UN Kicks off Global Youth Forum, Introduces mPowering Mobile Platform

Yesterday, 2,000 young people representing over 126 nations joined forces with global artists, nonprofits, corporate and government leaders, to debut the mPowering Mobile Platform, a first-ever,entertainment-driven program empowering youth with information and access to education, job and health resources, delivered directly through their mobile phones.

The announcement was made at the start of the ICPD Global Youth Forum where thousands of youth will participate in person, online and through social media to influence the UN agenda on health and reproductive rights, education, employment and civic participation.

Timbaland, the platforms first-ever Producer-In-Residence, Avicii, and Agnes Monica (a.k.a., AGNEZ MO), will be on-site to support the conference and perform on December 6th to close the 3-day event.

Young people, who constitute 43% of the world’s population of 7 billion and growing, (in some countries, such as Brazil, Nigeria and Tanzania, the number is as high as 60%) face the greatest challenge in a fast changing word.  Yet they can be an innovative source of solutions to these challenges—if engaged and motivated.

The mPowering Mobile Platform recognizes this potential by harnessing the power of music to captivate and inspire today’s young people to take action alongside organizations that specifically work to improve global issues.

“Today’s young people are not only the leaders of our future, they are our leaders today,” said Kwabena Osei-Danquah, Executive Coordinator for ICPD Beyond 2014. “Our world nurtures so many talented, creative, educated people. We have never been so well equipped and interconnected to respond to global challenges. We are truly part of a global community, where actions taken in one country or region can have an immediate impact on other parts of the world.”

The mPoweringMobile Platform will be officially launchedon February 8th, 2013 during Grammy Week in Los Angeles. For more information visitwww.facebook.com/mPoweringActionand@mPoweringAction on Twitter.