1. INFOYES GLOBAL
Opportunities for the young people
INFOYES GLOBAL
Ursula Carrascal
YES Latin America
Hamideh Tabatabaie
YES Iran
Audrey Codera
YES Philippines
Maria P. García
PYEN´S Philippines
Alvaro Casas
YES Uruguay
Dulal Biswal
YES Bangladesh
Guillermo Leverman
YES Guatemala
Hodg Hodgson
YES Germany
Haythem Kamel
YES Middle East and
North Africa
Emmanuel Dennis
YES Kenya
Omar Mansoor
YES Afghanistan
Katharina Wuppinger
YES Austria
Graciano Gaillard
YES Dominican Republic
Goran Mitrovic
YES Serbia & Montenegro
Vanessa Saliezar
YES Honduras
Sethri Sangtam
YES N-East, India
Thomas Tchetmi
YES Cameroon
Special thanks to:
Contact Information:
Editorial Coordinator
Whittemore
Editors
Reporters
Contributions
Poonam Ahluwalia
YES Campaign
Dacil Acevedo
YES Global Networks
Coordinator
Sarah
Luther Luedtke
EDC
ucarrascal@yahoo.es
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YES KENYA 2006
Unleashing the
Entrepreneurship Spirit
A message from Poonam Ahluwalia
Executive Director, YES Campaign
That YES Kenya 2006 was a remarkable success…no one can doubt! Nairobi took on
the appearance of ONE world - with YES delegates from ONE hundred countries
converging with ONE mission to learn how to 'create markets…unleash
entrepreneurship'…and leaving as ONE team with ONE dream! A dream of a world of
employed productive youth building a better world - our ONE world!
President Kibaki (Kenya) set the tone by urging all of us in the inaugural to put youth
first. We were also deeply honored by the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister of
Iraq, Hon. Dr. Salam Al-Zobaee, who by his sheer presence and inspiring words
attested to the importance of getting young people off the street into productive work.
TheAfrica Ministers made a bold commitment by declaring their commitment to a YES
Africa master plan!!
I feel grateful for this opportunity to move forward the agenda of the YES Campaign
and pledge to work closely with all of you as we build plans and synergies to
accomplish our goals. Finally, I also take this opportunity to invite your participation in the 4th Global Youth
Employment Summit, whichAzerbaijan has agreed to host - "YESAzerbaijan 2008".
DearYES Family!
Global Actions Campaign for the Youth Employment 2002-2012
Special Edition
Promote
Think
Be part
Act
Create
Dear friends of YES Campaign, it gives me great pleasure to share
this newsletter with you. It has been put together with love by the
YES Country Network coordinators from all over the world. We want
you to know that we are all very excited to be part of this global
campaign, and this is our small contribution - sharing with you our
experience of the YES Campaign and YES Kenya 2006. In this
newsletter, we have tried to show you snapshots of the sessions,
images and experiences gathered from the delegates and speakers.
Although we are sharing events and moments from the Summit,
nothing can be compared with the unique feeling of being there! With
the change-makers!
We know that youth unemployment and
underemployment is one of the most
painful situations facing millions of young
people on our planet, primarily in the
developing countries where over 3 billion
are living on USD 1 or 2 per day. Initiatives
such as the YES Campaign are working
closely with others to close the poverty
gap. YES Kenya 2006 created a space to align ourselves on how we
were going to reach it. We realised that in the Bottom of the Pyramid
(BOP) market - entrepreneurship is a real option. And that is the
reason this Kenya Summit agenda aligned around the strategy of
Creating Markets…Unleashing Entrepreneurship with the young
people living in the BOP. I want to thank all the coordinators who
have made this newsletter possible. Thanks for working hard during,
and after the Summit to make this newsletter a reality. We were
lucky to have the opportunity to reaffirm in Kenya that YES is more
than a movement or a network… it is a family! A family that wants to
take care of each other, and commit to work with each other to build a
better world!
Editorial Coordinator
Ursula Carrascal
Editorial
State of the YES Campaign 2006
Highlights
$9,641,000
$3,000,000
$2,500,000
$800,000
737,000
$75,000
8,000
600
400
100%
84
65
56
39
29
15
14
12
7
6
3
3
Raised by the YES
Campaign since 2002
Raised for the first two
YES global summits
Size of the largest grant
committed to YES
Global Environmental
Facility (GEF)
Youth reached by YES since
2002
Average size of UN grants
received by YES since 2002
Delegates that have
participated in YES summits and
consultations
Partnerships involving YES
networks worldwide
Programs initiated by YES since
2002
Networks involved in
education and capacity-building
programs
Country networks as of August
2006
National consultations sponsored
by YES since 1998
Networks that have developed
regional partnerships
Networks that have relationships
with international institutions
Networks that have relationships
with UN agencies
Networks launched in the last two
years
Expected networks in the Middle
East by 2008, up from 4 in 2004
Government aid agencies that
have funded YES
Networks in conflict zones
Regional coordinators
Regional summits held since 2002
Global summits held since 2002
Campaign, 1 Vision, 1 Team1

2. YES Campaign
Big commitment
Words by DacilAcevedo
GlobalYES Networks Coordinator
DearYES Coordinators
I hope you had a safe trip back home from Kenya and you are back in your
normal life. It was an honor for me to have the opportunity to know personally
the ones that did not in person before and share great moments with you in
Nairobi. You are a great source of inspiration for me. I really admire your hard
work and hope we will work very hard together as a team in the global,
regional and national level for the next stage of theYES Campaign.
Since the Summit ended, the YES team has been working in the Post Summit
Plan ofAction. Our compromise is huge. You and the people in your networks
have greatly contributed in continuing all this labor. In particular, I want to
extend a warm greeting and gratitude to those young people that did a great
job and extended all their efforts to ensure the best Summit possible. To the
more than 200 volunteers that helped us in Kenya: Congratulations!
Therefore, I want use this chance to say thank you to all the institutions that
were present. YES Kenya bore witness to the convergence of
representatives of high level from the United Nations, governments,
international cooperation, NGOs, business sector, and the youth
organizations. Their presence enforced our successful work in building
alliances between the civil, government and business sector which is at the
core of the YES Campaign. YES Summit also showed the major interest and
commitment coming from the different players, including the media, in
pursuing the youth employment and its link with the Millennium Development
Goals.
As YES, we are conscious that we must help to the poorest people. A huge
number of youths are living in developing countries where the spirit of
entrepreneurship should be widely promoted. That is the reason why YES
Kenya 2006, emphasized unleashing the entrepreneurship talent at the
Bottom of the Pyramid. Even though, we recognize that this does not just
depend on youth, the community and on business initiative, but on the
political will of the States
We know this road is long and difficult. However, this will, not stop us. As we
move towards the medium term of this decade-long campaign, we can
clearly say: we are advancing. Yet, there is a big gap between the rich and
the poor, but we are contributing locally into resolving it. This does not only
help improve the current labor conditions, but also provides dignity to the
lives of millions of young workers and entrepreneurs around the world. In the
end, this is our concrete and working contribution to the fulfillment of the
Millennium Development Goals.
