NEW WAY raising the YMCA’s profile!
The President of the 65th General Assembly of the United Nations, Mr. Joseph Deiss, has appointed the YMCA to deliver the speech on behalf of youth-led organizations in the opening ceremony of the High Level Meeting (HLM) on Youth on July 25 th 2011, 10h, in the United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States.
The Secretary General of United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, is one of four people sharing the first words of this important event.
The Heads of States, Ministries, Diplomatic Corps and young leaders from all over the world are expected for this meeting as the culmination of the International Year of Youth, launched in 2010, to advance the youth agenda in the world.
The selection of the YMCA was just possible thanks to the intermediation of ICMYO – International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organizations, a network of International Organizations and Regional Platforms with focus on youth issues.
The initial speech is just one of the many achievements of the organized young people related to this event. The World YMCA Movement was invited to help in the lobby process for the outcome document of the HLM by approaching diplomats from different countries in the past two months.
The YMCA will be represented by three delegates, which are Rodrigo Merino, 28 from Mexico (YMCA of USA), Chad Nico Hiu, 29, from USA (International YMCA of New York) and Romulo Dantas, 29, from Brazil, Executive Secretary for Youth Empowerment of the World Alliance of YMCAs, and responsible to deliver the speech.
Right before the HLM, the YMCA will participate of ICMYO 2011 and of side meetings, one of them, with the UN Youth Champion, Monique Colleman, to talk about youth philanthropy.
Get to know more about the International Year of Youth at http://social.un.org/youthyear/ and about ICMYO: http://icmyo.wordpress.com/