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Jakarta Post

One Young World: When 20-somethings gather to make a difference

When a handful of corporate bigwigs, political top dogs, music dignitaries and even the royals set aside a few days from their hectic life to fly half way around the world to attend a conference in Zurich, Switzerland, you know this is more than just a regular get-together

Arghea Desafti Hapsari (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sun, September 18, 2011

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One Young World: When 20-somethings gather to make  a difference

W

hen a handful of corporate bigwigs, political top dogs, music dignitaries and even the royals set aside a few days from their hectic life to fly half way around the world to attend a conference in Zurich, Switzerland, you know this is more than just a regular get-together.

 In early September, notables like Desmond Tutu, Bob Geldof, Muhammad Yunus, Kofi Annan and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway joined a list of 34 influential people who mentored and counseled a horde of selected youngsters during the One Young World conference, a global forum for the under-25s with leadership caliber.

 “One Young World is the game-changer where tomorrow’s leaders start leading and acting to create the world they want,” a release published on the event’s website says about the forum, which was founded in 2010 by David Jones, Global CEO of Havas, and Kate Robertson, chairwoman of Euro RSCG UK, one of the largest communication agencies in the world.

 “One Young World is an opportunity for the youth of the world to stand up and have a say about what will affect them in the future,” Jones said in a release received by The Jakarta Post recently.

 This year, the massive global pow-wow, held from Sept. 1 - 4, invited more than 1,200 delegates from over 170 countries, the most countries represented in any global event other than the Olympics.

 The delegates flying the flag for Indonesia at the One Young World summit included presidents of student bodies from four different universities: Muhamad Reza Pahlevi (Bogor Agricultural Institute), Lutfhi Hamzah Husin (Gadjah Mada University), Dalu Nuzlul Kirom (Sepuluh November Institute of Technology) and Ali Machfud (Indonesia Education University).

 Other members of the delegation were Vincentius Dito Holanda (Bandung Institute of Technology), Astrio Feligent (Bina Nusantara University) and Sheila Koesin (Lampung Teknokrat University). These three were winners of a recent national English-language debating competition. Indonesia also sent four other collegians as its delegates.

 During the conference, the Indonesian youth delegates raised a range of critical issues crucial to the future of young people in developing economies like Indonesia, such as health issues, freedom and equality of access to information.

  Along with its delegates, Indonesia also sent Sherina Munaf, a local teenage singing sensation, who was chosen as an ambassador for the One Young World summit. The Indonesian heartthrob performed a song she had written herself for the closing ceremony.

 “One Young World is an opportunity for young people all over the world to give their input on what kind of changes they want to make happen in the long run for a better world, and it is something that I am very proud to be a part of, both as an Indonesian, and as a young global citizen,” Sherina said in a press conference in Jakarta, a week before the summit kicked off.

 “As a country with an emerging economy and one of the biggest populations in the world, young Indonesians are enormously important to the future of the planet,” Jones said, “That’s why I’m delighted to welcome Sherina Munaf as an ambassador, and very pleased to see such a strong delegation from Indonesia this year, following an exceptional delegation last year.”

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