9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Opening Ceremony

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Poonam Ahluwalia, Executive Director of YES
Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-Habitat
Luther Luedtke, President and CEO of EDC
Emmanuel Dennis, Coordinator, YES Kenya
Hon. Dr. Mohamed Abdi Kuti, Minister of State for Youth Affairs
Dr. Salam Z. Ali Al-Zoba'e, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq
H.E. Mwai Kibaki, President of Kenya

Session Coordinator: John Burugu

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11:30 – 1:00 p.m.

Plenary 1: YES Campaign Works! Methodology and Grassroots Action…meet the leaders

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Description: Over the course of the last four years (2002 – 2006) the YES model – of building local capacity and working together with diverse stakeholders has proven to be extremely powerful. Leadership of youth is at the center of this very hopeful Campaign. In this session you will learn about the close partnership of YES and YEN. And the different ways in which the YES model works- in partnership with donors such as GTZ and the Government (Kenya); developing effective State Level Networks (India); strengthening Regional Cooperation (Latin America).

Session Chaired by: Poonam Ahluwalia, Executive Director of YES

Members of the panel:
Regina Monticone, Secretary of the Youth Employment Network
David Mshila, Team Leader/Advisor for the GTZ Prosyr Project
Emmanuel Dennis, Country Coordinator for YES Kenya
Praveen Kumar Prithvi, Country Coordinator for YES India
Dacil Acevedo Riquelme, Regional Coordinator for Latin America of YES

Session Coordinator: Hope Muli

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2:30 – 4:00 p.m.

Plenary 2: Creating Markets…Unleashing Entrepreneurship a workable approach

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Description: With the world youth population over 1 billion, 85 percent in developing countries, and hardly any growth in jobs in private and public sectors it is essential to understand how employment will be created for these youth and the 1.5 billion children behind them waiting to flood the labor markets. The only hope for absorption is in the enterprise development sector. The Bottom of the Pyramid model is clearly very inspiring – 4 billion people at the bottom that require goods and services – clearly a market for unleashing entrepreneurship. In this session you will understand this model and also hear about the market for renewable energy products, information and communications technologies, how the UN intends to work with the private sector in the BOP model for development and how YES Mexico has created almost 2000 new businesses over the past 4 years.

Session Chaired by:
Koosum Kalyan, Sr. Business Development Advisor for Shell International

Members of the panel:
Nick Moon, Co-Founder of KickStart
Cheick Diarra, Africa Chair for Microsoft
Elizabeth Lwanga, UN Resident Coordinator for Kenya
Samuel Gonzalez, Country Coordinator for YES Mexico

Session Coordinator: Sam Gakunga

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4 :30 – 6:00 p.m.

8 Breakout Sessions on Creating Markets…Unleashing Entrepreneurs in Emerging Employment Sectors for Youth

Breakout 1: Renewable Energy

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Description: With 2 billion people in the world without access to clean energy - renewable energy presents unique and real opportunities for youth entrepreneurship. In this session YES Network coordinators will share how they promote youth-led renewable energy enterprises, which produce and sell goods and services to markets in off-grid areas.

Chaired by: Charles Gacheru, Kenya Branch Manager for Freeplay Eenergy

Speakers:
Prof. M.N. Reddy, Swamy Ramananda Rural Institute
Daniel Semakula, Country Coordinator for YES Uganda
Macumu Pierre, Country Coordinator for YES Burundi

Session Coordinator: Fred Ouko

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Breakout 2: Water and Sanitation

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Description: With 2.5 million people living without adequate water and sanitation which causes among many other ills, harm to the health and well being of our brothers and sisters, it is essential to promote an enterprise driven approach for provision of sustainable water and sanitation systems. Many countries have developed innovative models to bring water and sanitation to needy areas. YES promotes a enterprise driven model to meet this demand by training youth in the skills required to increase water access in the developing world. In this session you will hear from Acumen Fund about their entrepreneurial model, from UN Habitat about urban water and sanitation and from the YES Networks about their work in this field.

Speakers:
Kojo Parris, Africa Director for the Acumen Fund
James Ohayo, UN Habitat
Dulal Biswas, Country Coordinator for YES Bangladesh
Samkeliso Simelane, Country Coordinator for YES Swaziland

Session Coordinator: Teddy Malaki

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Breakout 3: On-Farm and Off-Farm Enterprises

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Description: Over 60 percent of the world lives in rural areas, where youth need local employment opportunities to build communities and stem migration. It is essential to support value-added production, agro-business, co-operatives etc. In this session we will hear about how in Zimbabwe rural populations have been organized, the value of ecological design for farming, mushroom cultivation in remote areas, about integrated energy-fertilizer-feed-material generation for sustainable eco-farming and how the YES Networks have promoted entrepreneurship in rural areas.

