and apply fundamental aspects of human rights to their daily lives and activities – through their relationships, interactions with others, to the food and clothing they buy, to various other choices they make.

2. Leadership Training

The second objective of the Youth Assembly will be to implement a training program for leadership among youth that will encourage creativity. The program will allow youth, after realizing their individual and collective power, to have the space and opportunity to take creative action and to reflect on innovative ways to create change (freedom of thought and expression!). This training could involve a number of components:

  1. Conflict resolution - What do you do when someone offends you racially etc.? How do you make it constructive? How do you build a bridge and get to the core of the issue?
  2. Democratic participation – what is the role of youth in democracy and what does democracy mean? What are effective mechanisms of involvement and how can youth engage and affect change, both within the democratic system and within their communities?
  3. Inspire creative, dynamic and innovative approaches to leadership
  4. Defining leadership and what does it mean? What are the different ways of being a leader? What does it involve? What are the core values?

Why Edmonton?

Edmonton is a progressive city – a city that values diversity; that values creative expression; that values critical thought and reflection; that values our place in the global community. We have a strong non-profit sector, strong academic institutions, a progressive Mayor. We are a city that celebrates our diversity and creativeness through festivals such as Heritage Days, the Fringe Festival, Street Performer’s Festival, The Works Festival; and Human Rights Day on December 10th where the City annually celebrates Human Rights and recognizes community work.

Edmonton is part of the International Human Rights Cities Project developed and elaborated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which has chosen as its executing agency PDHRE, People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning. As one of only two “developed-world” cities that has chosen to participate in the UNDP’s International Human Rights Cities Programme, the Human Rights City Edmonton project is a pioneering venture in a global effort to ensure that people learn their human rights in order to achieve their full human potential.

The Human Rights City Edmonton Project (HRCEP) aspires to foster a community that takes responsibility to affirm human dignity; to understand, respect and celebrate differences; and to spread equality through the advancement of human rights. The hope of this project is to see every Edmonton citizen, organization and institution dedicate itself, through a collaborative and inclusive framework, to the recognition, maintenance and growth of human rights within this community. We believe that hosting the Youth Assembly in Edmonton will only contribute to Edmonton’s path of becoming a true HumanRightsCity.

Potential Youth Assembly Format (First Component- Education)

Friday Afternoon

HawrelakPark – celebrating diversity through participation in Heritage Days; also a 2 hour ‘Rights in the Sun’ session focusing on difference, similarity and understanding. The Rights in the Sun (RITS) Program is an active, experiential learning session focusing on exploring human rights and exploring difference and building common understanding. It would be an active, fun, creative icebreaker for youth attending the Youth Assembly.

Saturday – Moving from the personal to the community

Morning – discovering your inner potential and power; the individual capacity for change; tapping into your creative potential

Afternoon – building bridges; exploring common fellowship and the creation of dialogue across groups. This session will be focused on the theme of “diversity” and focusing on the positive aspects of difference and our role in the global community as a collective.

Sunday – Community Development and Capacity *focusing on the local level!

Morning - breakout style information sessions around theme areas (see below) to provide youth a context of the various issues and how they are interlinked. The idea will be to look at the themes in a community/local context.

Afternoon - developing a creative community development plan for a developing community (mock – fake – made up). The idea would be to give youth a specific role to play in a ‘mock’ community that is dealing with critical global issues – AIDS, orphans, drug issues/trade, racial tension, conflict, desertification – and build a community plan for development. This gets the youth thinking across dimensions and topics. We think this would be more valuable then breaking youth into themes for panel presentations etc. because it encourages critical thought and reflection and places them in a space of responsibility, making critical decisions about their community which affects long term development. This would build on the information they learned in the morning – receive information, and apply it.

Monday – Global Responsibilities and Capacity *focusing on global level!

Morning – breakout style information sessions around theme areas at a global level (see below – i.e. international trade etc.) to inform youth of the issues and how they are interlinked. These sessions would be focused on looking at the same themes from Sunday but from a global standpoint. So you start looking for example of health at the local level (e.g AIDS) and understanding its impacts etc., and then during this session, we look at health (AIDS) at the global level and the challenges here. This helps youth to understand the often complex relationships between the local and global.

Afternoon – development of a creative global plan for development through a mock “Doha Round or UN General Assembly” which gets them thinking of the complexity of the issue… (maybe these ‘simulations’ are given to them the first day in their packages and we get them working in diverse teams where they have to seek each other out – could do RITS together as ice breaker) become a team/family throughout the conference (improve networking). This global thinking helps to build on the local planning from the previous day and encourages reflection on the paradox of local vs. global policy/development and the potential synergies. Often professionals or experts tend to focus on one level of development and not bridge the local and the global – this is the intention of the two days… it gets them thinking across dimensions.

Evenings – self-expression through art as a bridge for diversity! Could include a fusion project one evening with art/dance/music from around the globe in a combined performance.

Themes

To determine the themes for the Assembly, there was a desire to make sure that they expressed the diversity of issues we wanted to cover so we could show the interrelatedness. If the UNESCO 8 pillars of peace, the UN Millenium Development Goals, and the current UNESCO pillars are compared, 10 themes develop:

Culture of Peace / MDGs / UNESCO 2006 Focus
1 / Education for All – promoting qualitative values, attitudes and behaviour; training for conflict prevention and resolution dialogue, consensus-building and active non-violence / Universal Primary Education / Education
2 / Sustainable economic and social development – eradication of poverty; environmental sustainability; national and international cooperation / Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; ensure environmental sustainability; develop global partnership for development / Poverty; rural development; sustainable urbanization; Environment
3 / Respect for Human Rights – implementing international instruments and awareness of UDHR
4 / Equality between Men and Women – economic, social and political decision-making, discrimination and valance, women in crisis situations / Promote gender equality and empower women
5 / Democratic participation – education; promote democratic principles and practices
6 / Advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity – through diaologue, actions to support vulnerable groups, respect for difference and diversity / Cultural Diversity
7 / Supporting participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge – media; communications; knowledge and information sharing
8 / Promote international peace and solidarity – disarmament; women involvement; peace-building (sustainable peace) / Peace and Human Security
9 / Health – reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases / Health

We believe that human rights are a fundamental aspect behind each of these themes and that various articles of the Universal Declaration can be applied to each. We thus see this as an overarching theme of the Assembly. For the education aspects of the assembly, we envision aspects of the remaining 9 themes, albeit this all needs to be flushed out. Topics at the local and global level would be explored and contrasted through the two last days.