The 2024 Global Youth Trends Forum will kick off Nov. 16 in Taipei City, with the Ministry of Education expecting nearly 400 experts and participants from home and abroad to discuss challenges and opportunities in the post-pandemic landscape.
Themed “Connect and Engage: Global Partnership for Youth,” this year’s forum focuses on participation in international organizations, overseas volunteering and gap years.
During the first day of the MOE-organized event, Coen Wilms, chair of the Netherlands-based SIW International Volunteer Projects, will discuss his work with the EU and other European countries to shed light on how volunteer work promotes cross-border cultural exchanges and youth cooperation.
Taking part via video conference, World Youth Alliance President Paula Andrea Lopez Rodriguez from Colombia will share her experiences in promoting youth empowerment and related policy initiatives, while Stephen J. H. Lee, deputy secretary general of Taipei-based International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF), will talk about how the organization helps advance global youth participation through its training programs.
On the second day of the event, New Taipei City-based Shoes for Life Founder Yang Yu-jen will detail how his charitable organization, created to assist remote areas in East Africa, facilitates access to the world for young students while alleviating extreme poverty.
Launched in 2013 by the MOE’s Youth Development Administration, the annual forum aims to expand exchanges and cooperation between local youths and their counterparts from around the world to equip them with the knowledge to navigate shifting global trends and harness available resources, so they can make meaningful impacts and uncover diverse opportunities for international engagement. (SFC-E)
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