Media Release

For those who asked - excerpts from the post-WYC media release, including comments by Bernise Ang.

Singapore was represented at the recently concluded World Youth Congress (WYC) in Stirling, Scotland ..

The main outcome of the WYC constituted a policy document drafted by a committee .. on which Singaporean delegate .. served as a representative for Asia and the Pacific.

The WYC policy document will be presented at the upcoming UN World Summit in New York next month, in review of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). [Bernise Ang, a Singaporean delegate at the WYC,] emphasises, “The policy document represents a voice of today's global youth and addresses how youth can - and should - be a major force in both developed and developing countries’ national and international strategies for development.”

“As such, this document needs to be referred to in Singapore’s position as well as MDG progress report, when our country delegation addresses the UN Summit next month,” urges Ms Ang.

“In Singapore, many of us have the luxury of economic privilege, relative to many of our neighbours. Let us use that privilege for forming and strengthening global partnerships towards eliminating abject poverty for our less fortunate counterparts in other parts of the world.”

Poverty reduction is the first of 8 goals, as outlined by the MDGs.

Ms Ang remarks on Singapore youth: “Our youth is the largest untapped resource that has potential just waiting to be unleashed. Programs such as the Youth Expedition Project of the Singapore International Foundation demonstrate the capability of our youth to shine as leaders in meaningful development work in areas where it is most needed.”

“Back home, the sheer strength of volunteers in CDC initiatives such as the recent Taman Jurong Painting Competition reveals the energy and desire of our youth, to make a difference in our communities.”

“The concept of youth participation can be so much more meaningfully realised in spaces and structures where youth can be more effectively involved not just in implementation (as volunteers) or consultation (in youth consultation exercises), but also in significant decision-making capacities.”

Technorati: WYC, Singapore, youth, development