2
YES Kenya 2006 Highlights
·President of the Republic of Kenya, H.E. Mwai Kibaki, CGH, MP
inaugurated the summit.
·Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, Hon. Dr. Salam, Al-zoba'e gave an
inspiring opening address, which set the tone for the rest of the Summit
days.
·About 2000 delegates attended the Summit from all over the world.
·Over 100 countries represented from all continents.
·Around 63 Ministerial Delegates attended the Ministerial Forum.
·The Government of Azerbaijan to host the 4th Global Youth
Employment Summit "YES Azerbaijan 2008".
·The Ministers and the hi-ranking government delegation that attended
the Ministerial Forum crafted several recommendations contained in a
Ministerial Declaration read out by Hon. Kuti, Minister of Youth Affairs,
Kenya, at the Closing ceremony. The main points indicated in the
Declaration include:
·The "State of the YES Campaign Report" released.
·Over 80 YES Country Networks prepared their country action
plans and renewed their commitment.
·Achievements of over 45 YES Country Networks showcased
through the summit sessions and innovation marketplace.
·Set a vigorous and groundbreaking agenda for 2006 to 2008 for the
YES Campaign by the Country Coordinators at their two-day Workshop.
(1) Setting up of the first African
Regional YES Network under the
Ministry of State for Youth Affairs,
Republic of Kenya.
(2) Kenya to host the Secretariat for
Eastern Africa Region, South
Africa (Southern Africa), Algeria
(Northern Africa), Nigeria (West
Africa) and Cameroon (Central
Africa)
(3) Hosting the first African Regional
YES Summit in 2007.
(4) Adoption of the Declaration by all
countries present during the
Ministerial Forum that includes
the issue of youth unemployment
as part of policy agenda.
·
from several UN
agencies and major
international donors and
private sector: UN
Habitat, UNDP, ILO,
YEN, MDG, UNIDO,
UNESCO, UNICEF,
UNFPA, UNEVOC, World
Bank, USAID, SDC,
Microsoft, NIIT Ltd, Adopt
a Light etc. to support the
YES Campaign in its next
phase.
·The foundation laid for
launching the YES Fund a Global Fund for Youth Entrepreneurship. YES
Fund was launched a week later by YES Campaign and Microsoft at the
Clinton Global Initiative.
·The Hon. Abdi, Kenya Minister for Youth Affairs and Ms Poonam
Ahluwalia led the
Ministerial Forum and
engaged/inspired the
ministers into thinking
about how they could work
closely with the YES
Networks in their countries
for building a coalition for
youth employment.
·Delegates set a vigorous
and groundbreaking
agenda for the next two
years of the campaign.
·Two-day Pre-Summit
strategy meeting held with
YES Coordinators that built collaboration and renewed commitment.
·The Government of Kenya launched Youth Employment Fund for
promoting youth entrepreneurship in the country.
·A creative and resourceful agenda developed and presented at the
Summit.
·Over 40 publications prepared and distributed.
High-level participation

3. 3
th th
The 11 and 12 September, the Kenya School of Laws was bustling with
youth leaders from 47 countries. YES Coordinators from Latin America,
Europe Middle East, Asia, and Africa congregated joyfully and passionately
expressing the cultural, geographic, ethnic and organizational diversity that
OUR -YES Campaign is!
The moderators Jennifer Wild of Alternative Perspective, and José M.
deOlivares, of the Institute the Mainstreaming of Marginalized Youth, were
extremely successful in aligning everyone with a clear vision and goal for the
future ofYES.
Among the topics discussed were the State of Campaign Report 2006, YES
Kenya Agenda, and other new initiatives of the YES Campaign. Important
strategies were shared by the participants and common ground was created
and the team was clearly aligned for taking the powerful next steps needed to
move the YES Campaign to its next level of growth. The participants
discussed 'effective strategies', 'promising practices' and ways to work
together on a regional basis. Critical assumptions were challenged and
towards the end the conversation focused on some key questions such as (1)
Why is it important to be part of YES? (2) What does YES provide you that
you could not get on your own? (3) What do you need from YES to help meet
your objectives? (4) What could you do to strengthen theYES Campaign?
The following key recommendations
emerged from this workshop #1 that
practical strategies needed to be identified
and shared within the country teams
possibly on-line; #2 that in 2007 the half point
of the 10 year YES Campaign a YES
Campaign Leaders meeting should be held
in Alexandria, Egypt; #3 the priorities
established were - capacity building,
funding, and institutionalization - not just for
country networks but for the full YES
Campaign.
Countries Represented in the YES Global Workshop 2006
Afghanistan, Austria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil,
Bulgaria,Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, Chad, Costa Rica, Cote D´
Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Nicaragua, Gambia,
Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea Bissau, Guyana,
Honduras, India, Iran, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritius, Namibia, Nepal,
Nicaragua, Paraguay, Philippines, Romania, Senegal, Serbia, Somalia,
South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Uruguay, USA,
Zimbabwe.
Azerbaijan,
YES Country Network Coordinators met in 2 day Workshop
Global workshop brings togetherYES leaders from all over the world
YES, a history that started long time
ago
In September 2002, under the joint chairmanship of President Bill Clinton and First Lady Mrs.
Suzanne Mubarak 1600 delegates (1000 youth) from 120 countries launched the decade long YES
Campaign. The YES Campaign is a youth-led response to the enormous global challenge of youth
unemployment. In over 80 countries, young leaders are bringing together diverse stakeholders
through the infrastructure of YES Country Networks to take actions that result in productive and
sustainable employment for youth.
The YES Campaign works with national and global partners to develop and deploy effective
programs that realize the following goals:
1. Develop capacity of youth to lead in-country youth employment initiatives
2. Promote (in-country) youth employment to address key development challenges
3. Build in-country coalitions to develop national strategies addressing youth unemployment
YES Kenya 2006 moved the YES Campaign to the next level in development by focusing on
Creating Markets through the Bottom of the Pyramid models; Earth Restoration; Trade and Foreign
Direct Investment; among others; and by Unleashing Entrepreneurship through the creation of a
Global Fund for Youth Entrepreneurship; Business Development Services; Education for
Entrepreneurship etc.
In 2002 in Alexandria Egypt, after 4 years (1998 - 2002) 40 Global, and 60 National Consultations,
the YES Campaign was launched at a 'working summit'. Nine themes underpinned the Summit
Agenda. Education for Work; Transition to Work; Entrepreneurship; Investing in Youth
Employment; Polices for Promoting Youth Employment; Information and Communications
Technologies; Engaging the Private Sector, Rural Development and Social Entrepreneurship. A powerful call to action was made with the launch of 60 YES
Country Networks at the helm. In 2003 in Hyderabad, India the Campaign moved to its next level of identifying sectors for employment. Five key sectors were
identified and discussed: Renewable energy, Water and sanitation, Information and communications technology (ICT), Rural development, and HIV/AIDS.
