June 1, 2011
Courageous Youth Needed
This July the UN will be bustling with young people as the International Year of Youth (IYY) is formally celebrated in New York City. According to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, this event will be the culmination of a year-long effort to “give youth an active part in the decision-making of local, national and global levels.” With the theme of “Dialogue and Mutual Understanding” the aim is to encourage dialogue across generations and promotion of ideals like respect for human rights, peace, freedoms and solidarity.
So what can we expect from a UN event such as this?
If the preparatory meetings for the IYY are any indication, this could be a wild ride. Our colleagues at Catholic Family and Human Rights Instituted last year reported on an IYY related event – an Interactive Global Forum held in Leon, Mexico, which was a massive expo with hundreds of booths and exhibits. Not a few of the exhibition displays and the materials handed out verged on pornographic; certainly not something that the youth of the world should be subjected to and definitely not “family friendly.” You can read the report here.
We expect that the culminating event to be held in July at the UN in NY will be much more stayed (no pornographic material included). We do know that the IYY draft declaration, currently being negotiated in NY, does not contain any references to the family or parents and their need to be engaged with youth. The lack of language that recognizes the family’s crucial role is a reoccurring problem with the vast majority of documents emerging from the UN system – a situation that UFI is actively working to change.
For this final event, our opposition is importing hundreds of youth (ages 14-24) from around the world to promote their radical agenda of sexual and reproductive rights. That agenda includes worldwide abortion on demand, the redefinition of gender, and the early sexualization of our children – all the while diminishing the rights of parents and working to destroy the traditional family.
The opposition’s intent is to have their trained youth participants control and dominate the dialogue within all the youth meetings and then be able to say that whatever ideas and documents that emerge are the consensus of the youth of the world. We at United Families International, along with our pro-family coalition friends, intend to change the game and we need your help.
Looking for courageous youth
United Families International is looking for approximately eight young adults, ages 18-23, to attend the United Nations High Level Meeting on Youth to be held in New York City during July 25-26, 2011. This will be a fabulous opportunity to support the cause of families while interacting with young people from around the world. UFI will provide advance information and training and there will also be additional training upon arrival in NY.
These young people would be able to participate in two informal interactive round tables on July 25th and two plenary meetings on July 26th. They will also have the opportunity to work with the pro-family coalition on educating other young people that will be in attendance, as well as participate in side events. Attendance at this event would be a great resume builder.
The cost to each youth will include: 1) airfare to NY, 2) $40 per night (4 nights) for the cost of a shared hotel room, 3) ground transportation costs, 4) food and personal items. UFI will be subsidizing the cost of the hotel rooms. You will need to arrive in NY no later than Sunday evening, July 24 and will be fully committed to the UN event through Tuesday evening, July 26. UFI has arranged for youth to stay on an extra day – Wednesday – to do site seeing in NY. As of Wednesday morning, the youth are free to return home or continue their stay in NY, if so desired. UFI has reserved hotel rooms Sunday afternoon through Thursday morning.
What are the qualifications?
Needed are young people who are confident and willing to present their position in an articulate, professional, and diplomatic manner. Please familiarize yourself with UFI’s “Five Respects” and the material on our website to make sure that your values and beliefs align with those of United Families. In addition, individuals must also subscribe to such values as those included in the”Statement of Youth to the UN and to the World.” We invite you to read through these materials carefully and if you feel it represents your values, send a brief resume to ufi@unitedfamilies.org We will review the resumes and contact you.
This IYY event is another in a long line of UN conferences that UFI representatives have attended this year with several more planned this fall. As always, we value your involvement and your help as we continue our efforts dedicated to preserving the family. If you feel you can help us with this conference through recommending youth, or contributing financially to sponsor youth, we would greatly appreciate hearing from you. With adequate funding, we can provide opportunities for more young people to attend this event.
We are excited to show the opposition that there are wonderful young people who value life, honor marriage vows, respect parental rights, and recognize the value of traditional family life. If you can are such a person, or if you know someone who is, let us hear from you.
Cordially,
President, United Families International