Global Youth Program Now in 20 Countries, $23 Million Invested

Global Youth Program Now in 20 Countries, $23 Million Invested

Espoo, Finland/Baltimore, U.S – Nokia and the International Youth Foundation (IYF) announced the five-year anniversary of their global youth development initiative called “Make a Connection” and the addition of the Netherlands as the 20th country joining the program. With this latest country addition, Nokia’s total financial commitment to the Make a Connection program so far is close to USD 23 million globally.

Since April 2000, Make a Connection has directly benefited more than 180,000 participating youth worldwide and indirectly another 1.8 million people in the communities where these young people live. From the beginning, the initiative has emphasized the development of life skills — including self-confidence, responsibility and teamwork – to empower young people to contribute to their communities and become competent and caring adults.

While each country program has its own unique elements, all 20 focus on positive youth development through a series of locally relevant activities. This includes programs such as in the Netherlands that will establish a network of youth press agencies to train disadvantaged young people as journalists; in Poland, to train and engage more than 3,500 youth in volunteer service; in Canada, to strengthen the personal and social skills of more than 15,000 Aboriginal youth; and in Brazil, where 1,000 dedicated young people volunteer as reading mentors to at-risk children.

Besides these impressive programs and results, Make a Connection has helped Nokia and IYF provide global leadership in developing corporate/NGO collaborations aimed at improving the conditions of children and youth in communities throughout the world. The Nokia/IYF program represents an innovative collaboration between the world’s leader in mobile communications and one of the world’s largest networks of youth-serving organizations with local affiliates in close to 70 countries and territories.

William Reese, IYF’s President and CEO, sees the Make a Connection program as a cutting edge model of youth development with each organization contributing their respective core competencies. IYF focuses on program design, monitoring and impact assessment, while Nokia provides funding, staff volunteers, and community relations support for the program in each country.

Read the complete Press Release