SafeSpaces4Youth
Celebrating International Youth Day 2018!
International Youth Day is commemorated every year on the 12 August. This year’s event will be on the 10 August 2018 at the UN Gigiri Complex in Nairobi. UNDESA and UN Habitat encourage youth and young people, youth structures, civil society and other relevant stakeholders to come together and celebrate the role of “Safe Spaces for Youth” in their local communities. Many youth have innovative and creative ways to celebrate the day, but if you would like to explore some of our suggested ways to get involved, explore our toolkit for some great ideas!
SPREAD THE WORD!
The idea of safe spaces is still new to most people, you can help spread the word and raise awareness about it by beginning with those closest to you, such as your inner circles of family and friends. Raising the topic with those close to you can help bring up useful ideas. The discussions can also be an opportunity to dispel judgmental attitudes, hateful speech or homophobic behavior. You can help spread the word! Engage in discussions about the importance of why youth need safe spaces, taking the opportunity to educate friends or family members on the various forms safe spaces. You can highlight the importance of the accessibility and availability of safe spaces for youth. Share your knowledge and information on safe spaces (you can give examples of civic, public, digital and public spaces, and use our resource package on our website). Provide an explanation of how safe spaces can contribute to the cognitive, social and emotional development of youth. Encourage participants to explore existing and non-existent spaces in their respective communities. You can discover where safe spaces exist and identify where they are lacking in your local community. Explore different ways to make spaces safe for all youth including those from diverse backgrounds such as youth with disabilities, diverse gender identities, young women and girls, migrants and refugees etc. Youth from different backgrounds may prefer one form of space over the other; this will be an opportunity to hear their views and suggestions. Create a ‘take-away package’ from the discussions held, and identify specific and actionable items that include the kinds of spaces that could benefit youth in your community. You can map them out and create a table to share with your local leaders or community planners. #SafeSpaces4Youth ORGANISE AN EVENT! One way to engage your community in a visible and interactive way is to organize an event or activity that can attract as many youth as possible. Depending on where you are located, you can begin with a brainstorming session at school, or engage with friends or colleagues to tap into their ideas of how to create safe spaces in their respective communities. Another way is to work closely with a local youth structure like a youth council or a boys and girls club to brainstorm on the organization of the event. Take advantage of social media and use the different platforms to initiate discussions where youth can participate in activities such as: Small seminars, lectures or peer-to-peer debates- take the initiative to organise a round table discussion or organize a Focus-Group Discussion (FGD) and invite both young and old older people to stimulate inter-generational discussions. Ensure a wider geographic and gender-balance to help capture everyone’s ideas and suggestions. Community cleanups-when youth have space for leisure they can feel happy and relaxed, but sometimes those spaces need to be created in the first place. Rather than waiting for a new space to come along, you can ask for permission to create a leisure spot for social meet-ups, sports and entertainment activities. For instance, you can mobilise a cleanup session amongst youth and turn an unused patch of land into a small football field. You can encourage youth to use recycled materials to build simple furniture like benches or mats for relaxation in the field. Be creative and have fun with the process! Concerts, festivals and art exhibitions, or similar social activities are great ways to engage talented local people who can perform dance, music, art or poetry to promote the theme for International Youth Day 2018. You can seize the opportunity and invite a politician and respected community member to do the official opening of the event, this is one way to attract wider interest and participation.
ENGAGE & ADVOCATE!
Engage community leaders and activists and invite them and to a public meeting where a politician or policy maker will be present. Below are some ways to advocate and lobby your government or policy makers to recognize the role of safe spaces in youth livelihoods: Organize a speaking role for a senior politician to share their insights about the importance of safe spaces, and invite youth participants from different backgrounds - to exchange information with political representatives. Use the platform to empower, encourage participation and engagement of various actors from the community. You can highlight the importance of availability, accessibility, and affordability of safe spaces for youth. Reach out to the media or organize a small radio session to speak on the topic of safe spaces for youth, and how this is important to youth development.
SHARE!
Sharing information about the positive role of safe spaces in contributing to youth livelihoods can raise awareness and help campaign for the creation of safe spaces in the community. Highlight stories through social media such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtags: #YouthDay, #SafeSpaces4Youth JOIN US ONLINE! Take advantage of our social media and other information communication technology initiatives below to spread the word, engage and advocate for “Safe Spaces for Youth” with your family, friends and the wider community. MAP IT! Many youth around the globe will be celebrating the day. You can share the nature of your event by pinning it on our World Map of Events which can be accessed here: http://bit.ly/IYD18Map FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
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