Empowering Youth, Transforming Education
ยฉ UNESCO New Delhi
On Friday 9 August 2019, UNESCO observed International Youth Day (IYD) in New Delhi on the theme โTransforming Educationโ. The event served as a platform to showcase and advocate a series of transformational youth engagement initiatives, many of which are co-managed by UNESCO and its partners. The celebration of IYD was attended by close to 200 people, including youth, the media, and youth-focused civil society organizations, development agencies, and educational institutions.
In his inaugural address, Mr Eric Falt, Director, UNESCO New Delhi drew attention to the need for further empowering and mobilizing youth. He noted that in India for instance, โit is expected that youth will account for nearly 35% of the countryโs population by 2020โ, and hence it is important to perceive and nurture young people as โequal partners and actors for peace and developmentโ. Mr Falt observed that UNESCOโs observance of IYD in India was an opportunity to showcase how โyoung people, youth organizations and others are revolutionizing educational practices in order to build a better worldโ.
The event included: presentations by the Ideosync UNESCO Information Fellows (who are part of a media fellowship programme for young Indians looking to specialize in communication for social change); a presentation of UNESCOโs Social and Human Sciences Sectorโs youth engagement programmes; an overview of the pan-India online essay contest for children and youth launched by UNESCO and Takhte in 2019; a presentation related to heritage education for youth by the civil society organization Itihaas, and finally an overview from PRIA about its โYouth and Democracyโ campaign and other youth initiatives.
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