In 2004 in Veracruz, Mexico, the YES Campaign was ready to showcase the work of its 70 Country Networks juxtaposed with the work of existing expert
agencies and that of NGOs and governments. It was a Summit focused on action and ready to move beyond conversation and debate.

4. Poonam Ahluwalia, Executive Director, YES Campaign; Luther
Luedtke, EDC President; and HE. Mwai Kibak, President of Kenya, at
the Opening Ceremony
Youth will create the world future
Was universally stated by Poonam Ahluwalia and all other
speakers at the Opening Plenary of theYES Kenya 2006
The Summit started with song and
dance as young people from
Kenya greeted the global
participants, “Karibu!” The energy,
color and life shown by the artists
challenged all delegates to ensure
that they made their sincere
contribution to achieve youth
employment.
Government, civil society,
international organizations, private
sector and the young enjoyed the
launching of YES Kenya 2006. Present during the opening of the Summit were
President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya; Hon. Dr. Mohamed Abdi Kuti, the Minister for
Youth Affairs; Poonam Ahluwalia, Executive Director of YES Campaign; Luther
Luedtke, President EDC; Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director UN Habitat;
Gathecha Kamau, Founding YES Kenya Coordinator, and Kinuthia N. Murugu,
Permanent Secretary ofYouthAffairs.
With over a billion youth on the planet PoonamAhluwalia, urged all attendees to
focus their attention on creating employment opportunities for young people
who are 50 percent of our present and 100 percent of our future. The most
important support that youth need is to be empowered with skills and resources
to be self employed.
YES has been a project of EDC for the past 8 years, and the lucky beneficiary of
the unyielding support offered by its founder Janet Whilta who retired as
President EDC in March 2006. EDC's new President, Luther Luedtke, showed
his happiness at being in Kenya by stating that “it is a privilege to be in this
Summit.” As he provided a short history and evolution of EDC, he highlighted
the relationship between education and the creation of sustainable
employment. He emphasized that providing basic education was an absolute
essential piece in promoting development and employment.
Anna Tibaijuka agreed that the participation of the youth in the development
processes was exceedingly important. She emphasized that empowering
youth to contribute to sustainable development was urgent. She shared that
mostly youth lived in urban areas (especially slums), and that without being
provided with the minimum basic education and other services they would not
have any mechanism for building sustainable livelihoods. She urged all present
to work together since these problems can not be resolved alone. This means
following the roadmap to provide a solution to the employment situation of the
young people in pursuit of the MDGs. Ms. Tibaijuka stressed, “We need to be
part of the solution, and not be part of the problem.” She reminded all delegates
that if together we did not come up with national strategies for youth
employment our youth would languish in poverty with no access to
employment.
“The Summit gives us a
forum to deliberate and
to share experiences
that will give
contributions to face
these youth challenges,
particularly the
unemployment, that is
problem we have”.
Mwai Kibaki
Kenya President
““Creating Markets… Unleashing Entrepreneurship is very important to
the Kenyan Government and that is why this Summit was being
organized by the Ministry stated Hon. Abdi. He, pointed out that the
principles and design of the YES Campaign was the key to solve the
huge task of reducing poverty among the youth. According to Minister
Abdi, “In many countries around the world, they[youth] make up a huge
percentage of the population. However, they do not have the
entrepreneurial skill. During these 4 days, we will be working on
unleashing their potential. We must find ways to change the world of
tomorrow.” Furthermore, using the Pyramid Model, we are going to
invest in the youth. This means working together to face and resolve the
huge youth unemployment problem.
These words were supported by HE Mwai Kibaki, President of Kenya,
who said that the 75 percent of the Kenyan population was below 30
years and an important human capital for the country. “We need them
to be involved in productive activities that will contribute in increasing
their quality of life, those of the Kenyan people and the country.” His
words were a reminder of the importance of youth in society. Thus, he
claimed that it was impossible to support a development agenda
where youth are not considered key participants. President Kibaki
drew attention to why he was hosting such a Summit, “The Summit
provides a forum to deliberate, and to share experiences that will get
us strategic contributions to face the many challenges of the youth,
mainly the one of unemployment which is the biggest worry we have.”
“Youth represent 50 percent of the 3
billion poor who live on less than USD
2 a day, a painful reality that must
concern not just policy makers, but
also the civil society, private sector
and young people all over the world”.
4

5. In this plenary done during the first day of the
Summit, we had representatives from the Youth
Employment Network (YEN), Youth Employment
Summit (YES), GTZ, and YES Country Network
Coordinators, who had the opportunity to share
with participants why YES, is more than a
Campaign.
Regina Monticone, Secretary of the Youth
Employment Network (YEN), affirmed the
importance of working in partnership with YES
Campaign. While YES is working locally in
different countries, YEN works with policy makers
and the YEN lead countries. She congratulated
Poonam Ahluwalia for leading the YES
Campaign.
David Mshila, Team Leader for the GTZ
PROSYR, explained about the support the
Germany International Cooperation gives to the
youth and the development of capacities of the
Kenyan Government. He particularly mentioned
how GTZ was able to influence the government to
organize the YES Summit.
Praveen Kumar Prithvi, Country Coordinator of
India, mentioned how this YCN started in 2002
and how it is working now. His presentation
included the YES Asian Regional Summit, held in
Hyderabad in 2003 and the coordinators for YES
India.
Latin American was also present. Dacil Acevedo,
Regional Coordinator of YES Latin America,
spoke about the key features of the YES
Campaign from this region. This strategy included
team work, one voice, marketing and
communication strategies and a structure
showing the work and the capacity of its 17 YCNs
coordinators.
YES Campaign works!
Methodology and GrassrootsAction
Meeting the leaders
ByAlvaro Casas,YES Uruguay
Finally, Four YES Country Network Coordinators
representing the 84 YCNs shared what it means
to be part of the YES Campaign; what YES
Campaign has done for them; what they need
from the YES Campaign; and what they can do
for theYES Campaign.
Mainly, they affirmed the importance of being part
of YES due to network it builds, the credibility it
gives in helping the youth in their countries, and
in establishing alliances with funding
organizations.
On the other hand, they presented the necessity
to continue building capacities in the civil society
level and the government, acquire funding
support for the institutionalization of YES
Campaign in the country leve
They emphasized that the Campaign is not any
more the child it was in Alexandria in 2002, but it
is in its adolescent phase.
In summary, all these showed that the YES
Campaign is functioning. It influenced the
development of local capacities and worked
together with diverse actors in all the levels
(local, regional and global).
