Committee for Hispanic Children & Families’ Post

#YouthGovTracka #YouGovtrackaLagos #LagosStateYouthInclusion #LSYFP #YouthInAction #YouthInclusion #YDCCampaign YOUTH VOICE MATTER!!!! Our Leaders should create an avenue to Amplify the voices of young Lagosians in shaping policy and decision-making processes.

👥 How are social rights progressing in Europe? And what about civic space? How can social and solidarity economy (SSE) contribute to their progress? 📢 We are excited to invite you to the Social Europe Conference 2023, happening on 28th November, where together with CSOs, EU institutions and other experts we will discuss the results of the Social Rights Monitor (SRM) 📊 🔍 The SRM is a crucial tool to evaluate the state social rights and civic space at the national level in Europe. 🌱At the conference, we will present the results from the Map and propose recommendations on how to tackle the challenges, as well as reflect on the role of SSE in finding solutions to these challenges in view of a just transition. ⏰ Don’t miss the chance, register now! Spots for in-person participation are limited! https://lnkd.in/e2HGGFQN #socialrightsmonitor #civicspace #justtransition #socialandsolidarityeconomy

The town of Arlington is one of the most welcoming, helping to integrate Afghans, Ukrainians, South Sudanese, Haitians and others. I had a great discussion at the high school recently organized by the town's Human Rights and Rainbow Commissions. Here are a few points to keep in mind when you think of refugees and asylum seekers: 1) The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the increase in immigration recently will add 7 trillion to the economy in the next decade. 2)These newcomers will reduce the federal deficit, help to alleviate labor market pressure, and have likely helped the US to avoid a recession that other countries such as the UK and Japan are experiencing. 3) Another new study from the US Department of Health and Human Services found that over a 15-year period, the positive net fiscal impact of refugees and asylees on state and national economies was nearly 124 billion dollars. Leader Bank Town of Arlington, MA, Arlington Human Rights Commission Jay Tuli Molly Blaauw Gillis

Have you met the North Sea Commission's new Youth Advisors yet? Solveig Vik (🇧🇻) and Tom Reckmann (🇩🇪) are both going to be working together on managing our NSC Youth Committee and fostering youth engagement in our working groups. If any of our member regions, would like to learn more or involve their own youth, please do reach out! ➡ nscyouthadvisors@gmx.de #NorthSeaStrong #YouthEngagement #youthinaction #youthinpolitics

🌺This is fantastic news🌺 Making the legislative process more accessible to children and young people is crucial for fostering civic engagement and ensuring their voices are heard. ‼️Providing an easy way to submit submissions on the Fast-Track Approvals Bill demonstrates a commitment to upholding their rights outlined in Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 🌼This initiative has the potential to empower youth and promote a more inclusive and representative legislative process. ✅UNICEF Changemakers✅

‘ cohesion isn’t incidental. It requires work, spaces and resources’. This is an Important read today as a sad Bristol gets ready for more ugliness on its streets and threats to its citizens and those who have sought sanctuary here. People like Emma who are at the helm of Bristol’s cultural and community organisations are becoming experts in global and local politics, civic agendas, planning, economics as well as in the local communities who they serve. Emma’s reflections here explain so clearly why the spaces for which they are custodians matter. They are vital, safe, playful spaces for human interaction and connection - antidotes to the polarities playing out on social media and streets across UK currently. There are lots of interconnected elements threatening these spaces, including the enormous and conflicting pressures on council budgets. Large scale development playing out across the city can seem complicated and uncaring. But in my experience there are many on all sides invested in finding new ways to make sure that we keep and grow creative and welcoming spaces for our communities in a changing city. The current systems don’t seem to be working for any of us. But if we combine all our knowledge and resources; artists and organisations, councils and funders, enlightened consultants, developers and communities we just might find a way out of this together.

