UNESCO and the IYHF – towards an active working partnership –

1. UNESCO and the IYHF– towards an active working partnership – a presentation by Dr. Hans d’Orville Director UNESCO’s Bureau of Strategic Planning to the 45th International Conference of the International Youth Hostel Federation 20 July 2004 - Seoul

2. Flashback April 2003 • UNESCO Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura and IYHF President, Harish Saxena sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) • MoU formalises and concretises the already existing partnership between both Organisations and provides a concrete framework for future cooperation • New focus on a three-year Campaign for International Peace and Understanding, the annual celebration of International Youth Day (12 August - proclaimed by the UN in 1999) and awareness-raising activtities pertaining to HIV/AIDS in the context of preventive education

3. Joint action launched • First joint action launched was the designation of UNESCO-IYHF “Learning Centres for Peace” • 11 IYHF Youth Hostels were selected to act as centres for peace education in specific domains: Peace education: Verdun (France), Assisi (Italy), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Dachau (Germany), Hiroshima (Japan) Conflict resolution: Enniskillen (Northern Ireland), Jerusalem (Israel), New York (USA) Environmental protection: Blue Mountains (Australia), San José (Costa Rica), Bizerte (Tunisia) • Each of these Youth Hostels has made a commitment to support the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010), proclaimed by the United Nations, for which UNESCO serves as global lead agency

4. Benefits of partnership • Increased mutual awareness by drawing on each others’ networks • Youth hostels as places and spaces for interaction can intensify their efforts aimed at intercultural dialogue and understanding, which, in turn, is a principal priority of UNESCO’s programme action • Joint pursuit of a better future for all, through the promotion of universally shared values - peace, tolerance, mutual understanding respect for the Other, diversity - and through the promotion and preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage

5. What is UNESCO? • UNESCO’s acronym stands for • UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANISATION • Established in 1945, UNESCO is a specialised agency of the United Nations, with its own Constitution and a membership of 190 States - each of which also maintains a National Commission for UNESCO • UNESCO is active in five domains: • Education • Natural sciences • Social and human sciences • Culture • Communication, information and the media • with all action aimed at constructing the defences of peace in the minds of men. • Biennial regular budget: US$ 610 million plus approx. US$ 600 million extrabudgetary contributions • Headquarters: Paris with 52 field offices across the world

6. Youth and UNESCO  “We ignore the needs of youth at our peril!”Koïchiro Matsuura, UNESCO-DG, 12 August 2003 • This underlines that UNESCO is convinced that the challenges facing today’s youth - and for that matter, the world - can only be addressed in partnership with young people themselves. Who are youth (for UNESCO)? • All 15 – 24 years old - boys and girls, women and men - presenting approximately 18 percent of the world’s population (with a growing trend, especially in developing countries). They have distinctive needs, concerns, problems, expectations - and visions. • By 2015 - there will be 3 billion people under the age of 25. THEY ARE THE FUTURE - AND THE PRESENT.

7. UNESCO’s approach Young people have distinctive needs, problems, concerns and expectations. UNESCO’s objective is to empower youth so as to ensure their full potential and participation in society as equal and valuable partners. UNESCO considers young people • as a resource - and not as a problem • as partners - and not merely as a target group.  UNESCO is mainstreaming the needs, concerns and requirements of the youth throughout all its programmes and activities during all phases of programme development, implementation and evaluation. One of the principal objectives is to help countries realise the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). To that end, it employs a variety of approaches and develops new tools (e.g. youth indicators/barometers).

8. UNESCO’s strategywith and foryouth Increased presence and participation of young women and men in UNESCO’s bodies, events and activities - the governance function; Incorporation and integration of youth views and priorities in programme activities and partnerships with young people - the programming function; Assistance to Member States of the Organization in mainstreaming youth concerns and issues into their policies and programmes - the policy development function; Act as a clearing house of information concerning youth and sustain campaigns; prepare and disseminate publications and information material, accessible also through a dedicated website www.unesco.org/youth - the advocacy function.

9. IYHF IYHF’s primary function: To provide shared accommodation in which there will be no distinctions of race, nationality, color, religion, sex, class or political opinions in order to promote intercultural youth exchanges as an effective means for young people to learn from each other, while achieving a better understanding of culture both at home and abroad. These functions resonate very much with UNESCO’s mission and tasks. They offer a multitude of complementary and Joint action.

10. Collaboration with UNESCO:themes and areas for engagement There are several key themes and areas in which young people in general and IYHF Members in particular can engage and collaborate with UNESCO. Four examples: • Fight against HIV/AIDS: preventive education • Education for All (EFA), especially promote literacy) and fight exclusion • Improvement of access to knowledge and information in the knowledge society • Promotion of cultural diversity and of a dialogue among cultures and civilizations

11. The fight against HIV/AIDS:preventive education • The just concluded 15th International Aids Conference in Bangkok acknowledged that young people have a right to be recognised as partners in the global fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. • UNESCO recognises the particular vulnerability of youth to HIV/AIDS. It was for this reason that it launched at International Youth Day 2003 the World AIDS Campaign. The UNESCO Youth Initiative onHIV/AIDS and Human Rights seeks to empower young people and their organizations to deal with the challenges of HIV/AIDS-related discrimination in communities and to intensify preventive education. Specific UNESCO action: World AIDS Youth Debate (with World Bank) - global virtual/videoconference discussion

12. Promotion of EFA promote literacy and fight exclusion Basic education for all means the acquisition of life skills for a variety of purposes at all levels of education, not least to become responsible citizens Special Youth Project: The Enhancement of Learning and Training Opportunities for Marginalized Youth Designed to identify,document, promote and link up flagship projects from around the world that hold valuable lessons in enabling young people to receive and complete a course of basic education, thereby acquiring basic competences and skills, combating youth marginalization, poverty and ecological degradation - and which can be replicated in various countries.