This session showed that there is a huge potential
in creating employment in the Renewable Energy
(RE) sector beyond the successful projects that
have already been implemented. Expanding the
use of RE would contribute to combating other
challenges such as environmental protection
(through the reduction of CO2-emissions),
education (through access to ICT) and conflict
prevention (through increased independence
from natural resources).
The speakers described the general challenges:
1) many communities rely on wood for heating and
lighting; 2) solar panels imply high initial costs; and
3) people are not educated about the alternatives.
The speakers gave a general overview of the
different types of RE utilizing, solar, wind, hydro,
biothermal, and biomass and introduced their
projects in India, Uganda, and Burundi.
The presentation of Prof. Reddy's Swamy
Ramananda Rural Institute provided an overview
of training courses in renewable energy for
applications like lanterns and water pumps (photo
voltaic), hot water (solar thermal), and different
types of solar cooking.
Renewable Energy
Emerging Employment Sectors forYouth
And Others
By Hodg Hodgson,YES Germany
YES-Uganda was involved in establishing
biomass centers. Energy plantations, biomass
plants and the manufacturing of energy-saving
stoves are their three fields to reduce the 40,000t
Chaco which is used per year. In Burundi only
1.8% of the population has access to electricity.
YES-Burundi RE programs reach from system
design to capacity building and feasibility studies.
The discussion later focused on how to deal with
inconsistent policies. There were also concerns
raised about photo-voltaic-based RE, since the
main parts need to be imported; biomass would
keep most of the value change on a regional
level. When it comes to the role of the YES-
Campaign, an issue was raised on fostering
collaboration among youth from the South and
the North to educate about the potential of RE, to
foster the expansion, and to create sustainable
youth employment.
Learning from the youth
Carolyne Okello, a Kenyan
entrepreneur
Ms. Carolyne Okello is a youth
entrepreneur and a social activist. She
has a Bachelors of Arts in Political
Science and Literature from the
University of Nairobi and is currently
pursuing a Masters degree in Political
Science at the University of Nairobi.
In 2002, Ms. Okello founded the
Kumekucha Youth Group. Kumekucha
Youth Group advocates for youth
action and voice in development
through provision of micro credit
facilities to the youths. It operates a
resource center and information point,
creating linkages among the local
youth, government, development
partner, civil society and the private
sector. As an experienced trainer,
researcher, administrator and expert in
youth issues, Ms. Okello has organized
and conducted training workshops
locally for youth and young women..
Ms. Okello believes in gender equity
and the inclusion of the youth in
development process. She has started
a local arts group that aims to using an
arts-approach to community
development having special emphasis
on mainstreaming gender equity. As a
pioneer of change, Ms. Okello has also
established a community resource
center which provides basic ICT
knowledge to local youths, offers
library services, entrepreneurial
trainings and micro finance schemes
that build capacity for young people to
start their own income-generating
activities.
Ms. Okello is a member of local and
international youth and women
organizations/networks that advocate
for reforms and inclusion of the youth
and women in development process.
She is a member of the League of
Kenyan Women Voters, YES KENYAN
Network. She is also an alumni and a
graduate assistant of the Uongozi East
Africa Leadership School and an
Artemisia Fellow.
As a young leader who believes in
opening opportunities for the youth,
she became an active member of the
YES KENYA 2006 Secretariat, which
rd
organized the 3 Global Youth
Employment Summit, in Nairobi,
Kenya last October. She was in charge
of all the logistical and Protocol
arrangements for international
delegates; she was also in charge of
the Ministerial delegation andAgenda.
5

6. Kenya Trip
Building partnerships to
rebuild a nation
Speech of Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, Hon. Dr. Salam
Al-Zobaee
YES Kenya 2006
Ladies & gentlemen,
It is well known how Iraq has suffered with unending crises
and problems in recent years. But we must remember our
great past and work towards a greater future. I come here
today on behalf of the Iraqi people seeking your supportive
hand in lifting Iraqi youth out of poverty into prosperity.
Historically, Iraq has been recognised as the birthplace of
civilizations and development. Iraq has the greatest and
oldest judicial body - the Hammurabi's Obelisk. In addition,
taking into consideration Iraq's geographic location, natural
resources and the unique capabilities of Iraqis, we soon
became leaders for development.
The last crisis has left Iraq in its current situation. After the
collapse of the previous dictatorial regime, Iraqis have tried
to rebuild their government institutions and infrastructure.
Simple things like water and electricity are scarce. But the
Iraqis have not given up, and we are working hard to rebuild
our country. Terrorism has affected Iraq more then any other
country, and this has resulted in civil strife, destruction of
infrastructure, and the government institutions, lack of
security and economic stress.
Despite all this the Iraqi government is trying hard to build
civil society institutions, develop projects that can provide
the necessities for Iraqi citizens and also create
employment opportunities for its youth.
As we work to strengthen internal security, and to develop
our economy; we invite all of our brothers and sisters to save
Iraq and Iraqis, please be informed that whatever help you
give us at this time will be recognized and honoured by
history, and you can be assured that Iraq and Iraqis will
never forget how you stood besides us in our time of crisis.
The people of Iraq wait patiently for you to take our hand and
walk with us as we try to battle for the safety and security of
our nation and our people.
I speak on behalf of Iraqi people, and my heart is broken as
we continue to suffer as a nation and as a people. As I
speak with you in my mind are the pictures of the dead, the
injured and bleeding, and I am hearing the inconsolable
cries of children and their mothers. As I speak I know that
Iraqis young and old are waiting for me to return to them with
news that will bring happiness to their hearts. I am looking to
you my friends to keep us Iraqis in your hearts, minds and
actions.Thanks
Educationourbestalliance An interview
with Luther
Luedtke,
President CEO
Education
Development
Center, Inc
YES Campaign Importance
Message to theYES Country Networks
Words to the youth
Education is considered by many as an important key in
resolving numerous problems that face billions of
people around the world. Being educated ensures that
one has an opportunity to get work and have a life of
dignity. In the few minutes that we shared with Mr.
Luedtke we learnt how we can fulfill our goals by
working with theYES Campaign.
According to Mr. Luedtke, the interest of EDC to be
involved in YES was due to the natural relation between
education and employment. “Education is present in all
the levels of society allowing young people to have
opportunities to engage in a profession, a good life, and
build their confidence”, said Mr. Luedtke.
However, the link is not just between education and
employment. There is a need to interlink good
governance with community development. And
working together will help alleviate poverty through
youth employment in developing countries.
Mr. Luedtke urged the YES Country Networks (YCN)to
put their energies together into real and meaningful
programs and lobbying for policies that lead to
outcomes like the creation of the Ministry of Youth
Affairs by the Kenyan Government. He expressed his
appreciation on how YCNs can influence in the police
markers to give new spaces for the youth. “We need to
create an institutional change that provides us the
capital to develop businesses”, he said.
