By: Masha Medvedkov, Posted: Aug 7 09

Regions: Global

Issues: Freedom of opinion & expression

Tags: blogging, grassroots media, video advocacy, Youth

As August 12th is International Youth Day, I'm taking the opportunity to explore some examples of youth-produced video from around the world.  International Youth Day recognizes the importance of youth empowerment and participation in today's world.  Unfortunately, youth perspectives are not often enough explored by mainstream media.  With the emergence of online video as a medium for activism and advocacy, anyone can create or join a forum to be heard, including young people.

I recently came across a youth-fueled video project called Belonging, a series of 18 videos produced by youth from ethnically diverse, working class neighborhoods in Paris, London, and Lisbon.  The series of videos was produced with the support of Manifesta, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art and Runnymede Trust, an organization working to promote a multi-ethnic Britain.

The three urban neighborhoods explored in Belonging all have a high proportion of people under the age of 24.  Through the 18 videos, we are introduced to various angles of neighborhood life and gain insight into youth perceptions on identity and social issues within their communities. 

In Veins in a Body, a video from the series, Imran Jabber relfects on his life and community in Newham, London.

Watch the other Belonging videos from Newham as well as the ones produced in Casal da Boba, Lisbon, and in the 20th arrondissement neighborhood in Paris.

Offering a totally different spin on youth expression through video is Ghetto Radio, a website created to give the world a real understanding of life in the ghettos and slums of seven African cities: Nairobi, Harare, Lagos, Dakar, Johannesburg, Kampala, and Dar es Salaam.  Ghetto Radio is an online forum for inhabitants from these cities to add various types of content (blogs, videos, poetry, news items) to help tell their stories; videos take up the bulk of the site and mainly project youth perspectives.

In this video, Kibera Living by Muki Garang, we hear from Brian Mudasia, a young man living in Kibera, which is the largest slum in Nairobi.  Brian brings into focus the issue of youth unemployment and other difficulties young people face in his community.  As in the neighborhoods from the Belonging project, around half of the population in Kibera is under 24 years old. 

Another great example of youth producing media is Speak Africa, a forum by young people from various parts of Africa incorporating video and multimedia to communicate and exchange ideas.  Last August, WITNESS' Bukeni Waruzi conducted a video advocacy training with 20 activists ages 15-25 from Speak Africa (read more on the training here).

In the video The Realities of What a Congolese Eats at his Meals, Sylvain Koko, a young activist from the DR Congo, addresses the issue of food scarcity.

Projects like Belonging, Ghetto Radio, and Speak Africa provide new options for youth to communicate on a global scale using online video.  As young people are an essential part of today's world and certainly tomorrow's, it is important to for us to hear their perspectives. 

For more youth prespectives, be sure to also check out Will Pollock's post about the 2009 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival's Youth Producing Change Program - a series of 10 shorts films by young people from around the world. 

For ideas on how you can get involved in International Youth Day, check out Youth and the United Nations.