The Arrival

We arrived in New York late at night and headed straight to the hotel , where we met the rest of the team who looked pretty worn out already, as they had arrived in the afternoon and had already done some running around. 

 We grab a bite and head straight to bed, in order to fight the jet-lag....and be ready for DAY 1. 

On Day 1 the WSYA winners start to arrive; they are coming from over 20 different countries from all over the world - India, Italy, Hungary, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, China, Pakistan, Togo, USA, Australia, Armenia, France, Germany, Austria, Egypt, Iran, Morocco to name the ones that I can remember off the top of my head.

Day 1 for the team was hectic, there were posters to be printed, information material to be put together, tasks to be distributed, winners and VIPs to be welcomed - the list is endless....oh and did I mention, we had a meeting scheduled for 11.30 AM as well with another youth organization that has its core focus on the MDGs - The Millennium Campus Network (http://www.millenniumcampusnetwork.org/), who is having their annual Millennium Campus Conference in New York this weekend.

It is simply amazing how many people want to help achieve the MDGs while leaders get caught up in long meetings and more or less meaningless talks....

The day flies past us and the winners trickle in, the evening arrives and a short welcome session is held at our hotel, which helps break the ice between winners and allows them to get to know each other. It was fun and I talked to so many motivated youths, the youngest being 18 years old that are doing amazing things, things that make me wonder why I have not yet thought of great ideas like theirs, why I have not promoted the MDGs using digital media, why I have not yet tried to make a difference....questions that require alot of thorough reflection....not only by me, but by each and everyone reading this right now...

Martin Luther King once said "Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable.....Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concerns of dedicated individuals".....like these young people.

I honestly hope that more youths around the world can strive to do one tenth of what these young people do without making it seem special. They are all humble and modest and excited that their work has received recognition......... 

Below is an excerpt of Prof. Bruck's (Chairman of the Board WSA) welcome message.... 

Welcome to the World Summit Youth Award (WSYA) Winners’ Events 2010 in New York City! This years WSYA has its core focus on the Millennium Review Summit, which will be attended by heads of state and other high level government officials and is held parallel to the WSYA Events in New York. With just five years left to achieve the MDGs, world leaders see the UN Review Summit as an opportunity to re-energise the global MDG effort and agree on a concrete action plan to accelerate progress towards meeting the Goals by their target date of 2015. While government leaders discuss implementation strategies for the MDGs the youth take action, which is reflected in the WSYA 2010 winning projects. This year the WSYA had 632 submissions from 102 countries that were evaluated by the WSYA Jury 2010 in order to find three winners for each of the six categories. These winners will be showcased at the Winners’Events in New York, which poses a unique opportunity for Youths to network and discuss with UN MDG Review Summit Leaders, ICT and media experts, business leaders, multimedia producers and creatives who will all be giving their recognition to the showcased winning projects. Let’s enhance the use of Internet media to make the world a better place! I invite you to get actively involved in the WSYA events and leverage on this event with regards to the UN MDG Review Summit and the implementation of the MDGs by 2015. Looking forward to your active participation and valuable contributions! 

I also managed to take a few good pictures of the get together....enjoy.....