The Conservation Youth Development Forum hosted by The Global Youth Development Alliance (GYDA) was successfully held in New York on August 11th.This forum lasted two days and was held simultaneously online and online. A total of more than 100 youth representatives from all walks of life participated in this forum.
What is the goal?
This forum aims to bring together young people from all over the world to discuss issues of youth development. With the theme of “promoting sustainable youth development”, the forum shared successful cases in the field of youth development in the past year, focusing on the crisis caused by social isolation, security and poverty.While strongly supporting youth activities, GYDA actively advocates for young people to respond to these challenges with innovation and solidarity. And launched a series of development initiatives and projects, including: supporting entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprises, enabling youth to enter the labor market and providing mental health support. These initiatives will be implemented in partnership with local institutions and organizations in several countries.
youth protection
In the forum, we actively discussed the impact of issues such as theft, drugs and guns on young people and the measures that should be taken, as well as how to reduce the occurrence of violence and conflicts against young people.
We have long been concerned about the many safety issues that guns and drugs pose to young people. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Crime Prevention (OJJDP), which is currently supporting research into the causes and correlations of crime, there is a strong relationship between illegal gun possession, crime and drug use among youth.Nearly 3 in 4 juveniles who illegally possessed guns committed some type of street crime; 1 in 4 committed a gun- related crime; and 4 out of 10 used drugs. Adolescence is a time of taking risks and seeking stimulation, and juvenile delinquents report a certain level of excitement as well as fear of apprehension in the commission of a crime. Many youth revel at the thrill of roller coasters, some ignore cautions about “safe sex,” and others seek an “ultimate high” from illicit drugs or possession of a deadly weapon.
Fight against racism
Racial issues have long seriously hindered the healthy development of youth. Young people from minority backgrounds, in addition to severe disruptions in their education, now face heightened racial discrimination; poor employment prospects; and limited ability to participate in public life, which hinders their personal and social empowerment.On the issue of fighting racism at this forum, we actively called on all sectors of society to empower young people to realize freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the right to obtain information and participate in community life.
In the future, we will still fully support the development of young people, and pay attention to a series of social issues that endanger the development of young people, such as race and guns. We hope that more youth groups will join us. At the same time, we call on youth organizations from all walks of life to unite and work together. Promote the healthy development of adolescents.