Columbia University: World Leaders Forum
I was just reading my poem on Infinite Possibilities is the New Knowledge of Leadership. Leadership is not just thinking up a new idea and running with it. It is not just spending money to make something happen. Inherent within real leadership is wisdom, love and service. It is a desire and courage to show a way, and lead by example. What I’ve learned from leadership is that it becomes selfless when hearing a higher call. I am always interested in leaders and whether they are able to rise about talking to communicate new visions and then the ability to inspire the right people to join in with selfless service.
With that I found this website on World Leaders from Columbia University and the article below about youth. Of course it is imperative that young people are inspired from lives of apathy, selfishness and deprivation to believing in themselves and gaining support to follow their dreams and community service. With service comes values and with values comes citizenship.
The youth today are the largest generation of young people and they are confronted increasingly with serious challenges such as climate change and economic collapse. Moreover, they deal with career, health, family breakdown, drugs and the cyber culture forming around them. They are very concerned about the world around them and many find themselves escaping into computers or media to find pleasure. I think it is important for them to be active, engaged and empowered as the world is changing rapidly and they need to be prepared for the changes. Moreover, it is important to shift from leadership stereotypes of males as leaders and equally enable females, impoverished young people, those of diverse cultures, disabled, practical oriented and creatives (artists). Hence leaders inclusive of those who may not be deemed ‘intellectual’ but have their own talents which provide a diverse range of avenues for leadership and positive action. The reason diversity is important is that it balances the intellectual (left brain) with the creative (right brain) and will provide a greater array of ideas and possibilities. Intellect alone is not leadership, there must be passion there.
It is encouraging to learn of forums inspiring young people to become leaders.
http://globalcolloquium.columbia.edu/
About the World Leaders Forum
Established in 2003 by Lee C. Bollinger, the World Leaders Forum is a year-round event series aimed to advance lively, uninhibited dialogue on the large economic, political, and social questions of our time.
The Forum’s roster of past participants features many of heads of state, in addition to other global thought leaders from a broad spectrum of fields and all regions of the world. A few of the many remarkable past participants are Presidents Bill Clinton, Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Vladimir Putin of Russia, Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic, and the Dalai Lama.
World Leaders Forum events have garnered press coverage by news media organizations including the Associated Press, the BBC, and PBS, among others.
Responses to the World Leaders Forum from the Columbia Community
“The World Leaders Forum has become a tradition at this institution that seems to have reinforced the identity of Columbia as a truly global university and, I believe, has made this school unique amongst others.”
-Nirvikar Singh Jassal ’11CC
“I think the World Leaders Forum is an outstanding platform for leaders to address the pressing issues before them in this globalized world and for the Columbia and New York communities to listen to and engage with these officials in a meaningful exchange.”
-Merit Janow, Professor in the Practice of International Economic Law and International Affairs, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University and former member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body
April 2-3, 2012
“Global Effects of the Youth Population Surge: Addressing the Needs of the Largest Generation of Young People the World Has Ever Known”
Columbia University
President, Lee C. Bollinger
Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Ban Ki-moon
Global Colloquium of University Presidents
Columbia University is welcoming the sixth meeting of the Global Colloquium of University Presidents on Monday, April 2 and Tuesday, April 3, 2012. The Colloquium is an invitation-only meeting of 25-30 university presidents from around the world. Each president is accompanied by a faculty expert on the chosen topic. The Colloquium meets annually to discuss a topic of immediate concern to leaders in higher education at universities around the world, and of particular and timely interest to the Secretary-General and the international community. Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger is a founding member of the Global Colloquium of University Presidents, which is sponsored by five leading American research universities – Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University – on behalf of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Keynote Address
United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, will open the Colloquium with a World Leaders Forum address at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 2 in the Rotunda of Low Memorial Library. The address will be open to Colloquium participants and members of the Columbia University community.
Topic
The topic of the 2012 Colloquium is “Global Effects of the Youth Population Surge: Addressing the Needs of the Largest Generation of Young People the World Has Ever Known.”
In the wake of the global financial and economic crisis, and with the more recent developments in North Africa and the Middle East, youth issues have risen to the top of national and international agendas. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has made working with and for young people one of the key priorities of his second term action agenda. In his speech to the General Assembly in January 2012, he called on the United Nations to do all that it can to meet the needs and create opportunities for the largest generation of young people the world has ever known. Youth employment, entrepreneurship, political participation, human rights, education and reproductive health will be areas of key focus over the next five years. The Secretary-General has further announced the appointment of a new Special Advisor for youth to develop and implement this agenda and spearhead a UN youth volunteers programme.
The Secretary-General’s initiative will build on existing UN programs that support youth development and promote the importance of investing in young people. It takes as a starting point, the World Programme of Action for Youth, adopted by the General Assembly in 1995, which provides a policy framework and practical guidelines for national action and international support to achieve an environment in which young people can fully develop their potential.
The work of the United Nations on youth is coordinated through the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD), a network of more than 30 United Nations entities. The United Nations’ engagement on youth related issues is broad. Areas of work include youth and health, youth and education, youth and employment, youth and political participation, youth and violence and youth and social media.
Colloquium Agenda
The Colloquium sessions on Tuesday, April 3 are open only to the Colloquium participants and will include presentations by Columbia University faculty and representatives from the United Nations.
The university presidents will discuss the global impact of the youth population surge and the responsibility of universities in meeting educational needs and creating opportunities for the largest generation of young people the world has ever known. Together they will determine an outline of higher education objectives and action steps towards building a positive future for youth.
Simultaneously, the faculty experts from each participating university will discuss the United Nations’ Youth 21 initiative and long term goals to build multiple platforms that address the youth situation in the world, their struggle for democracy and basic needs.
The Colloquium will produce a final report that includes the background paper, memoranda prepared by each president and faculty expert in response to the background paper, and recommendations and specific proposed outcomes, agreed upon by the Colloquium participants.
Background Materials
Background materials include the United Nations’ “Working with and For Young People” document and the press announcement surrounding Youth 21. Youth 21, an initiative of UN Habitat, aims to engage more firmly with young people around the world and activate the global community to take the action steps addressing the youth situation in the world, their struggle for democracy and basic needs.
Additionally, Michael Doyle, PhD, Harold Brown Professor of U.S. Foreign and Security Policy within the School of International and Public Affairs, the Department of Political Science, and the Law School, and Kenneth Prewitt, PhD, Carnegie Professor of Public Affairs and the Vice-President for Global Centers, are serving as President Bollinger’s academic counsel in the Colloquium planning. They have prepared a background research paper on “21st Century Youth in the Developing World” which provides a framework and starting point for the conversations among the Colloquium participants.
Sponsors
The Global Colloquium of University Presidents is convened by the presidents of the five sponsoring institutions — Lee C. Bollinger (Columbia University), Amy Gutmann (University of Pennsylvania), Richard Levin (Yale University), John Sexton (New York University), and Shirley Tilghman (Princeton University) — on behalf of and with the participation of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
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