ACTIVE PROGRAMS
 
GYAN coordinates most of its programs in strategic partnership with other agencies, which allow for the greater pooling of resources and experience, and model for collaboration that maximizes impact.
 
:: Global Youth Service Day (GYSD)
Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is a project of Youth Service America (YSA), which the Global Youth Action Network partnered with them to launch in 2000 and since coordinate. GYSD followed the succes of National Youth Service Day, which YSA has organized since 1987. GYSD became the world''s largest annual celebration of young volunteers in 2002, and engages millions of young people in over 100 countries during a weekend in April. GYSD is supported and organized by a consortium of national and international organizations, and national committees in about 125 countries.
Learn more about Global Youth Service Day here www.gysd.net
Apply as a National Lead Agency or Local Organizer here! www.gysd.net/apply

:: Chat the Planet TV
Log on to ChatThePlanet.com and join the conversation
Chat the Planet is a new vision of how television, the internet, and a network of global partnerships can create not only compelling television programming, but a vibrant global community of youth conversation and positive action to improve communities. Produced by NextNext Entertainment and Rapid Blue Productions, the television series broadcasts on Link TV, SABC and MBC, mtvU and others, reaching a potential 280m homes in 17 countries. GYAN, as its strategic not-for-profit partner, engages its youth audience, creates partnerships and provides a link from dialogue to policy..
Chat the Planet recently co-produced the moving Hometown Baghdad series, which broadcast on YouTube and was viewed more than 2 million times. Extensive global media coverage helped to drive the point home that most people simply want to live a life in peace, and that dialogue can lead to greater understanding.
 
:: Youth & the Millennium Development Goals
 Since 2003, much of GYAN''s work centered on our Comprehensive Strategy for Placing Youth at the Forefront of Efforts to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Goals represent 8 key areas of global concern, with measurable targets for ending extreme poverty by 2015. We believe the MDGs are only attainable if young people are integrally involved in achieving them.
In partnership with the United Nations Millennium Campaign and TakingITGlobal, we launched an MDG Youth Campaign Kit and MDG Youth Portal, including a MDG Youth Action Guide, as well as other promotional materials. Also on the portal is the report "Youth & the MDGs: Challenges and Opportunities for Implementation," a 75-page white paper that is broadly used for its case studies, quick wins and policy recommendation; GYAN acted as secretariat for the process of writing the report, and the global consultation that was held in its research phase.
GYAN National Teams continue to hold activities such as workshops and trainings focusing on the MDGs, spawning national youth coalitions for achieving the goals by 2015. GYAN also remains a youth ally of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP).
 
:: Youth In Global Governance
 GYAN continues to advocate for and support youth participation in international decision-making processes. This ranges from our involvement in the World Bank’s Youth, Development and Peace Network, designed to promote greater youth engagement within the institution, to our work with the World Social Forum (WSF), around the World Trade Organization and other fora in which we consider youth voices to be critical. GYAN works in partnership with agencies such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Unietd Nations Volunteers (UNV) at the national and regional level to create youth engagement strategies.
In addition, GYAN remains a key player at United Nations Headquarters, acting as un-official secretariat for youth participants, including for members of the Youth Caucus for the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Commission for Social Development, and others.
In partnership with TakingITGlobal, we co-host the VOICE Section of the web site reporting on policy processes that affect young people, or welcome their participation, especially those at the United Nations.

 
:: Global Youth Action Awards
The USD1,000 Global Youth Action Awards are offered to the best youth-initiated projects that have created a measurable and positive impact in their community, addressing a specific need. The Awards are distributed on the United Nations International Day of Youth in August, pending funding. The Awards program motivates young people to identify a problem in their community and engage a team of their peers to address it, and creates recognition for the extraordinary contributions young people are making today. 

