Youthink! Blog

This blog is a global conversation among young people on poverty and other development-related issues. It's maintained by the World Bank's Youthink! team.

By Umubyeyi Vestine on Apr 27, 2012 comments 17 people like this
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Water is the source of life. Everyone depends on it, including the Kakuma refugees. In a desert environment, with no direct water source and reliable rainy season, the residents of Kakuma (locals and refugees) have great difficulty obtaining the water they need to survive.  The United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR), in conjunction with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), is assisting the people by trying to find solutions to create water points and establish proper hygiene and sanitation systems to safeguard the health of the people.

When a Solution is Found …..

The Lutheran World Federation arranged for the installation of underground equipment to extract groundwater. The advantage of this groundwater is that it is largely purified by natural...

refugees | Rwanda | Rwanda | water
By Mouhamed Djigo on Apr 19, 2012 comments 22 people like this
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Do you feel sufficiently informed about the challenges posed by the water situation in your country? Do you think that the situation can be improved?

As with all Sahelian countries, the encroachment of the desert poses serious problems for Mauritania. This threat mainly affects rural populations that depend on agriculture, but also has repercussions on urban areas. Indeed, more and more young people move to the capital city, and this rural exodus adds to significant population growth, which leads inevitably to an increase in the demand for water and the depletion of resources.

It is in this context that the NGO "Arbre," (link in French) with which I volunteer, has been working since 1998 to promote sustainable development and environmental protection by establishing sanitation systems and facilitating...

Mauritania
By Liviane Urquiza on Apr 10, 2012 comments 36 people like this
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Youthink! interviewed Stéphanie Guico. Stéphanie is the Program Coordinator of the Future Cooperative Leaders Program, a program created to encourage participation by young cooperative employees and leaders (between the ages of 20 and 35) during the Summit.

Youthink!: Hello Stéphanie. First, can you tell us about the journey that led you to the Summit of Cooperatives?

Stéphanie Guico: In 2008, I went to Honduras to spend several months working at a federation of agricultural cooperatives.  It was there that I experienced my “cooperative awakening.” When I returned to Canada, I did a Master’s degree in cooperative enterprise management.  My thesis was on the challenges with the strategic governance of multistakeholder cooperatives (link in French) in Quebec. While pursuing these studies, I joined a...

Canada
By Maria Cristina Gallegos on Apr 06, 2012 2 comments 35 people like this
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Youthink! asked people on Facebook and Twitter to weigh in on whether they prefer e-readers to books.  See how students are benefiting from  e-readers in Africa .

Throughout the conversation people like Mattdan from Indonesia preferred e-readers:“…On the Sustainable development side, they indirectly save forest from the degradation and deforestation.” Jmaguial from Spain also agreed “They reduce paper waste!”And Bethold Mwesy from Tanzania...

By Maria Cristina Gallegos on Mar 27, 2012 3 comments 53 people like this
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Youthink! asked people on Facebook and Twitter to weigh in on how schools prepare students for the jobs they seek. Take a look at what is happening around skills and innovation in Thailand

The majority of people who responded agreed with  Ayange Iorbee  from Nigeria, who said: “No, because employers are not even looking so much at what you learnt from school. They tend to look for something unique in a person. … The job you want could also depend on quite a number of factors.”

The same goes for Cà Phê Sáng  from Vietnam, who  posted:Not really, in my country,...