“We need to transmit and communicate with others the
experience of development. We need to work together
with other youth, taking into account our cultures
without leaving anyone behind.”
With his charismatic smile, Graciano
Gaillard, National Coordinator of YES
Dominican Republic, invites all young
people and organizations to visit his
country next year.
Graciano, not only emphasizes, the
beauty of his country and incredible
climate, but the love of its people.
Dominican Republic is a small nation,
but with a strong commitment to the
young people.
A new Latin American
Summit approaches
Dominican Republic
invites you
During one of the ceremonies of the plenary made the 15 of September, the
representative of the Dominican Government, spoke in behalf of his president
Leonel Fernández, declaring the country's resolve to address the realities of youth
unemployment. Latin America presented these words publicly at the
accomplishment of the Second Latin American Encounter by Youth Employment,
that hopes not only to receive leaders of LatinAmerica, but of different parts from the
world. Focused in the environmental sustainability and the Tics, RD will be a new
opportunity to follow up the work initiated in Paraguay.
6

7. 7
The History of the
phrase Bottom of the
Pyramid
Short summary,
a big meaning
The phrase “bottom of the pyramid” was used by U.S.
president Franklin D. Roosevelt in his April 7, 1932 radio
address, The Forgotten Man, in which he said “These unhappy
times call for the building of plans that rest upon the forgotten,
the unorganized but the indispensable units of economic
power...that build from the bottom up and not from the top
down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the
bottom of the economic pyramid.”
The more current usage refers to the 4 billion people living on
less than $2 per day, as first defined in 1998 by C.K. Prahalad
and subsequently expanded upon in 2004 in The Fortune at
the Bottom of the Pyramid.
Prahalad proposes that businesses, governments, and donor
agencies stop thinking of the poor as victims and instead start
seeing them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs as well as
value-demanding consumers. He proposes that there are
tremendous benefits to multi-national companies who choose
to serve these markets in ways responsive to their needs.
There are also poverty reducing benefits if multi-nationals work
with civil society organizations and local governments to create
new local business models.
However, Prahalad's proposition is controversial. Aneel
Karnani http://ssrn.com/abstract=914518) has argued that the
market at the bottom of the pyramid is very small and not
attractive -- there is no fortune here. The only way to alleviate
poverty is to raise the real income of the poor. Rather than
focusing on the poor as consumers, the poor should be seen as
producers.
Information taken of Wikipedia
Know more about
Bangladesh
The young people and the
employment
By Dulal Biswas
Bangladesh is a densely populated country with the
population being an estimated 140 Million.About one third of
the total population (45 million) of Bangladesh are youth
defined by the national youth policy as those between 18 to
35 years old more than 70 percent of whom are
unemployed.
In 1979, during the term of Late President Ziaur Rahman,
the Ministry of Youth was established. The youth
development process in Bangladesh started from that
moment.
Youth NGOs demanded to provide self-employment training
to the youth. The Bangladeshi Government then started
providing training on the different trading skills such as
poultry, fishery, cattle rearing, beef fattening, vegetable
gardening, etcetera. Nowadays, the government has
established training centers in almost all the districts of the
country.
It is very difficult to give a formal and real “unemployment
rate”. Employment rate is defined by economics as the
number of people working and earning a living within the
legal age group and working in regular formal sectors. The
unemployed would be anyone who doesn't fit into that
category which could be a very high number that could alarm
the world. In reality, a much larger number of youth are
working in one way or the other. Youth are engaging in
activities like selling vegetables, meat, fish, and hawker
items at open stalls earning sometimes much more than
those youth receiving monthly salaries in making up the
rank-and-file posts in local medium sized companies.
Unemployment is a serious concern for the people of
Bangladesh. People know that there are very few jobs
available to far too many people.
Almost 50,000 youth complete university degrees or
diploma courses each year across the country which shows
the increasing number educated youth. The number may
reach up to 100,000 a year within the next 7years. However,
it is not possible to create the corresponding number of job
openings for the youth.
Today, there are a far greater number of youth completing
their high-school education who cannot proceed to the
university or colleges due to financial constraints. These
need to engage in subsistence earning as soon as possible.
In providing employment opportunities, this sector cannot
be ignored. As such, nearly 200,000 job opportunities need
to be created each year to absorb the high-school, university
or diploma degree holders.
In the world, nearly 2.5 million people live with inadequate conditions of
water and sanitation. This is a reality very evident in poor regions where
many populations are allocated around the hills, along the shores of the
rivers, arid and other unsuitable places. This is an issue of high concern
for humanity where one of the sessions of YES Kenya 2006 focused
solely on this problem. The speakers for this session were Kojo Paris
(Acumen Fund), Samkeliso Simelane (YES Swaziland), James Ohayo
(UN Habitat) and Dulal Biswas (YES Bangladesh).
The following is a short summary of the speech presented by Dulal
Biswas who shared about his work in his country.
“The primary need to improve the public health condition is to provide the
population with pure drinking water, healthful sanitation and increased
health care facilities. But the data in hand shows that we are yet in an
alarming condition.
From a latest report on Water and Sanitation Condition of Bangladesh
about 97% of the total population of our country uses water from tap,
tube-well and ring wells. But in the dry season 550 million people suffers
from the unavailability of water from the tube wells.
Water and sanitation
Necessities to improve the health
conditions
By , YES BangladeshDulal Biswas
This great problem on the drinking water is due to Arsenic.
Unfortunately, 320 million people of Bangladesh live in great risk with
Arsenic. In the Sanitation sector about 56.7% of the total population does
not use hygienic latrines. 23.7% of the total families leave their wastes in
open places causing a lot of environmental and health hazards. Another
interesting data is that about 55% of the government and registered
primary schools do not have pure drinking water and hygienic sanitation
facilities. It is clear that a lot of work needs to be done in this sector. To do
that, we need a huge number of capable people. This is where the
employment opportunities are unlimited.
Due to this fact the National Federation of Youth Organizations in
Bangladesh (NFYOB), decided to implement a project for youth between
18 to 30 years old.by giving them a short training and basic equipment to
promote employment in the water and sanitation sector as trainers,
workers, project developers, and entrepreneurs in their respective areas.
It is hoped that this works as a facilitator body of technical assistance to
train youth groups.

8. Graciano Gaillard, YES
D o m i n i c a n R e p u b l i c
Coordinator, spoke about the
dream that he had when he
was in Alexandria - that some
day he will present in a
plenary the activities he is
doing on youth employment
in his country. Now, YES
Dominican Republic is
working on advocacy to
influence public policies and
looking for the support of
institutions to enforce its
initiatives.
In words of Graciano Gaillard,
Dominican Republic is a nice
and small country with
empowerment being a priority of the government. Thus, through the Youth
Secretary, the ICLA and other organizations that a technique on capacity
building is being developed. For example, the Fundacion Panamericana
de las Americas are training young people as tourist guides. In another
project, the First Lady of Dominican Republic plays an important role in as
her office develops Information and Communications Technology (ICT) -
related programs mainly for young women.
