What is YOUR Youth Strategy?!?

~ I really enjoyed this blogpost from YSA ~

What Is The World's Youth Strategy? 

 

Every organization is taught to know its competitors, and we know ours.  They exist on practically every continent:  ISIS, al Qaeda, Boko Haram, Shining Path, Real Irish Republican Army, FARC, and more than 50 other terrorist organizations that the State Department lists on its website. It's clear that ISIS takes to heart the warning we preach here at YSA: "If you don't have a youth strategy, you don't have a strategy at all." 

As we learned in Paris and across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, ISIS has a very effective youth strategy. Terrorists prey on the fact that every kid on the planet wonders if he or she matters. The widespread prevalence of this adolescent angst suggests it may be biology's way to move us from the familiar to the next phase of our adult lives.  Our hormones scream at us, "Who am I, and what am I doing here?" This urge to find one's purpose can make young people feel incredibly vulnerable, especially if you are trapped in poverty with no way out. 

At YSA, we activate young people, together with their friends, to find their voice, take action, and make an impact on the world's biggest challenges.  They are solving the problem of water scarcity in Australia, climate change in Brazil, road safety in India, HIV transmission in South Africa, and literacy in Mississippi.  In 2016, we will activate 7,100 youth-led projects with our partners in 125 countries toward achieving the United Nations' 17 new Sustainable Development Goals.

Read the rest of this blog at www.YSA.org/worldyouthstrategy and make plans to join us in building the world's youth strategy by activating young people in your community on Global Youth Service Day: April 15-17.