Voices of Youth is an organization set up by

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to c ...

to help

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

from across the world exchange knowledge and ideas. Voices of Youth was founded in 1995, as a way to relay messages from children in 81 countries to world leaders at the World Summit for Social Development. In 1997, the official Voices of Youth discussion boards (referred to as the "Meeting Place") were set up to allow young people to discuss child rights and development issues. To ensure that a wide range of people could participate, parallel forums were set up in English, French, and Spanish. At the same time, a "Learning Place" was established to give youths accurate and accessible information about child rights through

quiz A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which players attempt to answer questions correctly on one or several specific topics. Quizzes can be used as a brief assessment in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abilities, ...

zes,

game A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...

s and photo journals. A "Teacher’s Place" was also established as a forum to help

teachers A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

and other young leaders exchange ideas and find ways to use Voices of Youth as a learning tool. In 2002, Voices of Youth was completely reorganized. After discussing possible changes with site users from across the world, the administrators reorganized the website into three sections: "Explore," "Speak Out," and "Take Action." In addition to the website, Voices of Youth also publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, “What Young People Are Saying.” In 2005, Voices of Youth added an Arabic mirror site to involve young Arabic speakers from around the world in the discussions about rights. In 2006, Voices of Youth launched the first ever webgame in Swahili about HIV and AIDS. The

mission statement A mission statement is a short statement of why an organization exists, what its overall goal is, the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operatio ...

of Voices of Youth is "To offer all children and adolescents, including the hard-to-reach, a safe and supportive global cyberspace within which they can explore, discuss and partner on issues related to human rights and social change, as well as develop their awareness, leadership, community building, and critical thinking skills through active and substantive participation with their peers and with decision makers globally."

Sections

Explore This section provides links to factual information about child rights and development issues. It also includes stories written by and about young people from around the world, as well as

zes, and

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) sy ...

s to provide information in an interesting and accessible way. Speak Out This section is based around the Voices of Youth discussion boards. To make the forums more accessible to new users, summaries of popular discussions are posted. Stories and

poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

submitted by Voices of Youth members are also posted in this section. Take Action This section suggests community projects that young people can begin to help improve the world. This section also profiles successful youth leaders as sources of inspiration, and provides a list of organizations and projects for users to get involved in.

Users

Voices of Youth members are from more than 180

countries A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, so ...

. More than 60% are from

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

. 55% of Voices of Youth forum users are female, while only 40% are male (5% of members did not disclose their gender). 32% of Voices of Youth members are 15- to 19-year-olds, and an additional 32% are 20- to 25-year-olds. 8% of users are aged 10–14.UNICEF - Voices of Youth: Information
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External links

Voices of Youth BlogVoices of YouthUNICEF

References and notes

Youth organizations established in 1995 UNICEF

Sections

Users

See also

External links

References and notes