These initiatives has garnered the interest of different sectors especially
from the government. So, this 2006 has been called the year of
Employment Generation. This Summit - YES KENYA 2006 - is being co-
chaired by Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic. In this
presentation and inspirational video showing the difficult conditions of the
youth in Dominican Republic, the voice of the youth was heard in the
Conferences of the Americas that discussed the policies, the needs and
means to their own empowerment as the partners of developed.
Youth Empowerment
Learning from the experiences
By Guillermo Leverman, YES Guatemala
The video was also promoted the Latin American Conference for Youth
Employment II that will be held in September 2007 in Dominican Republic.
Kaitlyn Olson of YES USA spoke about the importance of the YES
Campaign and how it can help empower many young people in her country
obligated to provide 30 hours of volunteer service. She elaborated on the
literacy program and the computer donation for youth projects as well as for
developing countries.
Sudyumna Dahal of YES Nepal shared their experience in Nepal, where an
initiative developed by the Youth Development Partnership (YPD) has given
funding to youth-led organizations and organizations working for young
people. This initiative appears to strengthens the project among the young
population. In this program, youth groups with more experience mentor
other youth. The diversity of initiatives developed by YPD surpassed their
expectations developing a multi-stakeholders partnership and the
development of bi-laterals and uni-lateral approach (UNDP, WB, etc.) to the
promotion of youth in: education, sustainable innovative ideas, etc. Thus an
initiative of getting 137 proposals was launched in 2005. Out of which, 117
were requested and 7 were selected. Due to its good reception, it will now be
replicated in Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
From these presentations, Opimbi Osore, Session Coordinator, drew the
following conclusions:
Young people must be involved in their own development.
We should have concrete participation in crafting and
implementing public policies.
It is necessary to include youth in policy-making.
We should develop innovative methodologies that involve young
people and change our perception that the youth are victims and
objects. Instead, we should look at youth as agents of their own
development.
8
Message from Executive Director
Poonam Ahluwalia
Executive Director, YES Campaign
The Summit took place over four busy days and we were very fortunate to have all the sessions extremely well attended
and appreciated. All the details are on the website www.yesweb.org. I wanted to reiterate that after all the painstaking
preparation and the busy pace of the Summit we have to get back to our lives, and start taking the actions emerging from
our time together. In my closing address, I framed the following next steps:
1) Each Country Network and their governments should go back and meet and set targets for number of employment
opportunities they will create for their youth in the next two years and be ready to report that in the next Summit scheduled
for 2008
2) Each Country Network with their governments should prepare a 5 year action plan for employment generation, and
should take into account all youth - rural, urban and most of all vulnerable
3) Each YES Country must have a 5 year YES Master plan which they should present at the next Summit - this must be
made in consultation with their governments and with donors and multilateral agencies
4) The UN Agencies are requested to incorporate into their programs flexibility to make interventions by way of technical
assistance, and financial support to build the capacity of YES Programs
5) And finally, just like in Kenya where the development partners came together to support the Ministry of Youth and the
YES Kenya Network to host this Summit - it would be immensely helpful if the UN and Donor agencies would engage with
the governments and the Country Networks in their countries to jointly assist them in the preparations during this planning
stage to prepare the master plan.
In solidarity

9. YES started as an
idea, now is a
dream becoming
in a reality
9
In Nairobi 2006 when I saw the volunteers organizing this conference , I
had a strange feeling that I was one of them - that I belong with them. It was
really a strange feeling that made me remember how this story started.
I go back to April 2002 when I met other youth whom I know from other
activities where we discussed this strange thing called YES. It was really
something. Our mission back then was to organize a conference.That's it.
After a few months and a couple of meetings among university students
and graduates in Alexandria and the staff from Boston - the YES Head
Quarters, we started to explore possibilities that will create change.
We started to organize ourselves, making sub-teams for organizing the
Conference. There were 63 volunteers tasked with organizing one of the
biggest conferences held in Alexandria - in the new born Bibliotheca
Alexandria.
Then the conference started in September 2002 attended by youth
delegates from all over the world, a large number of speakers, researches,
ministerial delegations, media, and people from all over the world gathered
in our home town to solve the problem of the youth unemployment. More
importantly, the leaders of this Campaign in each country leading this
movement are the youth. These leaders are in the same age as we are,
experiencing almost the same problems, the same dreams, hopes and
fears. We found ourselves in a Campaign that was for us, with us, and by
us.
This gave birth to a baby - the YES Campaign. We saw it at its birth and we
created a the a world wide family around that baby.
The birth certificate of that baby was the Alexandria declaration. I feel that
the symbol of this baby is a torch that looks like a small Bibliotheca
Alexandria with the name of the Campaign on it. In Egypt 2002, this torch
was designed by a team of volunteers inAlexandria. You can only imagine
how we felt when this torch was passed on to the Mexican team. It was as if
we were holding a new-born baby and carefully transferring it to person to
hold and nurture. Everyone was happy for receiving this baby.
After that conference, we started to work, just like all the other YES Country
Networks, on becoming official institutions - to implement projects and do
some thing for the youth until the next Summit in Mexico.
By 2004, the baby that is YES Campaign became 2 years old. This baby
can talk, walk, and work hard to achieve its goals . As part of the campaign,
we also learned from each other who form part of the YES family. We
learned from success stories and obstacles that each of us encountered
because it can happen anywhere.
In Mexico, I felt the same way I do now when I met the volunteers
organizing the conference. I felt that I was one of them - that we belong in
the same family. I knew what they felt and what they hope to achieve. I felt it
the minute I arrived at the airport. I was torn between saying, “Thank you.
How can I reach the hotel?” or holding a placard at the airport to meet the
next person arriving from a flight from somewhere else to attend YES
Mexico 2004. I even thought about going to the conference center to meet
others who share the same passion as I did. I did not know where to stand -
in front or inside the information desk.
rd
Then we came to Kenya 2006, the 3 Global Youth Employment Summit -
rd
meeting, summit. I prefer to call it the 3 celebration as YES turned 4 years
old. However, this age is not comparable to a child in kindergarten. We all
found YES as a teenager which has the strength, dreams, and the power to
make everything come true.
In Kenya, this baby received another certificate - the Nairobi Declaration.
This means that the movement is growing. It continues to get certificates of
graduation as it continues to learn more, to work more, and, more
importantly, to achieve the dream. When I saw the torch transferring hands
from Kenya to Azerbaijan, I felt proud that this child has now graduated and
is moving to the next step in his/her life. I am waiting for the time that this
child gets married and start a new family which I think will be in 2012when
the YES family stops taking care of the baby. By then, the baby will have
became old enough to take care of a new family - to multiply the goals. Then
we will see our grand sons and grand daughters.
