Turkey 2010:
Where East meets West
1400 delegates arrived in Istanbul, the then European Capital of Culture, for the 5th WYC, where they were treated to 2 weeks of fun, sun, learning and action.
The focus, agreed by the Youth Advisory Committee, was to centre on the monitoring and evaluation of youth-led projects.
In a change to the workings of the congress, development experts and young activists were offered the opportunity to interact on an equal footing. As a result of such conversations and further discussions held among the young people alone, delegates agreed upon the Istanbul Action Plan.
The Istanbul Action Plan proposed the 5 main actions that governments, intergovernmental agencies, and youth civil society needed to take together.
- An educational revolution to incorporate improved flexibility and greater youth involvement in curriculum design.
- The culture of youth dependency should be replaced with a culture of youth entrepreneurship.
- Young people should have a central role in the building of a green economy and speeding the transition to a sustainable lifestyle.
- Governments should recognise youth as a valuable resource for tackling developmental questions.
- The creation of an UN youth agency.