January 9, 2006

ARTICLES: Youth Are Building Presence Inside WTO

Youth Are Building Presence Inside WTO

By Emily Freeburg, WireTap
Posted on January 6, 2006, Printed on January 9, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/story/30463/

Like much of civil society, youth participation at the World Trade Organization doesn't have a long history. In fact, its history is only a few weeks old. But at the 6th Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong (WTO 6), more than a dozen young people from all over the world attended the meeting with official accreditation, a forum previously exclusive to government negotiators. Hundreds more protested, with demonstrations at nearby Victoria Park, while others held a youth information booth at the fair trade center nearby.

Most young people know little about the World Trade Organization, and with the number of protests growing each year, the WTO has come to stand for everything negative about globalization, from exploitation of workers, outsourced jobs and overconsumption, to cultural change and environmental degradation. This year, instead of their usual posts at a nearby hotel, hundreds of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were allowed into the meeting, where many followed each step of the negotiations.

FULL ARTICLE AT http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/30463/

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Chris Schuepp
Young People's Media Network - Coordinator
 
Youth Media Consulting GbR
c/o ECMC (European Centre for Media Competence)
Bergstr. 8 / 11th floor
D-45770 Marl - Germany
 
 
The YPMN is supported by UNICEF and hosted by the ECMC.
 
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