Once again, I felt the same feeling I did inAlexandria and Mexico when I saw
the youth organizing the conference - how they helped the participants even
if we didn't ask for help; how they try to make everything easy for us even if
there is a lot of work that must be done. I was torn between helping them
behind their desk or continue attending the conference as delegate!
During this time in Kenya, after 3 global summits and the regional summits
we feel that we have truly become a part from a real family. We all know
each other. We face almost the same problems. We all try to solve these
problems. Despite our geographic locations, we have became closer as we
shared information and experience in providing solutions. We can see that
the Campaign is progressing, moving to reach its goals and dreams with the
dream team - theYES family.
YES Road
Apath to the future
2002 2006
By Haythem Kamel,YES Middle East and NorthAfrica

10. Hon. MohammedAdbi Kutti, the Minister of State for YouthAffair for the
Kenya Government, has been leading the way by hosting the YES
Summit 2006, a challenge not everyone can assume. Thanks to his
leadership and the great work done by an incredible team in Nairobi,
near to 2000 delegates from the entire world came to this place to work
in the creation of sustainable employment for the youth through
entrepreneurship. That is why YES Campaign has the pleasure to
share with all you a bit part of his life in the following lines. Thanks Hon.
MohammedAbdi Kutti!
He always had a high compromise and dedication to his people,
especially to the youth. Hon. Mohammed Abdi Kutti is an example of a
social entrepreneur; having graduated from the University of Nairobi
as a doctor. Hon. Mohammed Abdi Kutti has been in contact with the
suffering of the poorest. He knows about the reality of his country,
concentrating on health issues. He identifies the necessities of many
people who don't have enough resources to live with dignity. He had to
face many challenges, but nothing puts him down because of his
strong beliefs. Originally from Isiolo District, Hon. Mohammed Abdi
Kutti attended the National Youth Service by 2 years during his years
as a medicine student. It is really impressive see how he never
stopped following his dreams.
Being in the government system is not easy. He had to go through
many steps before getting his actual position. He worked at hospitals
in Meru and Isolo, then he was the Director of Medical Service,
University Academic Staff Association (UASU), and finally he was the
Assistant Minister for Heath until December of 2005 when he was
appointed as the Minister of State for Youth Affairs. From that time, he
gave his best to make the context of the youth different. That is why
when he was given the chance to host YES Kenya 2006, he took it as a
personal challenge. For him, it was an honour. “We have to rely on the
youth of today if we want to change the world of tomorrow”, he said.
The work, that he and his people are doing in their country, with the
support of the Presidency, is a road to follow about how working civil
and state can work togetherYES Kenya 2006 was an example of that.
Hon. Mohammed Abdi Kutti plays an important role in making a
difference in history. Through the development of the Ministry's
strategic plan, it has initiated the process of the development of a
National Youth Policy and facilitation of the establishment of the
National Youth Council (NYC). Between other activities are the
organization of events, conferences and symposiums such as the
Youth Enterprise Development Fund, the Youth Market Day, and the
Youth in Eastern Africa: Past and Present Perspectives. “As leaders,
we recognize that the work before us in creating enough employment
for the youth is gigantic and that enormous resources in terms of
finance and manpower need to be pulled together to win the war”, he
said.
This father of 4 children, wishes to continue in this complex road, one
full of stones and walls. He is certain he has acquired a lot of
knowledge, experiences and best practices with learning processes
that should properly equip him to readily implement the next steps of
YES Kenya 2006. Many challenges arise after the Summi. More young
people now have high expectations from the Minister of the State of
Youth Affairs. However, we have news for them. The Ministry of Youth
Affairs aims to improve the structure labour export scheme to give an
opportunity to secure jobs for youth, to develop resource centres in the
Revival of the Kenya Association of Youth Centres, to rehabilitate and
to promote Youth Polytechnics and the National Youth Services (NYS),
and to embark on a large-scale re-forestation programme where youth
groups will be paid for planting and looking after trees in designated
areas all over the country, among others.
Leading the way
Minister of State for Youth
Affairs
HON. (Dr.) Mohammed Abdi Kuti,
MP
Huella Emprendedora project, an regional initiative done by the
International Young Professional Foundation (IYPF) and YES
Latin America, announced in YES Kenya 2006, the winners of
its nearly Regional Contest Logo implemented in 17 countries of
LatinAmerica the past few months.
This competition was launched in July with the participation of
an international Judge integrated by young entrepreneurs from
different countries around the world. Then, Pip Collin (Inspire
Foundation -Australia), Martha Lee (YES Singapore, Amjad
Baiazy (Ideaccess Middle East - Syria), Pedro Marcelino (IYPF-
Portugal), Mariana Ballestero (Vientos del Sur -Argentina),
Valentina Lozano (IYPF-Colombia), Renata Affonso
(Ambassador of YES In Latin America -Brazil) and Jean Paul
Chepiu (Red Online Peru), were the members of the
international jury.
The categories of the Logo Contest were 2: the entrepreneur
YCN and the best logo design. Everyone got a chance of
winning 200 dollars as cash prize. Proposals were received
from Colombia, Guatemala, Panama and Peru. Jose
Rodriguez of YES Guatemala won because of his excellent logo
proposal, and YES Guatemala's high and active participation in
all the process.
Ursula Carrascal, General Coordinator of Huella
Emprendedora Project, gave the announcement during YES
Kenya 2006's Plenary 5: Building an Entrepreneurial Culture…
Stand Up Against Poverty: Bringing the power of youth to
achieving the MDG's…, next to DacilAcevedo, called Guillermo
Leverman, YES Country Coordinator from Guatemala to
receive the Certificates in behalf of his YCN and Jose
Rodriguez.
llaEmndedoraHuepre
Announces Winners of
Regional Contest Logo
in Latin America
10

11. Nairobi Declaration
1) We the delegates of the Third Global Youth Employment Summit -YES Kenya
2006, meeting at the Kenyatta International Conference Center, Nairobi, Kenya,
from 13 16 September 2006, hereby reaffirm our profound commitment to the
decade longYES Campaign launched in 2002 inAlexandria, Egypt.
2) We as delegates declare to continuously endeavor to generate employment
opportunities for youth through creating markets for goods and services and
unleashing widespread entrepreneurship opportunities for the realization of the UN
Millennium Development Goals.
3) We as delegates pledge to promote and support advocacy programs and
initiatives to influence the change of policies and legislations that would create
favorable conditions conducive to the actualization ofYES Campaign objectives.
4) We pledge to put aside that which separates us, and learn to work together to
spare no effort to generate sustainable livelihoods for youth all over the world. We
will strive to ensure that the proportion of youth living in poverty is considerably
reduced by the end of theYES campaign in 2012.