PROGRAMS IN DEVELOPMENT
 
GYAN is currently seeking support to launch the following initiatives
 
:: National MDG Youth Campaigns
 The National MDG (Millennium Development Goals) Youth Campaigns are an innovative public awareness and action initiative with the goal to mobilize millions of youth by the end of 2008 to address critical global issues. In 30 countries, the Campaigns will be launched in a strategic alliance between the Millennium Campaign, TakingITGlobal the Global Youth Action Network (GYAN), and national partner organizations, bringing together a broad coalition of youth groups, UN agencies, development banks, and socially responsible global corporations.
 
:: Youth Participation Index
 The Youth Participation Initiative represents an integrated methodology to measure, quantify, qualify and increase the level of youth participation in decision-making on all levels. The broader initiative comprises a number of existing and conceptual GYAN programs that center on the United Nations System, national government process and other international policy-making institutions, as well as local decision-making, National Youth Agendas, regional forums and global platforms. A key part of the YPI includes the development of indices that measure existing forms of youth participation and qualify the potential result of an increase, through the Youth Participation Index.
 
:: United Nations Youth Delegates Fellowship Program
 The United Nations has continuously called on its member states to include youth in their delegations to the annual General Assembly. For over 30 years, only a handful of countries—mostly Nordic—have acted on the invitation, and set a precedent for youth participation. Although the trend has grown since 2000, the year GYAN helped to set a new record by sponsoring 2 delegates from first-time countries in the Southern Hemisphere, there is still a great need to increase the number of youth delegates, especially those from the global south. GYAN has created the partnerships necessary to make this project a real success, and the 400% increase in youth participation in the 2005 General Assembly illustrates the opportunity to engage the UN, country missions, local Universities and United Nations Associations in the home country for the continuation of efforts following each session.
 
OTHER PARTNER PROGRAMS
 
GYAN is supports a variety of initiatives, whether in the form of a partnership, a contractual agreement or other arrangement. Among the recent and active initiatives are:
 
:: TakingITGlobal.org
Free individual membership GYAN partnered with TakingITGlobal (TIG) since 2000, a youth-led organization in Canada creating innovative technology solutions that connect young people to address global problems. TIG and GYAN''s on-line and off-line networks offer tools, resources, recognition and opportunities for youth to express themselves, take positive action and participate in global decision-making. The TakingITGlobal.org web site includes a comprehensive calendar of youth-related events and searchable database of almost 10,000 organizations worldwide, as well as financial and other opportunities, free list-servers, project management and other technology tools, blogs and much more! TakingITGlobal.org has become the premiere web community for young people and social change, with more than 110,000 members in 230 countries and territories, and receives over 1,5m hits a day. 

:: Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS
 In August, GYAN enterted into agreement with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to incubate and act as the northern secretariat for the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA). Subsequently, support was provided by UNFPA and UNAIDS, and GYCA came onto the scene full-force, linking more than 1,000 AIDS activists and organizers worldwide. The Coalition provides young innovators with the resources and support needed to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS amongst young people.
 
So far, GYCA has launched a web site and bi-monthly newsletter, and provided more than a dozen free e-courses and on-line training sessions to hundreds of its young members. GYCA also helped to research and facilitate contributions to UNFPA’s Our Voice, Our Future report on progress since the UN General Assembly session on HIV/AIDS. GYCA is currently acting as youth secretariat for the upcoming International AIDS Conference in Toronto (August 2006).

:: Youth Movement for Democracy
 At the Third Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in South Africa in 2004, a group of young democracy and human rights activists from around the world came together to found the Youth Movement for Democracy.
 Their mission is to support each other, build solidarity, and develop sustainable democracy and human rights movements by empowering a younger generation in the promotion of democracy. In March, 2005, the South American Regional Office of GYAN became the global secretariat.
Less than a year later the Movement has received over 700 membership applications from individuals and organizations in 100+ countries, created a website and online community in three languages, formalized an interim decision-making structure, designed a guide to organize Youth Forums for Democracy and Political Participation, launched the Global Youth Democracy Campaign, and hosted the first Global Youth Conference on Democracy and Political Participation which enjoyed the participation of more than 300 youth, including representatives from 5 continents. Currently the Movement is fundraising for a new year of activities and preparing for the Fourth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Istanbul, Turkey, 2006.