International development may not be the first thing on the mind of a 13-year-old. Talk of frameworks, donor priorities, annual reports and endless acronyms will, in most cases, be less attention-grabbing than, well, everything else in the life of a teenager.
But while the future of the globe might currently be handled by adults, youth has an equal if not a bigger stake in creating a sustainable world.
As such, aid groups are now ramping up efforts to engage young people in global development. Among them: the European Commission.
“How would you fight poverty?” the commission is asking young people in a video contest recently launched on Facebook. The competition is open to everyone aged 13-24 regardless of nationality, and the only condition is to create a video of no more than 120 seconds which answers the question, and upload it on YouTube by Nov. 1.
For the winners, the prize involves having their solution to global poverty presented to thought leaders and decision makers in Europe. They will be flown to Brussels to attend the 2013 European Development Days in November, where their short videos will be screened.
So what do you want changed to create a poverty-free world? Take out your smartphone, digital camera, tablet or any other video-taking device, and have your say — or invite a teenager or twenty-something near you to do so. Join Young Voices Against Poverty.
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