13. Improving access to knowledgeand information in the knowledge society Access to knowledge and information for young people implies access not only to information and communication technologies (ICTS) and media, but also to content and information youth need to facilitate full participation in society. UNESCO Flagship Project InfoYouth Network - World-wide information network on youth-related issues, to which governmental authorities, relevant agencies and youth organizations contribute (www.infoyouth.org); • Internet-based gateway structure which encourages and sponsors concrete projects with and for youth; • Raises awareness and facilitates the acquisition of ICT skills by young people, particularly in developing countries and post-conflict areas (also through information guides - www.youth-resources.net).

14. Promoting cultural diversity and adialogue among cultures and civilizations Mobility and travel are important elements of life patterns of young people today. Travel raises awareness and teaches respect for cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue - learning to live together; Through student travel and youth exchange programmes, voluntary service, the learning of languages, work experiences, fellowships and internships, etc. UNESCO seeks to enable young people to experience various dimensions of culture and cultural diversity; Tap potential to expand youth tourism in both developing and developed countries AND to promote intercultural exchange as well as a dialogue among cultures and civilizations. Beyond tourism and travel, design and mobilise new partnerships, also including the private sector, to promote intercultural dialogue and exchange, such as through MONDIALOGO, a partnership between UNESCO and DaimlerChrysler (see www.mondialogo.org) It promotes dialogue and concrete engagement among schools and students through a global school contest and an engineering award for multicultural teams developing solutions for sustainable development problems

15. Collaboration with UNESCO:approaches and modalities There are several approaches and modalities to collaborate with UNESCO in the youth area: • Joint action based on a memorandum of understanding (as in case of IYHF); • Joint review and improvement of projects; • Participation in UNESCO conferences (e.g. youth fora), virtual discussions, events and campaigns; • Collaboration with National Commissions for UNESCO (many of which have youth focal points) in specific events, projects or campaigns; • Identification and development of novel partnerships for specific purposes - with UNESCO, other youth organisations and private sector.

16. 2004 Theme: Youth in an Intergenerational Society 2003 theme: Youth employment Objective: to stress the importance of solidarity between generations at all levels - in families, communities and nations 2004 International Youth Day- 12 August 2004 -

17. UNESCO’s contribution: Empowering Youth through National Policies Recent years have seen increasing global awareness and acceptance of the need to mobilize the creativity, vision and unique perspectives of young people for the present and future development of our societies. In UNESCO, for example, a Youth Forum has become a recurrent feature of the General Conference as a way to capture the visions and aspirations of young people as well as their specific recommendations regarding UNESCO programmes and activities. This publication is addressed to national decision-makers of two main kinds:those wishing to formulate a national youth policy and those wishing to evaluate and improve already existing youth policies and programmes. However, we are not seeking to promote a template to be rigidly applied to every national context.Given the wide diversity of political cultures and political systems, countries need to establish their own priorities and mechanisms in order to create a youth policy that is authentic and relevant. Koïchiro MatsuuraDirector-General of UNESCO

18. UNESCO – Mainstreaming the needs of youth Youth can –and must –make a contribution, and a difference. We need your inputs not only on what to do, but on how to do it: guide us in devising programmes and projects in which there is a space for young people; help us define the possible interface between the activities you undertake with your associations and non-governmental organizations and UNESCO ’s activities. Let us define ways for establishing a real partnership in order to help us open up for young people ’s participation. Koïchiro MatsuuraDirector-General of UNESCO

19. www.unesco.org/youth

20. GRAND PEACE PARTY 19 July 2004 • UNESCO is committed to constructing the defences of peace in the minds of men. - This noble objective is pursued through international cooperation in the areas of education - the sciences - culture - communication and information. • UNESCO has also developed the concept of and promoted a culture of peace. • Hence, overarching theme of UNESCO’s Medium-term Strategy 2002-2007 is: • UNESCO contributing to peace and human development in an era of globalisation through education, the sciences, culture and communication. • UNESCO is also promoting a dialogue among cultures and civilisations at global, regional, sub-regional and interregional levels. Action is focused on: • universally shared values, • the promotion of quality education (including education for peace, education for human rights, civic education), • science and technology as vectors of dialogue and new frontiers of society, • cultural diversity and cultural heritage as parameters of identity and a tool • for reconciliation, • communication, information and the media as tools for promotion of • understanding and engagement, especially among the youth.