Oxfam Youth Parliament
13 April 2004 at 1:04 pm
To coincide with National Youth Week, 300 young people from across the world have been selected from over 2000 applicants to participate in the world’s second Oxfam International Youth Parliament 2004 (IYP2004), to be held in Sydney this July.
Hosted by Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, IYP2004 will bring together the world’s brightest young leaders, aged between 18 and 25, to develop dynamic solutions to local, national and global issues which they will put into action.
From Australia to Uganda, the delegates have been selected from 163 countries, including unrepresented nations, Indigenous communities and ethnic minorities.
There are 22 delegates from Australia who will attend the eight-day program kicking off in the NSW Parliament.
Frank Daniel Trotman-Golden is a 22 year old Indigenous Australian from Newtown, Sydney, who will be attending Oxfam IYP2004. As a musician and active campaigner around Indigenous issues, Frank sees great opportunity for young indigenous people to use music and film as a way of reinforcing Aboriginal identity.
Trotman-Golden says his people’s oral tradition and story telling has always been an imperative part of Aboriginal culture and he wants to show Indigenous youth that Hip Hop can be an empowering and relevant way to express our culture.
Olasimbo Olasubude Olateru-Olagbegi, aged 21, will be travelling to Sydney from Nigeria, where she is the Youth Director for the Women’s Consortium of Nigeria, committed to preventing the trafficking of women and children.
She says there are an estimated 12 million Nigerian children who serve as cheap labour – and many of whom are trafficked victims. From sharing experiences and receiving training at IYP2004, she hopes she will be better placed to help improve the status and welfare of women and children in her country.
Oxfam International Youth Parliament Coordinator Nicole Breeze says that while the delegates may come from diverse backgrounds, they all share a common desire to work together to bring real change where it is most needed in our world.
Since it began with the inaugural Parliament sitting in 2000, the Oxfam International Youth Parliament says it has demonstrated its effectiveness in supporting young leaders achieve their goals and effect positive and sustainable change in their communities.
From 5-12 July in Sydney, the delegates will focus on building skills, establishing networks and developing action plans for social change at the local, national and global levels.
