The World Youth Congress (WYC) is a series of conferences that started from 1999. The main objective of the conference was to identify the goals of UN millennium development goals. The previous congresses were held in Hawaii 1999, Morocco 2003, Scotland 2005 and Quebec 2008.
Each of these congresses is different from one another because the hosts are encouraged to show their local cultures and do side events. Because of such features, every WYC series is different from other international youth conferences.
This year, the conference takes place in Istanbul, Turkey from July 31 to August 13. The congress will bring together around 1000 young people from around the world including youth led development activists, young journalists, young educators, young artists, young entrepreneurs and virtual delegates. Registration is free for the congress.
The cultural programs, youth-led workshops, debates on different issues and interaction between young professionals and activists from all over the world is what one can encounter in the conference. During the conference, youths take part in different Local Action Projects - where all delegates travel away from the Congress site and work with local people to build up facilities, do an environmental clean-up or assist in some social program.
"There are about 20 youths participating from Nepal," said Hansha Sangyal, climate activist and one of the participants. "We were originally 50 of us but 30 of them dropped the plan because they had to cover the travel expenses themselves," he added.
Excluding air fare, the conference, however, bears other costs.
All the 20 chosen participants will get a chance to present a paper on youths position in Nepal and their activities. They will also take part in a ´local action project´.
This will definitely help the Nepali youth gain confidence and come back home with positive energy and implementation plans.
The main challenge for the participants will be to put their experiences and knowledge into action.
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