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 Overview
TakingITGlobal is a unique international organization developed through a deep understanding of the following emerging realities:
Global Challenges Demanding Global Solutions
From the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS, to the climate crisis, to the ongoing threat of terrorism and the specter of war...never before has a global context dominated such a broad array of social, economic, environmental, and political challenges. National newscasts often exclusively cover internationally significant stories. These global challenges demand global solutions, developed through cooperation, ingenuity and entrepreneurship. The global nature of these challenge demands global forums for civic participation, to increase their relevance.
An Information and Communications Technology Revolution
For thousands of years, the Earth's oceans and mountain ranges formed almost insurmountable geographic barriers - separating cultures, isolating issues and slowing change. However, over the last 50 years, and especially the last ten, developments in information and communications technologies have transformed the world into a global village. Satellite news and entertainment networks broadcast events from one corner of the planet to the others. The internet now allows more people, with higher levels of literacy and education,to access, create and disseminate information. One can connect and interact with peers on the other side of the planet just as easily as on the other side of the street. Technology now facilitates the emergence of global networks with a critical mass of people sharing.
Young People - The World's Greatest Untapped Resource
Can youth be active contributors and participants when facing our global challenges? The answer is: YES! Young people represent a growing demographic force. The median age in Asia is 28, meaning that half the world's population are youth. In the developing world, where 80% of young people live, they constitute up to 70% of a nation's population. Youth are no longer a burden, but an asset.
Intersecting Trends
The multiple intersections of these trends show how the world and the population are intrinsically interconnected. Young people disproportionately feel the effects of global issues, though they are often the healthiest, most educated and driven members of a society. Youth unemployment is running at almost 40% - this means roughly one billion youth lack productive or sustainable livelihoods. At the same time, tens of millions of children work, exploited by the global economy in factories, as victims of trafficking for the sex trade or as soldiers. Approximately half of new HIV infections are in youth aged 15-24. No fewer than 6,500 young people acquire the HIV virus each day. While literacy rates show some recent improvements, in some parts of Africa and South Asia girls still have illiteracy rates higher than 40%.
Young people also lead the world's information society, readily creating and adopting new technologies. They spearheaded almost every major innovation in the Information Technology, from the World Wide Web to Open Source software. Young people access technology more than any other group - from home PCs to local Internet cafés. They appreciate technology's potential to connect with other cultures and viewpoints, and use it to express themselves and tap into new information and opportunities. This curiosity is deeply linked with young people's desire to participate in and contribute to the global society they will inherit.
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