Tidiani Togola shares his insight about the GAID Forum

Tidiani (third from the left) visiting CERN (Atlas)
Tidiani (third from the left) visiting CERN (Atlas)
Traducción al español Miguel Ortiz
15 October 2007

Tidiani Togola is one of the one of the coordinators of the CyberVolunteers Program for ICVolontaires-Mali. Tidiani came to Geneva in the context of the World Forum for Youth and ICTs and Development. He shares his experience with us.

For three days, I was able to actively participate in the International Forum on Youth and ICTs organized by GAID, which took place at the International Conference Centre of Geneva (ICCG).

I represented ICVolontaires-Mali and my trip was made possible thanks to a scholarship sponsored by OIF (Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie).

The three days of discussions and debates of the Forum were preceded by two very interesting brainstorming sessions involving young French-speaking people from 19 different countries, all brought to Geneva by OIF.

Overall, the Forum was a very enriching experience both for its exchanges and human relations.

In addition to my technical skills, I was able to acquire a much broader vision on how ICTs should be distributed for the benefit of both developing and developed countries.

Generally speaking, each debated focused on how to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through the use of ICTs. During the exchanges, young people from five continents worked in nine randomly composed groups.

Despite the difference in language, culture and race, all exchanges were a great success. There was just one youth; that of humanity and that of the ICT generation. The young participants were using their minds to produce just one common declaration seeking to apply ICTs in such a way that they can help achieve the MDGs in the various countries. The final statement was a document produced on behalf of all the young people from around world.

This experience must benefit our own countries. Besides the aspects related to ICTs, this Forum was a tool of social cohesion. Indeed, at the end of our discussions, I observed in myself and in several of the young participants a great openness in their thinking.

I propose that, at the level of ICVolontaires-Mali, we organize national youth forums about different Millennium Development Goals, as well as the various development challenges faced by Mali. Such exchanges should be long enough to allow the young people to lead an in-depth exchange and to better discover themselves.

This will allow:

  • Harmonized points of view of the country's youth, in order to find solutions to the challenges at hand;
  • Increased synergies and agreement among the youth in Mali;
  • For the same reasons, it would be interesting to apply this method to all regions of the country.

In conclusion, I can say that I am glad to have participated in this Forum and am personally committed to sharing my experience with the young people in my country in order for them to benefit from it.

Bamako 15/10/07
Tidiani TOGOLA TITO
"The perfection to God, Excellence to mankind"

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