With the help of a seed fund from the U.S. Department of State’s Kennedy-Lugar YouthExchange & Study (YES) program, Yutthakrit Chalermthai, an alumnus of the program founded eDeaf to help create accessible and equal opportunities for people with disabilities in #Thailand. Learn about eDeaf, its members, and how #TogetherWe Create an Equal Society. Watch the full story: https://lnkd.in/gPAFFM73

After the weekend events in the UK, we all must recognise the importance of investing in community heritage buildings to foster social cohesion and counter divisive rhetoric. Trinity Community Arts’ mission to promote inclusion and equality through artistic expression shows how heritage buildings can be vessels of community essentials. These spaces do not only inform our past but actively shape our being by providing places for diverse communities to connect. However, neoliberal austerity measures that prioritise short-term economic gains over long-term societal wellbeing increasingly threaten these kinds of projects. We must advocate for reducing the austerity that inhibits sustainable development in the design and building industry. Our role goes beyond designing and constructing buildings; we are co-custodians of places that must cater to our communities’ changing needs. Investing in heritage is not just about preservation but a commitment to social resilience and inclusivity. The challenges require a response with initiatives prioritising funding and protecting community infrastructure. We can help our places remain vibrant, inclusive, resilient, and capable of withstanding social and economic pressures in an increasingly diverse and densely populated world. Our professional community must lead by example, advocating for places that hold our shared values and visions.

I can't afford to get to IASSIDD 2024 Congress this year: he world of non-profit cooperative networks is still rather cash poor ; ) But I filmed a short piece for a joint workshop with colleagues on #selfdirectedsupport to provide an overview of progress in Europe. This has been a big part of my life. I started testing out models of self-direction in London in the early 1990s and then created a number of innovations at Inclusion Glasgow in 1996 and subsequently worked with partners in Scotland and England to develop the seven steps of self-directed support. After 2009 I found myself rather out of step with the power-that-be but I continued to work on these topics in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. It was sobering to try and summarise some of my learning (although my perspective is only one perspective in a much longer journey, begun by Ed Roberts in California 59 years ago). Depending on your mental state and the day of the week it can feel like we've had 59 years of amazing progress on independent living and deinstitutionalisation OR we've faced major resistance and there is still so much left to do. Victories are hard-won and it doesn't take much for the rock to starting rolling back down the hill. Increasingly I think we need to reorientate the battle for disability rights and inclusion. Critics of self-directed support point to its association with neoliberalism and consumerism and, while this can feel unfair and unbalanced, there is a little bit of truth here. Not that independent living comes from neoliberalism, but rather we often achieved what we did by allowing the elite (lost in their neoliberal dream-world) to claim independent living as their own. We can see that in the UK where it was the Tories who legalised Direct Payments and where New Labour supported Personal Budgets. [Although interestingly both regimes were rather late in the day to get on board (1996, 2008 respectively).] Perhaps we need to think about self-directed support today for a very different ethical and existential context. We live in a world of growing inequality, environmental and democratic breakdown where public services feel fragile and under threat. Disability rights needs to be seen as an essential part of solving our problems in a much better way. And this is quite possible: • Citizenship should be our goal because agency is the key to action • Keeping resources within our neighbourhoods has wider economic benefits • Communities where people support each other become more resilient • The redistribution of resources to tackle disadvantage avoids crisis It is for these kinds of reason that I think that the work of self-direction should increasingly be seen as an aspect of #neighbourhoodcare and this is why Citizen Network will be focusing its future work on helping citizens create flourishing neighbourhoods. Markus Vähälä Ester Ortega Christopher Watson Wendy Lowder Emma Latimer https://lnkd.in/eRPKDWB5

Fellow Youth, In the symphony of life, let our voices be the resounding notes of peace. I am reaching out to you not just as Richmond Brima Kabbah but as a guardian of the future we collectively shape. In a world where chaos whispers loudly, we must amplify the melody of harmony. Youths of the world, hear this: our unity is the beacon that dispels the shadows of conflict. As stewards of tomorrow, our actions today echo through generations. Resist the seductive call of violence, for it begets only an enduring discord. Remember, the power to build bridges lies within us. Let understanding be our currency, empathy our language. Rise above the turbulence, for true strength lies in restraint. Each act of peace is a brushstroke on the canvas of a brighter future. As youth activists, we wield the pen of change. But let our ink be wisdom, not hostility. Be guardians of serenity, architects of concord. Our world awaits the symphony we compose—a masterpiece of unity, resonating across borders. Together, let us forge a legacy that testifies: in the face of turmoil, we chose peace. Richmond Brima Kabbah Abass Yusuf PhD, MPH United Nations Peace Link Operator YouthBuild USA Young Africans Community Empowerment Initiative, Sierra Leone (YACEI-SL) Youth Opportunities SDSN Youth Solutions Program Youth Advisory Committee Youth Justice Legal Centre UNFPA Sierra Leone African Union Global Initiative for UN Youth