[CS Bureau] New Youth Caucus Facilitators

Thu Aug 26 16:39:26 BST 2004

Hi Civil Society Bureau,

I have now stepped down as facilitator of the WSIS Youth Caucus. Below I am
pasting a message from the new facilitators of the Youth Caucus which was
sent to the Youth caucus mailing list.

It has been wonderful working with all of you throughout the WSIS process so
far. I will still remain involved in a smaller way (I'll probably be at the
upcoming WSIS Asia meeting in Thailand), and I hope that we might
collaborate again on other things too! You can of course continue to contact
me at nick at takingitglobal.org or nick at nickmoraitis.com. I remain working
with TakingITGlobal on several other projects.

Robert Guerra/others: can you update your records to make Titilayo your
Bureau Focal Point? (takinsanmi at wsisyouth.org) and add her to this mailing
list?

All the best,
Nick Moraitis

--

From: Titilayo Olujumoke Akinsanmi 
Subject: Thanks & Proposed Plan of Action From New Facilitators [delete]
Sent: August 25, 2004 @ 11:52 AM EST

We sincerely thank the entire membership of the WSIS Youth Caucus Selection
Committee for giving us this opportunity and believing in our leadership
competencies to serve as Facilitators of the vibrant WSIS Youth Caucus as we
all work towards Tunis 2005. 

We extend our highest commendation to the team at Taking IT Global,
especially Nick Moraitis and Alex Fielding, for their excellent leadership
of and unparalleled devotion to the WSIS Youth Caucus in the long road to
Geneva 2003. We also use this opportunity to thank the long list of
institutional partners, which cuts across governments, donor agencies,
international organizations and youth networks for their commitment to and
support of the WSIS Youth Caucus as a vibrant partner in creating and
utilising digital opportunities for all; its vision; and the recognition
this has brought at the global, regional and national levels of Information
and Communications Technologies (ICT) policy-setting and decision-making. 

The road to Tunis 2005 is filled with excitement, varied challenges and
opportunities for collaboration. We call upon all young people of the world,
especially every single member of the WSIS Youth Caucus, to work and partner
with us in building an even more vibrant, more cohesive Youth Caucus. Now is
the perfect time for us to unite even stronger to show the world that young
people indeed are "empowered as learners, developers, contributors,
entrepreneurs and decision-makers" in creating "a people-centred, inclusive
and development-oriented Information Society".

As we gear up towards Tunis 2005, we, as the Facilitators, envision a WSIS
Youth Caucus that works in unity amidst diversity, collaborates with a
commitment to real action and functions based on transparency, teamwork,
mutual respect and partnerships. We commit ourselves to acting with utmost
professionalism, maturity and accountability in the process of realizing
this vision with your active participation. Our work and operational
strategies will be based on the principles of openness, broad consultation
and inclusiveness.

ACTION PLAN

Top on the list of Actions to be implemented is the setting up of an
informal Advisory Committee that will comprise of people committed to the
success of the WSIS Youth Caucus in the Tunis Phase. This Advisory Committee
will serve to guide us in planning and implementing our operational and
networking strategies, and in our partnership-building efforts towards and
after Tunis 2005. 

In the coming weeks, we will issue calls for participation in our mailing
list aiming to establish a multi-disciplinary "Issues Working Group" that
will draft Youth Caucus policy briefs and statements on issues emerging from
the Tunis process. When deemed appropriate and strategic, the WSIS Youth
Caucus will actively engage in consultations relating to, among others,
Internet Governance and ICT financing mechanisms. 

We will likewise focus on and ensure the empowerment, engagement and active
participation of young girls and women in the Tunis Phase. A separate call
for the establishment of regional commissions, under the facilitation of
regional coordinators, will be circulated soon. We envisaged that networking
at the regional level will broaden the caucus membership and ownership,
spark project partnerships and support the expansion of the national WSIS
youth campaigns. 

A beta version of the caucus website, www.wsisyouth.org, is being finalized
and will be launched soon thus providing the WSIS Youth Caucus team timely
information on WSIS events, projects and consultations in general and as it
relates to Youth in particular. We will strengthen our ties with the WSIS
Executive and Tunisian Secretariats and solicit their continued support for
youth participation, especially through the provision of travel fellowships
for developing country youths, in official WSIS meetings. We will
intensively lobby governments and other key stakeholders to include young
people on their official delegations in the WSIS regional conferences, the
PrepComms and the Tunis Summit. 

We will liaise closely, with the goal of reinforcing the existing
partnerships, with governments, private sector and other WSIS regional
groupings, caucuses and working groups. Lastly, we will work tightly with
our Tunisian youth fellows, including the Tunisian Government, private
sector and civil society organizations, for the organization of potentially
a Youth Forum and Pavilion within the Tunis 2005 Summit.

We lay this Vision and Plan of Action for the WSIS Youth Caucus in the Tunis
Phase with the hope that all of us, with the continued support of
governments and key stakeholders, will work together in making these a
reality. We also reiterate our call for your active participation in planned
Youth Caucus consultations. After Tunis 2005, we envisage that this Youth
Caucus will leave a legacy for stronger youth engagement in future UN
processes and, most importantly, realize the potential of young people in
creating digital opportunities and contributing to the attainment of the
Millennium Development Goals.

We invite you to send in your comments on these plans and strategies and
forward your recommendations to enhancing our collective work towards Tunis
2005 to facilitators at wsisyouth.org .

Thank you for this opportunity to serve together.

In partnership,

Titilayo Akinsanmi
WSIS Youth Caucus Global Facilitator
Email: takinsanmi at wsisyouth.org 

Robert Sagun
WSIS Youth Caucus Policy Coordinator
Email: rsagun at wsisyouth.org 

Luke Cholerton
WSIS Youth Caucus Communications Coordinator
Email: luke at wsisyouth.org 

FACILITATOR'S BIOGRAPHIES

Titilayo Akinsanmi is a young Nigerian woman based in Johannesburg South
Africa where she serves as the Program Manager of www.globalteenager.org
within www.schoolnetafrica.org. She has, over the last few years, on
national, regional and international levels, engaged on policy and
implementation issues concerning Youth, Young Women and ICT for Development.

Robert Sagun is concurrently serving as the President of the Youth
Volunteers for Sustainable Development (www.yvsd.org). He has a background
in economics and works as an independent environmental researcher. He is
likewise active in the UN CSD and MDG processes. His interests revolve
around environmental sustainability, poverty reduction strategies, ICTs for
development and knowledge management. 

Luke Cholerton is currently consulting for the UK Government on
youth-engagement policies, as part of his work for a UK-based consultancy.
His background lies in computer programming, and using such skills for
social and business development. He is a leading member of the group
founding TakingITGlobal UK. His interests are politics (National, European &
international), International Affairs, economics & business, and technology
development.