KM4Dev Knowledge Cafè 18: Opportunities and challenges in research and knowledge management for young people, 19 August 2021

KM4Dev invites you to a Knowledge Cafè on 9 August 2021 at 14:00 (East Africa Time) to discuss and share opportunities and challenges that young people face when it comes to research or any other aspect of knowledge management.

This Knowledge Café is a precursor to the launch of a KM4Dev Youth Leadership Forum planned for October. There are more young people in the world today than ever before, 1.3 billion of them living in developing countries. Yet, there is minimal youth representation in the area of knowledge management, both in generating new knowledge through research, managing knowledge for evidence generation, and proposing alternative models.

There are some commendable efforts to open pathways for more youth participation and engagement. For example, the Youth2030: United Nations Youth Strategy has five key priority areas, one of which relates to knowledge management and innovation. In a further example, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has had a knowledge management facility running since 2010, managed by its youth employment programme. Other initiatives by international and national NGOs are also working to involve youth in knowledge development, collaboration, and sharing

However, at the individual level, it is still quite difficult for young people, especially from the Global South, to clearly understand what knowledge management is about and be confident about opportunities for employment in this practice.

The upcoming Knowledge Café 18 will seek your engagement to co-create a charter for the KM4Dev Youth Leadership Forum, after mapping the opportunities and challenges ahead. We also invite all interested young people (and elders interested in youth affairs) to be part of the KM4Dev community.

We are looking forward to having you with us. In the meantime, we have put together a few resources to help you learn more about young people and knowledge management:

• Watch Why Youth Participation is Key | Jakhini Bisselink | TEDxYouth@Maastricht. Jahkini Bisselink is the Dutch Youth Ambassador of the United Nations, representing all young people in The Netherlands. Jahikini shares her experiences as the UN Youth Delegate and her perceptions about why youth participation is important.
• Watch Unleashing African potential from an African youth perspective: Taleni Shimhopileni at TEDxWindhoek. Taleni Shimhopileni is a 23 year old Namibian who is passionate about Africa’s rising glory, formal education in the 21st Century, and leadership for and within the African continent.
• Know more about knowledge management jobs.

Register here for Knowledge Café 18, and please share the invitation with your youth networks!