Internal use onlyMarch 2011

Youth Section • Division of Communication

An Introduction to Our Projects

THE YOUTH SECTION PRESENTS

Our Mission

Voices of Youth

Connecting Classrooms

Unite for Climate

Youth Led Digital Mapping

Digital Citizenship and Safety

World Cup in my Village

Haiti Project

solutions for youth communication

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1. OUR MISSION

The Youth Section in the Division of Communication (DOC) is using traditional media

combined with new technologies including social networking tools, SMS and digital

mapping to empower children and young people to play an active role in society

as well as ensure that UNICEF stays relevant for a new generation of supporters.

Using the latest communication tools in its projects, the Youth Section advocates for

education, awareness and capacity building.

The explosion of internet and mobile phone usage in the developing world has

enabled many young people to go online for the first time. In the last 10 years mobile

use has expanded rapidly in the developing world; internet use is increasing as well.

Following their peers in industrialized

countries, children and young people

throughout the developing world are

rapidly discovering the power and

potential of digital interaction and

communication, especially at the local

level. Digital opportunities differ by region

and include one-to-one SMS, net and

mobile phone-based social networks, and collaborative tools accessed via computers

and mobiles, such as digital mapping. Combining innovative tools and traditional

media, such as youth radio, ensures the widest possible coverage and reach of

children and young people.

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The necessary rapid expansion into

social media to empower children and

young people is closely linked to several

articles of the Convention on the Rights

of the Child (CRC) including article 12

which states: “State Parties shall assure

to the child who is capable of forming

his or her own views the right to express

those views freely in all matters affecting

the child…and for this purpose, the child

shall in particular be provided with the

opportunity to be heard...”

The Youth Section is taking this obligation into the social media age, acting as a

transformative force for UNICEF working in partnership with colleagues at global,

regional and country level.

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2. VOICES OF YOUTH

Voices of Youth (VOY) is UNICEF’s global online initiative for young people. It is

designed to promote exploration, discussion and action on issues related to social

change and human rights, especially children’s rights. The Youth Section (DOC) is

working in close collaboration with ADAP (DPP) in this initiative.

Since 1995 VOY has brought

together children and youth worldwide

under a common banner for their rights

and advocacy. The VOY initiative is well

known worldwide, not only by UNICEF

stakeholders but also by its external

partners.

The VOY website has been redesigned

into a dynamic space where users discuss and report on issues affecting their

lives. The site is now connected with social networks and web applications such

as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to facilitate easy sharing and sign-up. It features

articles and posts from young contributors from around the world and monitors

competitions, volunteer activities, and other opportunities of interest. It also

has commenting and voting features, allowing young people to help shape the

content that appears on the site. The site is highly accessible for young people

with disabilities, and is designed to be easily localized, enabling country offices to

bring VOY to their communities.

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social media • global network

Links

The new Voices of Youth was launched on 25th February 2011.

The website is available at

www.voicesofyouth.org

Connecting Classrooms is an educational program designed to link

classrooms around the world. It enables students in developing and

industrialized countries to collaborate around topics of shared global

concern. It tries to answer the following three questions:

Students and teachers in participating schools

use an innovative online platform designed

for group interaction and collaborative work.

The curriculum is designed to encourage

discussion and collaboration, to support

active dialogue about global issues affecting

young people, and to promote small group

work within schools and between different

countries. The program familiarizes teachers

with cutting edge methodologies based around group work and youth journalism.

3. CONNECTING CLASSROOMS

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How can we engage children and young people

in issues affecting their lives in a way that

increases their confidence while improving

their communication skills?

Using new technologies, how can we

best connect students and teachers

in countries around the world?? ?? How can we use new technologies to

build the capacity of teachers in

developing world classrooms?

capacity-building • low-tech • global citizenship©

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Empowerment and a greater

understanding of how to advocate

for social change

Increased knowledge and awareness

of principal issues affecting young

people around the world

Outcomes

New cross-cultural communication

skills and improved web and IT

literacy skills

A greater understanding of mobile

and web-based technologies and

how to use them to affect change

An expanded awareness of

other cultures and national

perspectives

Teachers with a wider variety of

pedagogical approaches to lesson

planning

Unite for Climate is a UNICEF global initiative aimed at supporting young people

around the world in their work on climate change. The success of this initiative is

largely due to seed funding and support from UNICEF Denmark. It was conceived as

an attempt to go beyond event-based methods of engaging young people, providing

instead a space for continuous collaboration and communication, and empowering

youth to be actors of change post-event.

Started in early 2009, it leveraged momentum generated by UNICEF Denmark’s

Children’s Climate Forum (CCF) to create an online community of climate change

activists. The CCF took place in Copenhagen a week before the 15th Conference

of Parties, Copenhagen (COP15) in December 2009. The CCF focused on bringing

young people from around the world together to discuss climate change and create a

youth declaration, which was formally presented at the COP15 conference. The online

community gave participants an opportunity to meet and begin working together

before the forum, as well as maintain communications after the event.

