Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Overview
Objectives of the Africa and the G8: Join the Debate!
National Youth Forum
Summary of Consultations with Youth
Findings from the National Youth Forum
Forging Ahead: Recommendations from Youth
Conclusions
Objectives of the
Join the Debate: National Youth Forum
Consult with youth in Canada on issues concerning Africa in
the context of the upcoming G8 Summit in Kananaskis.
Develop a forum through which young Canadians can learn,
voice their concerns and be heard about issues concerning
Africa and African development.
Toronto
Laurence Blandford: Deputy Director of the G8 Summit Office-DFAIT
Sol Guy: Hip Hop Ambassador
Nola Kianza: Business Development Manager for the Canadian Alliance for
Business in South Africa (CABSA)
Dr. James Orbinski: co-founder of the Canadian chapter of Doctors Without
Borders, who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the organization
Vancouver:
On-line Chat
June 12th, 2002 (8-9pm)
Celebrity Host: Namugenyi Kiwanuka from MuchMusic
Expert Guest: Laurence Blandford from the G8 Summit
Office.
The Findings
Youth Concerns
We, the youth of Canada, are deeply concerned about the challenges facing
Africans, specifically in the areas of:
Culture
Economic Development
Education
Environment
Gender
Health
Peace and Security
Youth Engagement
Recognize culture as being defined as encompassing local customs, practices and beliefs. Culture is
at the very heart of African society.
Provide avenues for culture and arts that may not be financially viable but are certainly artistically
viable and relevant to Africans.
Increase its funding for the arts in Africa, specifically in the areas of culture, tourism and cultural
exchange. Increase funding to enable African artists to travel to Canada and Canadian artists to
travel to Africa.
Encourage other G8 countries to promote, support and become strong advocates for African culture,
and to empower those involved in cultural activities.
Designate a number of youth internship positions (YIIP) to enable young Canadians to work in
Africa promoting and strengthening African cultures, including the arts.
Develop facilities in Africa (example: interactive art centre that showcases local talents) for the
purposes of skills exchange programs between G8 and African countries, for example through music
and art.
Provide funding to make African culture and arts available to a wider international audience
(example: through translation of African works into English).
Urge the G8 countries to provide necessary funds, as outlined in NEPAD, to ensure that every
African child receives an education.
Give priority to education of the girl child.
Give priority to primary education and vocational training.
Increase funding for research in African institutions, especially in the areas of health, agriculture
and technology.
Provide funding to local African NGOs that are already involved in education initiatives.
Work with local capacities to create community education programs (example: Zambian
Community Schools) that place particular emphasis on training local members as teachers and
involving the community in decision-making processes concerning the school system.
Encourage Canadian and other educational institutions to develop skills exchange, work-study and
volunteer programs.
Inform Canadian youth about on-going issues concerning Africa through the education system and
provincial curricula.
Work with African countries to bridge the digital divide by making information technology
available to Africans in a relevant and democratic fashion.
Identify and support initiatives aimed at reducing or reversing the brain drain of professionals
from African countries.
Provide increased funding for the training of teachers and provision of school materials.
Recognize that the environment includes natural resources including water, desertification and
preservation of rainforests.
Act as role model to African countries and set an example to them by following sustainable
environmental practices and ratifying the Kyoto protocol.
Work with African countries to develop, promote and support a sustainable environmental policy for
Africa.
Work with other countries to develop environmental laws that deter companies from destroying the
environment in African countries.
Recognize that water in Africa is an endangered resource requiring urgent and sustained protection
and careful management on a global, regional and local basis.
Provide resources to promote eco-tourism to preserve environmental spaces in an economically
sustainable manner.
Establish tax and other financial incentives for Canadian investments that meet social, environmental,
and economic criteria of sustainable development.
Promote and support countries who fulfill/achieve benchmarks in environmental protection set by
recognized international bodies (example: UNEP).
Adopt OECD guidelines for international corporate social responsibility and work to create a body to
enforce those guidelines.
Consider debt forgiveness in exchange for environmental protection.
Recognize that gender equity is a cross-cutting issue that must be addressed at every stage
of Africas development.
The empowerment of women must be a top priority in the Africa Action Plan, especially
considering that NEPAD fails to address gender equity. This is particularly important with
regards to access to health care and education, government representation and protection by
law.
Appreciate that educating a girl is educating a nation.
Promote equal opportunity by including womens rights and gender sensitivity when
granting developmental assistance.
Increase the number of women in positions of political authority.
Emphasize the need for access to womens reproductive health care and basic health
education.
Provide opportunities for women to access micro-finance loans and skills training to
increase their self-reliance.
Promote the entrenchment of womens rights to combat issues such as the culture of
violence against women, and most importantly, to empower women.
Recognize that the personal and diverse nature of health issues requires a holistic, empowering
and culturally sensitive response.
Assert that health is a fundamental human right.
Focus on reproductive health as a priority, especially because of the growing AIDS crisis.
Strongly encourage G8 countries to increase funding for under-researched diseases and facilitate
increased access to prevention and treatment.
Recognize that nutrition is a major determinant of health, a basic human right, and that over 264
million Africans are malnourished.
Support and expand local community-based health clinics in African countries that have a
mandate to promote reproductive health and life skills.
Increase education and skills exchange through such health centres.
Urge the G8 to publicize and fulfill its commitment to the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS research.
Encourage G8 countries to address issues concerning the health of African people in a culturally
sensitive manner that includes local medical beliefs, such as midwives and traditional healers.
This includes being sensitive to the needs of the healers, health workers and patients.
Support new processes to build bridges between youth in Africa and youth in
Canada to further catalyze Africas economic, political and social
development.
Promote youth exchange between Africa and Canada to ensure dynamic
cultural and knowledge exchange while preserving and promoting cultural
differences.
Encourage G8 countries to increase opportunities for African students to work
in Canada through skill exchange programs.
Support youth initiatives, such as the No War Zone project, that promote
active school-based engagement between African and Canadian youth.
Encourage the responsible portrayal of African culture, and values through
media initiatives (example: documentaries, public service announcements).
Next Steps
Conclusions
We, the youth of Canada, urge the Canadian government, in the context of the
upcoming G8 Summit in Kananaskis, to take note of the findings from the National
Youth Forum as representing the voice of youth from across Canada.
We are grateful for this opportunity to express youth opinions and concerns, and
request that this dialogue continue through future consultations, including the
follow-up chat to the G8 Summit and the creation of new initiatives based on the
findings from the youth consultations.
We, as youth, care deeply about these issues and we encourage the Canadian
government to support youth-friendly programs through which we can get
involved, learn and have a voice.