I would have thought that the 4th World Youth Forum should have built on the last three and the preparatory meetings. We seem to be 'reinventing' the same things here in Dakar that were discussed in Vienna and Braga and numeros other fora world-wide.

How does a forum start with plenary sessions that have the youth just listen to presentations? And worse still presentations by adults. No single 'independent' youth spoke in the plenaries save for those chairing and facilitating. And we seem not to be commonly focussed on what we have to do and want to achieve by the end of the forum. Isn't time the World Youth Forum moved from some 'talk show' or 'window dressing' to a serious gathering?

Of course the UN is bereaucratic and it will not give us the attention we want. It couldn't even send high level UN officials to Dakar but at least it gave us an opportunity to meet. Shouldn't we use this constructively?

I know I am not the only one tired of talking and talking. It is time we formulated real youth empowerment formulae and took action. Talk, talk, talk and non-binding agreements without action to solve local problems sustainably will not help anyone. Uurrgghh!!! :-)

I am in Dakar, Senegal attending the 4th UN World Youth Forum. It started on a slow note today but hope it will pick up. A good number of familiar faces like Mulako, Bremley, Ivanov, Brett, Benjamin etc.

The trip here was tiresome having to stop enroute four times.

In two days time, I have to catch the YES! World Youth Leadership Jam! in Carlifornia to which I was originally going but could not connect on a flight from Johannesburg.