World Assembly of Youth (WAY), youth wing of United Nations Organisation organised a dialogue at Melaka, Malaysia (MIYD 2004)on 28, 29 and 30th June 2004 to discuss the 'Youth participation in decision making process'.  Around 230 delegates from 43 countries participated in the dialogue.  Representation from United States of America was conspicuously missing, as they donot have any 'youth structure' in their country (Click for an  exclusive interview of Mr Donald Charumbira, Secretary General) and click for MIYD 2004 declaration

MIYD 2004 (Melaka International Youth dialogue 2004) was inaugurated by Rt. Hon. YAB Datuk Seri Hj. Mohd. Ali Bin Mohd. Rustom, Chief Minister of Melaka State, Malaysia and also President of WAY on 28th June 2004. (see picture).  Mr Donald Charumbira, Secretary General of WAY welcomed the delegates. A message from Dr. Abdul Kalam, President of India was read out by Mr Theethan, Accountant General, Govt. of India

Plenary sessions : On the first day representatives from various youth organisations of different countries shared their views on issues of serious concern.  K. Srinivasan, Chairman, Prime Point Foundation also presented a paper on 'Media Relations'.  He emphasised the need for youth organisations and NGOs using the Media for creating awareness. (see picture).  

Workshops : On the second day, the delegates were divided into three groups to discuss the various issues pertaining to 'involvement of youth in decision making process'.  The delegates from different countries shared their experience (see picture for one such group discussion).  All the group leaders presented their views at the end of the day.

Side events : Very interesting feature in this MIYD was the 'side events' at the end of every day on various topics to discuss important issues like environment, ICT, HIV/AIDs, poverty, etc.  Many youth from different parts of the world participated enthusiastically and shared their views. (see picture  for one such side event)

Two hearing impaired participants Ms Jessica Mak and Mr Anthony Chong (both from YMCA, Kaulalumpur) were informed of the entire proceedings simultaneously by an young sign language expert.  They participated effectively during the entire programme. (see picture)

The delegates were mixture of seniors and young people.  It was more of the culmination of 'wisdom and experience' of the seniors and the 'energy and enthusiasm' of young people.  (See the picture for a section of the audience during a plenary session)

Based on the outcome of the workshops, 'MIYD2004 Declaration' was prepared by a group of young people in the age group between 16 and 23  independently without the help of any seniors.  (When many elderly people criticised this as 'childish', Mr. Donald Charumbira, Secretary General,  defended this declaration as 'though childish, it is youthful').  

Around fifty Malaysian student volunteers (age group between 15 to 22) organised this event well and took care of the delegates.  In some of the countries, the youth organisations and student organisations are headed by 'young persons' in the age group of 50 plus.   It is because of the fact that there is no standard definition for 'youth' at global level.

Please read the exclusive interview with Mr Donald Charumbira