Chaired by: Sithembiso Nyoni, President and Founder of ORAP

Speakers:
Nick Moon, KickStart (invited)
Margaret Tagwira, Zimbabwe
Emmanuel Edudzie, Country Coordinator for YES Ghana

Session Coordinator: Desmond Boi

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Breakout 4: Information and Communication Technologies

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Description: Barely 2 percent in the world have Internet access. In more than 80 countries there are fewer than 10 telephone lines for every 100 inhabitants. The present inability of many developing countries to utilize the potential of ICT has caused a widening global technology gap. Unprecedented opportunities for youth entrepreneurship therefore continue to exist in this sector. YES networks are implementing projects to increase ICT literacy and foster youth led ICT-growth in the developing world. In this session you will hear how Microsoft intends to bridge the gaps, how Netcorps (created in the model of Peace Corps) is supporting digital opportunity, how local NGO Partners for Progress is transforming the landscape for IT education and employment and how with the support of Microsoft – YES Peru is building an IT culture.

Chaired by: Jennifer Corriero, Co-Founder of TakingITGlobal

Speakers:
Marc Lepage, Regional Director for Africa and Middle East for Digital Opportunity Trust
Alejandro Juarez Velarde, Country Coordinator for YES Peru

Session Coordinator: Paddy Mwangi

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Breakout 5: HIV/AIDS

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Young adults account for half of some 5 million new infections. YES Campaign staff has worked with the USAID-funded program Equip 3 in Southern Africa to prepare a livelihoods based strategy for prevention. In addition as the number of worldwide HIV/AIDS infections steadily climbs toward 45 million, many YES networks are dedicating considerable effort to train youth as health professionals, and looking for a livelihood based approach for HIV/AIDS prevention.

Chaired by: Richard Mabala, Chief, Youth, Protection and HIV/AIDS Section for UNICEF Ethiopia

Speakers:
Charles Weja, Tanzania
Claudia Vanessa Siliezar Turcios, Country Coordinator for YES Honduras
Yamuna Pathak, Coordinator for YES Andhra Pradesh

Session Coordinator: Jane Bisanju

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Breakout 6: Youth in Post-Conflict Reconstruction

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Description: Without peace there can be no sustainable and productive employment. With seven YES Country networks in high conflict zones YES is dedicated to addressing the specific needs of youth coping with the physical and psychological impact extreme conflict. In this session you will hear about efforts in Afghanistan, DRC, and Rwanda.

Chaired by: Khaleda Atta, Commercial Attaché for Embassy of Afghanistan (invited)

Speakers:
Jules Ramazani Abedi, Country Coordinator for YES DRC
Frank Mukama, Country Coordinator for YES Rwanda
Omar Mansoor Ansari, Country Coordinator for YES Afghanistan

Session Coordinator: Ajmal Pashtoonyar, UNDP

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Breakout 7: Building Youth Leadership

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Description: At the center of the YES model is youth leadership and it is rightly believed that equipped with the right skills and networks youth will work towards the sustainable development of their countries. The YES Campaign prioritizes capacity building programs that focus on informal education, entrepreneurial mentorship, and leadership development. In this session you will learn about GYAN which is a global youth action network, about young people who are passionate about causing transformation in Africa, about how important it is to create a socially entrepreneurial leadership peer-group in the world and how educated youth are being supported to build their employability skills.

Chaired by: Benjamin Quinto, Executive Director for Global Youth Action Network

Speakers:
Kepta Ombati, Chief Executive for Youth Agenda Africa
AIESEC (invited)

Session Coordinator: Opimbi Osore

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Breakout 8: Youth Empowerment

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Description: The 6th E of the YES Framework for Action talks about Empowerment as the quintessential force for causing transformation. The YES Campaign’s efforts to provide youth a branded platform from where they can speak powerfully, take appropriate action, and inspire belief, has had a catalytic impact all over the world, and has made the YES Campaign the largest global youth development movement in the world. In this session you will learn how the YES leadership has worked to empower youth in their countries and in their communities.

Chaired by: Ali Raza Khan, Country Coordinator for YES Pakistan

Speakers:

Kaitlyn Olson, Country Coordinator for YES USA
Graciano Baillard, Country Coordinator for YES Dominican Republic
Gathecha Kamau (invited)

Session Coordinator: Emma Njoki