Global Youth Conference in Vienna

Jointly organized by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Austrian Red Cross (ARC), the first Global Youth Conference took place in Austria, Vienna, օn 9-12 December, 2012.

 The objectives of the Global Youth Conference were.

• To provide the opportunity for youth to discuss and address humanitarian challenges in their communities
• To provide input to the IFRC Global Youth Strategy
• To arrive at a Plan of Action for Youth Activities, at the regional level to facilitate exchange and sustainability of initiatives among networks and partners
• To build new as well as strengthen existing partnerships

Representatives of 94 National Societies and 171 young leaders were among the participants.

Heghine Poghosyan, Youth Volunteer, was presenting Armenian Red Cross Society at the Conference.

The slogan of the Conference was “Youth as agents of change … Making a difference in the world around you”.

During three days of Conference work, members of RC/RC Federation and the guests were discussing four themes:

• Youth promoting humanitarian values and life skills – How we can enhance humanitarian values, attitudes and life skills among children and young people?
• Youth as innovators – How are youth taking action in meeting humanitarian challenges?
• Youth as beneficiaries – How we can reach young people and support them on a peer to peer level? How can we strengthen local capacity building and structures for youth organizations “in order to contribute to civil society development”?
• Youth as leaders – How can we engage and facilitate and support excellent young leaders?

 The participants shared ideas on the mentioned themes, presenting how they perceive and develop them in their countries.

 “Humanitarian Village” was organized, where every county presented National Society’s Youth projects, booklets, toys made by volunteers, as well as sweets and candies. 

Armenian Red Cross Society presented “SMS-Helpline” project.

On the last day, in Maria Tereza Square flesh-mob was organized. Participants were provided red umbrellas in advance, by which Red Cross and Red Crescent were composed. 

The Conference was an excellent opportunity for all the participants to communicate, get acquainted with each other’s activities and, finally, work together.