RECAP: Youth Nation 2011 candidates tackle Canada's global reputation. Conversations for a Better World. Youth Tapping into the Power of Smart Advocacy « Conversations for a Better World. Con la tecnología de Traductor Friday, September 23rd, 2011 - One comment Working with UNFPA during the past year, I recall that we have had many discussions about how youth organizations can effectively and economically do advocacy at international conferences. The big question was how youth organizations can move from “classic advocacy” to new and smarter ways of doing advocacy. Of course, the options of how civil society can do advocacy varies from conference to conference, with some conferences giving civil society more opportunities to influence the debate than others. Still, I feel that with enhanced creativity, new and more effective ways of doing advocacy can be found for all kinds of conferences. I would like to highlight an example of “smart advocacy” that I witnessed a couple of weeks ago through my work here at UNFPA.
As a next step, three youth rapporteurs were appointed to attend the Bonn conference on behalf of the coalition of youth organizations. Patti Smith. Winning Respect. It's the kids' first day of school. When the bell rings and they start filling up my classroom, there's a brief, chaotic moment where I have absolutely no control or influence. They don't know me, so I haven't established my presence. Nobody knows who I am, yet everyone seating in their seats is desperately wanting to prove themselves. Everyone has their tough face activated.
There's a group of students that immediately run towards the back seats. Not all of them will have issues with noise or chit-chatting during class, some just want to be left alone. There are students who have to be loud about everything, because attention is their game. At this point, it's crucial to set the right tone. "Yo Mista, dead ass you wuz makin' bread on Wall Street?
" "Why'd you quit Mista? "Shit, my n**** here made it and then told 'em to go fuck they-selves. "Ay yo, anybody tell you you look like that Indian n**** from Harold and Kumar? " Holy shit.