5) We declare to enhance enterprise development for employment creation as we
acknowledge with concern the rising number of youth requiring employment
opportunities
6) We resolve to promote the creation of markets by harnessing enterprise
opportunities that lie in the bottom of the pyramid model where 4 billion low income
earners require goods and services. We partners from the government, private
sector and civil society commit to work with youth to not only identify enterprise
opportunities in the Bottoms of the Pyramid but also to exploit them through capacity
building of youth entrepreneurs and creating a conducive environment to enterprise
development.
7) We pledge to support youth who wish to trade in the global trade industry by
optimizing in country and regional trade capacities of governments, private sector
and youth using Information and Communications Technologies and fostering a fair
and favorable business environment striving towards removing unfair trade
practices internationally. We pledge to work towards attracting foreign direct
investment and domestic investments to increase trade opportunities for all youth.
8) We pledge to facilitate the creation of large scale employment opportunities to
absorb the ever increasing youth flooding the job market. To achieve this we affirm:
to build the capacity of youth with employable skills and relevant quality education
that adequately prepare them for the labor market and by optimizing employment in
programs that require large scale employment.
9) We pledge to promote an entrepreneurial culture in youth through business
development services and mentoring. We also pledge to assist them in becoming
market leaders through micro investment and micro enterprise development
10) We also realize the unique situation faced by young women who wish to become
entrepreneurs and we commit to remove any form of inequality that prevent them
from successfully engaging in entrepreneurship. In addition, we undertake to
address the special needs of vulnerable youth in the world.
11) We resolve to address all the challenges of HIV/AIDs and related health issues
that threaten the actualization of theYES Campaign objectives.
12) We are committed to the objectives of this Summit, which is to create markets
and unleash entrepreneurship, and the policy frameworks to make these objectives
a reality for the remaining six years of the campaign.
13) We believe in this commitment and we know we will succeed since it can be
done, it must be done, and it will be done. We must act now since the result of
inaction is too dreadful to contemplate.To this we affirm.
th
Declaration made by all delegates in Nairobi at YES Kenya 2006 on this 16 day of
September 2006.
African Ministers
Declaration
1) We acknowledge that Africa is most affected by youth
unemployment. Thereby we declare to redouble our efforts in
addressing youth unemployment.
2) We declare to form the Africa YES Campaign Network which will
be coordinated by the Ministry of YouthAffairs Kenya for the whole of
Africa. The African YES Summit will meet during the interval years of
the globalYES Summits for example 2007, 2009 and so on.
3) We also declare to form regional YES campaign secretariats that
will coordinate theYES Campaign in theAfrican Region as follows;
I. CentralAfrica-Cameroon
ii. EasternAfrica-Nairobi
iii. WesternAfrica-Nigeria
iv. SouthernAfrica-S.Africa
v. NorthAfrica-Algeria
st
4) We declare that the 1 African YES Summit will be held in 2007 and
it is hoped that all African States will have developed National Action
Plans to address Youth Unemployment by 2007. The regional
meetings will held quarterly and coordinating States will fix dates and
venues.
5) We affirm to all the other declarations of the Global YES
Campaign.
11

12. After YES Kenya 2006
Inputs and reports follow the YES Summit
YES Campaign
commanding respect
By Emmanuel Dennis,YES Kenya
Dear Colleagues
“It has been a reflection process for us in Kenya to see what
we can do as individuals and organizations to keep the fire
burning after the summit. I was personally enriched and I
have realized that we can achieve quite a lot if we remain
focused and committed to the global course of creating
sustainable livelihoods for the youth around the world.
Since the summit I have met a number of Leaders in different
areas of specialization. The YES Campaign now commands
a lot of respect as the only model that is committed to help
the youth achieve actionable plans in uplifting their
livelihoods. We had a very successful youth thematic
session during the Africities immediately after the summit in
Nairobi. We are in the process of identifying the roads under
which the youth can play a leading role within the local
authorities in achieving the MDG's. Working closely with the
UNHABITAT we will explore further to launch the campaign
and ensure we play a lead role within the MDG's campaign
and the safer cities program.
As a follow up to the declarations that were reached at the
summit, we have been in the process of developing a work
plan to actualize the declarations especially the African
Ministerial declarations. We are carrying out Post Summit
Meetings per province to have the delegates give us their
views in evaluating the summit and come up with a way
forward. The report from the Summit is also ready. I am sure
the same will be uploaded on the website for the use of every
one.
The enthusiasm in Kenya is growing and our membership
has skyrocketed since the summit brought with it renewed
publicity for the Campaign in Kenya. Many partners have a
lot of confidence in the Campaign and it is the same
opportunity that we will be using to ensure that the post
summit programs are actualized to the grassroots areas.
I am also glad to report that we will be having a half day
presentation during the next civil society briefing on the role
of the YES Campaign in mainstreaming youth development
approaches for sustainability. This is a huge opportunity as
very few organizations get the chance to host a workshop in
the high profile civil society Forums. We are truly privileged
and we will use the opportunity to woo the NGOs to adopt the
YES Model within their programmatic approaches.
Our success as a country to pick up large scale projects that
will seek high employment opportunities being created for
the youth will also be your success as we are all working as a
team towards achieving the same goal in many of the
countries subscribing to the YES. Your advice and technical
assistance on our way forward will mostly be appreciated.
You are the corner stone of the Campaign around the world. I
was touched to meet many of you at the summit and many of
you that we interacted gave me the good will and the
strength by which all my new days are defined of.
As a country we will ensure that we work closely with
Government to ensure that the situation of unemployment is
turned around. We have already come up with a matrix
based on the Declarations which we are sharing with the
Ministry of Youth Affairs to ensure they put up the necessary
policies to implement it. We will have more news as the days
come by. Hopefully 2008 will be the year of so many
possibilities within the campaign as I believe everyone is
working hard. In solidarity we are family. It will be done...it
must be done”.
Enforcing our work
By Thomas Tchetmi, YES Cameroon
Dear friends,
“YES Kenya 2006 was a very
successful story for Cameroon. In
the past we were running after our
government to support YES
Cameroon, now it is the government
who urged us day to day to follow-
up. With the ministry of youth and all
sectors involved in the official
delegation, we are planning a YES
national restitution forum. We are
also working on the 5 years plan of
action as recommended”.
Positive responsive
coming up
An Indian learning
By Sethri Sangtam, YES N-East, India.
“Few days back, our delegates to
YES Kenya told our state Chief
Minister about their experience of
the Summit. He was very much
impressed. I am really happy to see
positive response coming up. Our
Chief Minister agreed to convince
Chief Ministers from eight other
states in North East India for a
common platform on Youth
Employment. Being part of YES
family I look forward for your
suggestion and inputs in every step
we take.
We would be launching pilot project
with the Government very soon, (2-5
years project). Northeastern India is
a hilly state, it is very rich in natural
resource, unexploited. More than
75% of people are farmers focused
on organic farming. To harness this
resource on-farm and off-farm would
be viable option, your input of best
practices would be well appreciated
in terms of market demand and
process involve, etc”.
12