EYE on Poverty and Human Rights Youth Summit
On September 21, 2009, over 100 diverse young leaders came together at the Effective Youth Engagement Summit on Poverty and Human Rights to explore how positive change can be made in their communities.
The Summit, organized by the Global College Student Advisory Council was an opportunity for participants from various locations across Manitoba to engage in dialogue by looking through the different lenses of poverty.
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Through a series of presentations, workshops, and dialogue sessions, young people had the opportunity to share and learn from individual activists, community leaders and senior government officials.
Participants explored methods that are fundamental to creating a poverty-free Manitoba, as well as ways in which they can use their passions to harness engagement in their community.
These include work-shops on community non-profit organizations, culture and art, and government initiatives, while remaining sensitive to the perspectives of those who bear the greatest burden of poverty: women, persons with disabilities, Aboriginal peoples and newcomer communities.
Our goal of effective youth engagement was achieved by investigating how positive progress is made on a personal, community and governmental level, grounded by international human rights principles.
This Summit was inspired by the Youth Call to Action [PDF] developed by a group of 100 high school and University students who participated in the Two Faces of Poverty Conference in 2008. As a driven and positive resource, one of the largest concerns of this group was the disconnect they felt between their community involvement on poverty, and the perceived lack of willingness of the government efforts to actively value their initiatives.
The EYE on Poverty and Human Rights Youth Summit and subsequent EYE Series hopes to fill in this disconnect by offering a safe space for youth to engage with both community organizations and government leaders on current anti-poverty initiatives in Manitoba. We, as youth representatives, do believe that together, we may be able to move the dial on the state of poverty in our province. Through the EYE Summit on Poverty and Human Rights and the EYE Series, youth will be empowered to make the changes they want to see in the world.
GCSAC sends many thanks to our guest speaker!
Gord Mackintosh, Minister of Family Services and Housing, Minister responsible for Persons with Disabilities [BIO].
For more information please contact the Global College Student Advisory Council at gc-sac@uwinnipeg.ca or call (204) 988.7107.