Second Central Asia Youth in the 21st Century camp now underway

A simple idea with long-lasting impact
Just a simple camp that teaches basics in debate and media production and for only two weeks.

That’s all there is to it when it comes to IDEA’s Youth in the 21st Century: Debating and Producing Media camps held in different parts of the world since the summer of 2010.

Yet, these camps have changed the lives of young people throughout the world.

The participants, mostly aged between 18 and 29, are taught to analyze the role of the media in reporting and shaping perception of social problems relevant to their region.

Through debate and argumentation on media-based topics such as freedom of speech, reporting on violence, the ethics of reporting, and government censorship, participants have the opportunity to craft stances on how the media in their region should engage with society.

These are what the 36 participants at the Youth in the 21st Century: Debating and Producing Media for Central Asia will be learning beginning today (July 19). This is the 11th camp and the second one for Central Asia.

The participants come from six countries - Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia and Afghanistan – to a little resort by the great Issky-kul Lake, the venue for the camp.

They will learn through hands-on activities from specialists in journalistic techniques and technologies from within and outside the region to help each participant create media projects relevant to the role of the media in his or her society or region.

The combination of debate with hands-on activity allows participants to come away from the workshop with a product that can be shown publicly. In short, participants learn how to harness media technologies while becoming aware of their role as media creators and consumers.

The camp ends on July 31. More information about the history and successes of the Youth in the 21st Century Camps can be found in the report attached to this article, 11 Camps and Counting.