29/07/2018

International Youth Day 2018

The theme for International Youth Day 2018 is Safe Spaces for Youth.

Youth need safe spaces where they can come together, engage in activities related to their diverse needs and interests, participate in decision making processes and freely express themselves. While there are many types of spaces, safe spaces ensure the dignity and safety of youth. Safe spaces such as civic spaces enable youth to engage in governance issues; public spaces afford youth the opportunity to participate in sports and other leisure activities in the community; digital spaces help youth interact virtually across borders with everyone; and well planned physical spaces can help accommodate the needs of diverse youth especially those vulnerable to marginalization or violence.

Ensuring that safe spaces are inclusive, youth from diverse backgrounds especially those from outside the local community, need to be assured of respect and self-worth. In humanitarian or conflict prone settings for example, youth may lack the space to fully express themselves without feeling uncomfortable or unwelcome. Similarly, without the existence of safe space, youth from different race/ethnicity, gender, religious affiliation or cultural background may feel intimidated to freely contribute to the community. When youth have safe spaces to engage, they can effectively contribute to development, including peace and social cohesion.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, specifically Goal 11, emphasizes the need for the provision of space towards inclusive and sustainable urbanization. Furthermore, the New Urban Agenda (NUA) reiterates the need for public spaces for youth to enable them to interact with family and have constructive inter-generational dialogue. Additionally, the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY) which is the UN framework for youth development, prioritizes the provision of “leisure activities” as essential to the psychological, cognitive and physical development of young people. As more and more youth grow in a technologically connected world, they aspire to engage deeper in political, civic and social matters, and the availability and accessibility of safe spaces becomes even more crucial to make this a reality.


Source:United Nations

Please send us you contributions at contact@mediactiveyouth.net

We welcome a variety of forms: articles, photos, video content, caricatures... When sending us an article, consider including a suitable photo to go with it, thus making your contribution more visually appealing.

All contributions should be dedicated to the issues of youth
and youth policy.

The right to publish in the magazine belongs to everyone!

MAKE A STAND – LET’S BUILD OUR FUTURE TOGETHER!

TYM publishes a variety of media contents – texts, caricatures, photos, video-clips – created by young people, youth workers, experts, and all others that wish and have something to say about youth policy.

Geographically, TYM is primarily targeting European and Latin American countries, but it also publishes important news and initiatives in the field of youth policy worldwide.

The e-Magazine gives special attention to youth media activism, wishing to present the examples of best practices of using different media for youth activism.

Besides authored articles, TYM also gathers together relevant articles from other web-sites. TYM e-Magazine is thus a virtual space where visitors are able to get information about the international situation and problems of youth policy, and the place where young authors are able to write articles and other content intended for improving the youth policy internationally. In this respect, it has vital importance for the intraregional and transregional association, understanding, coming together, promoting dialogue and cooperation.
This portal has been created as part of the international MEDIActive Youth project implemented within the Erasmus + Programme. The aims of the project are:
Increasing the capacity of youth organisations/workers in the field of media literacy and media activism as well as fostering their active participation in society
Strengthening media promotion of youth policy and democratic values on European and global level.