...wish i was doing what this kid in the gif is doing, instead working on editing the new youth in action site and further planning out our fundraising strategy. enjoying reading updates, like Jason A's and Nick M's, also Mike F's and Jarra's are pretty off the wall. I wonder if it's cool to have a template for our thoughts and daily lives like this or if people will just find out that we are in fact a bunch of crazy young people who think we can change the world? ;-) Think they'll catch on?

Everytime I leave for a while, it seems a serious task integrating back into a life where there isn't enough time to do the many things needing to be done. Ah, when will the angels send me an assistant??

It looks like I will likely not be going to the fundraising training next week, simply because we are very tight on funds and it would be better for me to do some actual fundraisig rather than thinking about doing it. I am excited about it, but still fearful of asking - can you believe it? After 5 years, still afraid to ask.

While at the World Youth Forum, we met with UNESCO, whose INFOYOUTH Network committed another $10,000 for our growing awards program, pending we raise funds fom other sources. So I am going to be focusing on approaching some target corporations for awards support. I am also going to be targeting foundations from some on-going core support and following up on the fundraising letter I sent out so we can survive these difficult times.

We are planning on publishing the first Global Youth Action Guide this fall and I'm still counting on Nick and Jen's help in putting something cool together.

In the meantime, working with Martin on finishing the Youth In Action Web Site, working with Joe to do the new Youth In Action Logo and with Julie on our new national materials. We still need international materials for GYAN, too.

Ah, a glimpse into some of the things to be done...

Well, what a trip that was. Pretty exhausting, considering... Now processing stuff and getting back into the all-too-fast flow here in New York. Looking forward to further developing this on-line community and fund-raising!

Well... amidst heavy arguments, hot tempers, interruptions and stressed debates, the World Youth Forum is coming to a close. The Final Document, which most of the paricipants are endorsing, summarizes the discussions that took place in the 10 working groups. The future of the Forum remains in question, and young people seem to overwhelmingly agree that the United Nations must really evaluate the way it engages young people, particularly in this conference. But there seems to be a basic flaw in how young people's voices are represented (and the system for making such representation possible), so we (GYAN) are specifically recommending a strategy which includes a way for every young person to have their voice represented in a process such as this one. We are proposing using the platform model that combines young people's top concerns and solutions in a country, which is represented nationally by the National Youth Council, who then send a representative to such a World Youth Forum to share the collective voices of youth from their country. Then we can create a true system for representation, and empower such a Forum to determine the top priorities of young people worldwide, then challenging young people to take action themselves on the issues most important to them, while forging partnerships with United Nations and other agencies to carry out the full implementation. But the biggest problem with the Forum, in my opinion, is that there has been no effective process for implementation or evaluation (which is why we are here writing up another action plan, when nothing has yet happened with the one which emerged from the 3rd World Youth Forum 3 years ago).

There is so much more I want to say and a huge part of me really wants to do some kind of formal evaluation of the process, but I don't think I have the luxury of time. I am still committed, though, to helping build a global voice of young people and building a system for fair representation. But voice without action is fruitless, as most conferences have proven many times over.

I am eager to get back to work. Senegal has been beautiful, the Forum an experience, the connections and partnerships powerful. But there is much to do, and I am reminded of this at every conference I attend.

I don't like reporting negatively on this event, but I would be lying if I said everything was fine and dandy. Halfway through the Forum now, we are trying to figure out what we could actually accomplish, as well as what the future of the Forum itself should now be, which is in question. It's a little surprising, I have to admit. Frustration has been running high and many delegates have found themselves questioning the value of their participation as well as the results this Forum will achieve. Many agree that the overall process seems to have taken steps backward instead of forward, although not all have lost hope. Working groups continue to focus on 10 issue areas, with the intention of making specific recommendations, and regional working groups maintain a focus on the issues as they pertain to countries within their region. But there is a cloud of doubt that the emerging document or action plan will be any different from what emerged out of the 3rd World Youth Forum in Portugal; and if the future of this document is anything like what happened to the last, young people stand no chance of having their voices actually heard within the official processes of the UN, as the statements was never presented to or adopted by the General Assembly. What to do....?