Why?
According to the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Republic Indonesia, the population of Indonesian youths aged 18 – 30 years old are approximately 62 million people. The number, which is equivalent to approximately 15 times of Singapore’s population, is one big reason as to why we need a platform for young people to be able to speak up. To ignore 60 million voices is simply not just and we have learned that in Indonesia, the youths are the ones who make the change. From Sumpah Pemuda to the breaking a regime that had been ruling us for 32 years–all of those outbreak achievements were done by young people. So now, is it really that impossible to allow these youth voices to be heard?
There are many bright, young minds in all across Indonesia that can offer fresh perspectives and unprecedented solutions that might be helpful for the country in facing the issues of the 21st century. The voices of youth must be heard and taken into consideration seriously because there are a lot of youths who do take the issues of today seriously and we need to expose them to the ones who don’t. We need a forum to share our ideas and aspirations, which provides the opportunity for us to actually be heard. We also believe that in this globalization era, where other countries already have youth parliaments, we have to prepare young Indonesians to be able to compete and become as critical as the youths of other nations.
What?
Indonesian Youth Conference (IYC) is a youth-led project, which aims to bring young people together to exchange concerns and ideas, raise their awareness about current issues and convince people that the voices of youth must be heard and taken into consideration seriously.
It consists of two continuous events:
Forum
We are going to invite 33 young people aged 15 to 21 years old from all across the country to represent their provinces in the conference. These young people must be actively involved in their communities and networks, determined to make betterment for Indonesia, and willing to start a project or movement in their communities. IYC is going to organise a number of seminar and workshop sessions to nurture their entrepreneurial skills that will enable them in making the best out of their potentials.
The recruitment process to select these youth ambassadors has been finished. The results will hopefully be released by the end of March 2010.
Festival
We are going to organise more seminar and workshop sessions, which can be attended by anyone by paying an admission fee. The seminar and workshop sessions are going to be more general and less intensive, covering a variety of issues. We are going to invite professionals, government officials, and also inspirational youths to talk about government policies, politics, culture, creative industry, information technology, environment, education, health, volunteerism and activism, social entrepreneurship, and journalism and media.
We want the festival to be a celebration for young people, where they would be able to learn and enlarge their networks. Yes, young people want to be listened, but we also want them to listen.
When & Where?
The forum is going to be held on July 1 – 3, 2010 in Kemang; and the festival is going to be held on July 4, 2010 at Komunitas Salihara, Pasar Minggu, Jakarta.
Further questions?
Let us know if there is something that confuses you. E-mail us to contact@indonesianyouthconference.org.
