Ottawa Youth For Change Conference 2010:

Are We There Yet? Reaching the Millennium Development Goals by 2015

Are We There Yet? Reaching the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 discussed the world’s progress on achieving the MDGs with only six years to go until the deadline. Are we moving quickly enough to eradicate poverty and hunger, to achieve universal primary education and to combat HIV/AIDS? How can we, as global citizens, take action? This conference discussed advancements made and remaining gaps in working towards the vision of a blueprint for a better world.

Keynote speaker was Michel Chikwanene, former child soldier from the Democratic Republic of Congo whose passion and belief in the potential of all inspires others to believe in their ability to create change.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Volunteer Resource Fair and our Are We There Yet? Facilitators:

CODE-Project Love
Canada World Youth
Red Cross Canada
CHF
UNICEF Canada
USC

Afternoon workshops focuses on several of the Millennium Development Goals, the progress to date as well as the tools and campaigns used to inspire people to take action.

All participants will receive an Action Planning Toolkit after registration which gives ideas and tools to implement action plans and projects.

YFC Conferences

The YFC Conference is an empowering opportunity to turn creative ideas into action and meet other young people who want to do the same. High school students are invited to attend the conference; teachers /program coordinators can bring their whole classes /groups.

The goals of the Conference are:

To introduce the main themes of the YFC Project
To provide participants with an overview of international development issues and what students and people in Canada can do.
To offer youth the skills to move from thinking globally to acting locally
To offer a Youth For Change Toolkit for Action to help youth get started on projects and share tools for youth led action

Ottawa Youth For Change has hosted the following conferences:

INSPIRE THIS!

On December 8, 2008 Ottawa Youth For Change hosted a youth conference called: INSPIRE THIS! A conference using arts and media to raise awareness on global issues.

The INSPIRE THIS! workshops used arts and media to inspire youth to believe in their potential to create positive change. Workshops included slam poetry, video production, social networking for social change, and blogging and inspired youth to develop a project that address one of the UN's Development Goals.

All participants received an action planning toolkit which gives ideas and tools on how to carry out plans and projects.

Stop Whispering Start Shouting

In May 2008, Ottawa Youth For Change joined forces with the Ottawa Youth Commission and held a conference called: Start Whispering Start Shouting: How to Take Action on Issues Globally and Locally

Youth were inspired and equipped to act and address everyday issues and also learned how to become responsible citizens to raise awareness on global issues.

In the Global Action Project Workshops, youth heard about an act locally-think globally project that dealt with the issue of poverty and hunger. Participants then thought of a new project concept that addresses the issue of poverty and hunger and learned the skills to turn that idea into action.