The Unite for Climate online community provides

a variety of tools to support ongoing collaboration

between young people in their climate-change

related projects and initiatives. The platform was

specifically designed for youth-based NGOs working

in the field, and was developed using feedback from

young people and partners. It is designed to function

well under low-bandwidth conditions and offers

features such as wikis, polls, media sharing, chat, commenting, and the ability to

share created media selectively with other users. Members can work independently or

in groups, depending on their goals and needs.

4. UNITE FOR CLIMATE©

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While the online community has served as the centerpiece of the programme, Unite

for Climate has also linked environmental students with NGO groups in the field,

created the YouTube Youth Climate Debate channel to engage young people from

around the world on the issue, and worked with the World Association of Girl Guides

and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM)

to enable remote participation of young people in conferences.

During the COP16 conference, Unite for Climate partnered with WAGGGS, the British

Council (BC) and the Global Campaign for Climate Action (GCCA) to pilot a new

model of virtual engagement leveraging a network of regional facilitators spread

out around the world. Through a series of mini engagement activities run locally in

their country, the facilitators involved their peers and communities around the same

themes of the conference, then relaying their voices to our team on the ground in

Cancun.

Throughout its two years of existence, Unite for Climate has evolved into an umbrella

programme under which many of UNICEF’s local youth climate change actions

come together. Zambia has been leading the way in establishing a national Unite For

Climate programme.

youth-powered solutions

Links

www.uniteforclimate.org

Access to local climate-based

actions, thanks to more than 50

partnerships with international

organizations, corporate and

academic institutions, and NGOs

Outcomes

SMS campaigns with over 70,000

respondents in seven African

countries in the summer of 2009

A growing community with 3,000

members from 160 countries globally,

and a Facebook page with 2,500 fans

Over 1,000 young people trained on

using ICT and social networking to

support their work

The Youth Section (DOC), in close collaboration with the HIV-AIDS section (PD),

UNICEF Kenya and Open Street Maps, recently launched a pilot program in Nairobi’s

Kibera slum aimed at helping young people, particularly young women and girls,

identify and map risks and vulnerabilities related to their health and protection. The

process of mapping not only helps community members identify safe and unsafe

spaces, but is also intended to raise awareness and spur advocacy opportunities

related to HIV and AIDS vulnerability. This pilot initiative was funded by the HIV-AIDS

section (PD).

Through participatory mapping, young people acquire

information about their surroundings, empowering them

to speak out about critical issues. The Map Kibera team,

consisting of 13 young people from the community

trained in open source mapping techniques, creates a

map focusing on security and vulnerability in Kibera.

Using printed maps, tracing paper and colored pens, the

mappers lead discussions with girls and young women

to discuss safety and vulnerability. The discussion and

mapping focuses on identifying unsafe spaces, such as

places where drugs and alcohol are consumed, and safe

spaces like girl groups, community centers, and well lit areas. It also shows areas

where young people can access information, such as clinics. Young people from the

community use video, photo and audio to create short narratives about issues facing

young people in the community. These narratives are overlaid with the map data

to help better relate the vulnerabilities of young girls and women. Results from the

mapping process will be used to identify physical and psychological areas of risk or

vulnerability and patterns of risk perception. This data is then displayed online via an

open source mapping platform and is shared with the community in printed form.

5. YOUTH LED DIGITAL MAPPING©

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Links

Blog: www.mapkibera.org

The resulting map is likely the most detailed child protection, public safety, or girls

vulnerability map of Kibera ever made publicly available.

digital mapping • crowdsourcing • girls’ empowerment

Outcomes

A broadened perception of

vulnerability amongst young girls

in Kibera, including recognition of

the physical, social, human and

financial assets that reduce the

risk of HIV transmission

Strengthened IT literacy and

awareness of open source tools

for program participants

Increased impact of girls and young

women in the governance process and

facilitated direct improvements in ser-

vices and accountability

Official recognition for some

informal schools

A safer Kibera for women and

young people

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The project “Digital Citizenship and Safety for Children and

Young People living in Developing Nations” is in partnership

with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at

Harvard University.

The project starts with the posit that while the Convention

on the Rights of the Child points to fundamental rights

such as the right of a child to express views, freedom of expression and the right

to information, it has to be re-interpreted in the light of the recent explosion of

ICTs. Today, although progress has been made in

gaining a deeper understanding of the use of ICTs

and its inclusion in our society, gaps still remain,

with the most glaring one being geographical or

socioeconomic in nature. Indeed, most of the relevant

initiatives have focused on the optimum use of ICTs

and its potential safety implications by young people

in western nations. Despite recent efforts, little is

known and done about the optimum use of ICTs and

its potential digital safety risks faced by children and

young people in developing nations.

The objective of the project is therefore to raise awareness among children and

young people of developing nations about the opportunities and risks of ICTs and

provide policy recommendations to local actors to maximize ICTs’ opportunities

and minimize ICTs’ risks.

6. DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP AND SAFETY

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research • media literacy • advocacy

Outcomes

Links

cyber.law.harvard.edu

cyber.law.harvard.edu/publications/2010/Digital_

Safety_Children_Young_People_Developing_Nations

1 An exploratory study that was released in June 2010

by Berkman Center for Internet and Society:

Outlines the contours of a

research framework through a

series of working hypotheses

Raises awareness about issues

related to digital safety for youth

in developing nations

A focus on a range of digitally-relevant

developing countries in order to map

its digital reality

The design of a digital community

that would protect children and

youth online around the concept of

Digital Citizenship

2 An in-depth study is currently being developed with:

UNICEF will foster a self-sustaining

movement on the optimum and

safe use of ICTs by mobilizing

different segments of society (local

organizations, local educational

institution, local youth, parents as well

as private actors)

A communication strategy will be

developed locally to include digital

awareness and participation as a

priority in the countries targeted

3 Campaigns/mobilizations:

The World Cup in My Village pilot project impacted more than 17,000 children living

in rural areas of Rwanda and Zambia. Live telecasts of the first World Cup in Africa

were shown on large inflatable screens in remote safe areas. The children, along with

thousands of adults, also watched important social messaging focused on achieving

the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) between and during football matches.

In both Rwanda and Zambia the majority of the viewers at the WCIMV sites had no

access to electricity, highlighting the equitable approach of the project.

At the same time 200 youth journalists

were given media training conducted by

the Children’s Radio Foundation (CRF),

an international NGO based in South

Africa. 170 youth-focused media pieces

were produced during the project as a

direct result of the media trainings. The

youth media trainings at the project sites

gave a voice to children living in remote rural areas, engaging them in civic media

creation and youth journalism, and thus enabling them to develop critical discussions

around the MDGs with their peers.

Given the success of the pilot exercise, UNICEF’s

Education Section, Programme Division and Youth

Section are exploring ways to scale up the project and

engage thousands more in remote areas worldwide,

ahead of events such as the Copa America in Latin

America, African Cup of Nations and the 2014 World

Cup in Brazil.

7. WORLD CUP IN MY VILLAGE©

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child-friendly innovation • equity • education

Stronger reporting skills for

WCIMV-trained youth journalists,

helping to build local capacity

Increased awareness of key UNICEF

messages relating to HIV and AIDS,

child rights, gender equity, and

education for participating young

people and adults

Outcomes

A total audience of roughly 37,000

adults and young people

Links

Video: www.youtube.com/unicefworldcup#p/a/u/0/ki2SpoaK7YE

Blogs: www.voicesofyouth.org & www.childrensradiofoundation.org/blog

Increased youth engagement and

participation via media trainings

designed to empower young people

to share their perspectives online

and in coordination with their local

community radio stations

The devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010 exacerbated the situation for

Haiti’s young people, who account for over half the population. There is a feeling of

disconnectedness among youth, but likewise an opportunity for promoting life-skills,

social entrepreneurship and volunteer networks, which can empower young people to

build a better, more resilient Haiti.

The Youth Section (DOC)

together with UNICEF Haiti

country office, the Haitian

Ministry of Youth, Sport and

Civic Action, UN agencies and

partners in the Global Movement

for Children (GMC) and the

Children’s Radio Foundation

has conducted a series of

consultations nationwide aimed

at strengthening civic engagement of young people in Haiti’s reconstruction. The

youth movement known as “Mouvman Mete Men” aimed to create a “Youth Agenda”

which places the voices and concerns of young people at the heart of reconstruction

efforts. Recommendations and proposals reflecting key priorities for youth and

children in areas such as education, health, employment and disaster risk reduction

were developed. The consultations brought together 500 youth representatives of the

local population with a focus on the most vulnerable, including street children without

family care and children with disabilities. The consultations provided training on

children’s rights as well a series of multi-media workshops facilitated by trained youth

to empower them to express their views and opinions. These multimedia trainings

served as advocacy, social engagement and development tools.

8. HAITI PROJECT©

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8. HAITI PROJECT media • disaster relief • education • empowerment

Young people attending the workshops had the

opportunity to learn the basic concepts and

challenges of communicating their opinion to a

large audience and the dynamics of policy-making

and democratic representation. A blog called

“VwaJen” (“Voices of Youth” in Creole), positioned

as the biggest youth hub in Haiti, was developed

to report on issues which affect young people and

adolescents in Haiti. The blog is open to contributors from around the country and

reports on local issues affecting young people, thus promoting a national dialogue

and the sharing of information. VwaJen features articles, pictures, videos, projects,

events and ideas produced by the youth to enable meaningful interactions. Through

the radio and SMS technology incorporated in the blog, the Youth Section (DOC)

seeks to reach the most vulnerable communities. This initiative aims to narrow both

social and technological gaps, and help youth take civic action and ownership

of their future.

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Outcomes

Stronger IT literacy and an

increased understanding of

communication technologies

among young people

Greater engagement in civil society

and activism among vulnerable youth

Stronger child-friendly media and

journalism skills to increase knowledge

and awareness of principal issues

affecting young people

CONTACT US

youthsection@unicef.org

Youth Section

Division of Communication, UNICEF3 United Nations PlazaNew York, NY 1001

Youth Section

Printed on Mohawk Options 100% recycled paper

Division of Communication