2013 ─ Youth Summit Summary 2013 by Child & Youth Finance International

youth summit summary 2013 The Second Annual Child and Youth Finance International Summit and Awards Ceremony

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013 The Second Annual Child and Youth Finance International Summit and Awards Ceremony May 6-9 2013 Istanbul, Turkey

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Contents About the Child and Youth Finance Movement................................................................6 About the Youth Summit.....................................................................................................7 Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Who: Youth Participants..........................................................................................8 CYFI Awards Championship...............................................................................................10 CYFI Awards Championship Themes................................................................................12 Application Process..............................................................................................................13 CYFI Jury Members..............................................................................................................13 Youth Summit Program Schedule.....................................................................................14 Day 1 (Monday 6 May): Introduction............................................................................15 Day 2 (Tuesday 7 May): Finance and Me.....................................................................16 Day 3 (Wednesday 8 May): Culture..............................................................................20 Day 4 (Thursday 9 May): Action....................................................................................22 Policy Recommendations..................................................................................................23 Youth Summit 2013 Awards Ceremony...........................................................................24 CYFI Youth Committee.......................................................................................................26 CYFI Global Youth Survey..................................................................................................26 A word from the Youth Participants...................................................................................28 Media................................................................................................................................30

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

About the Child and Youth Finance Movement Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI) leads the world’s largest Movement dedicated to enhancing the financial capabilities of children and youth. Launched in April 2012, the Movement’s initial target was to reach 100 million children and youth in 100 countries by 2015 with financial access and holistic financial education. That is to say, CYFI believes that every child should leave primary school with their own secure and appropriately designed bank account. As of 2013, CYFI can proudly say that it has already exceeded its own preliminary goal as the Movement is already active in over 120 countries! The Movement’s primary goal is to increase the economic citizenship of children and youth. This means providing all children and youth aged 8 - 25 with the knowledge to make wise financial decisions, the opportunity to accumulate savings, and the competences to find employment, earn a livelihood and ultimately break the cycle of poverty. The Movement works to ensure that every child has the ability to obtain financial awareness through education, a reliable source of income, financial

“ Empower Youth. Save the World.”

access, and the will to save and build assets to promote future stability. In order to support the momentum of our goals and targets, the Movement leverages expertise and innovations from within its network of global organizations. Its partners and supporters comprise the world’s largest child finance network, including financial authorities, financial institutions, international NGOs, multilateral foundations, leading academics, and children and youth. However, children and youth are not only a component of the Movement, but rather they are the core of the Movement as CYFI places a significant focus on children and youth themselves in the framing of the Movement´s agenda. It is the voices, opinions and ideas of children and youth that lay the foundation of the Movement’s framework in order to transform movements into actions. Together we can make it possible for every child to wave goodbye to economic vulnerability.

A group of youth participants during an entrepreneurship session took on this motto as their very own.

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

About the Youth Summit The 2nd annual CYFI Youth Summit took place from May 6th to May 9th in Istanbul, Turkey. The Youth Summit was the second ever global event to bring together young people and senior level representatives from a diversity of sectors to discuss the issues of financial education and financial inclusion. The main objectives of the 2013 Youth Summit were the following: • Highlight children and youth as core leaders of the Movement; • Give voice to today’s children and youth in relation to the financial issues that matter most to them; • Create wakefulness of financial issues shared by children and youth across the world; • Promote awareness of the Child and Youth Finance Movement; • Create a common vision for CYFI by identifying regional challenges, goals, and opportunities; • Involve children and youth in shaping the Movement through engagement with policymakers; • Translate suggestions given by the youth into actions; • Create a Youth Committee to continue youth engagment with the Movement.

Although the Youth Summit and the general CYFI Summit sessions are conducted mostlyindependently from one another, the true richness of the Movement is made visible during the overlap between the two summits. As involving children and youth in shaping the Movement through engagement with policymakers is one of the core objectives of the Youth Summit, the Youth Summit is looked at a bridge between youth and adults in order for the necessary steps to be taken to have the voices of young people be heard. The Movement is relevant to all stakeholders engaged in developing children and youth into economically empowered citizens, including banks, government agencies, bi- and multi-lateral organizations, policymakers, sectorial associations and institutes, INGOs, educators, financial providers, and the media. Therefore, as leaders at the forefront of the Movement, the Youth Summit plays a critical role in allowing young people to voice their opinions in relation to financial struggles and opportunities on an international level.

The theme for the 2nd annual CYFI Youth Summit was based on the idea that both financial education and financial inclusion are needed to achieve a long-term meaningful impact, as they are both essential to ensuring a financially literate population that is capable of making well-informed decisions to reduce overall financial vulnerability and risk. This overarching theme was complemented by five smaller themes that ran throughout the Summit in the form of workshop activities and breakout sessions: Economic Citizenship Education, Banking Services, Youth Employment, Entrepreneurship and Communication and Technology. The Youth Summit took place parallel to the general audience of the CYFI Summit and Awards Ceremony which focused on the same themes.

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Who’s Who: Youth Participants Figure 0.1 Child and Youth Participation

The most important part of the Youth Summit was the youth participants themselves. The ongoing momentum of the Movement is reflected in the Summit featuring an incredible number of 101 youth participants. They ranged from ages 8 to 25 and represented more than 40 countries, see Figure 1.1. The Youth Summit was open to children and youth across the globe. To attend the Summit, there were a number of ways in which the youngsters were selected to participate including: the CYFI Awards Championship, veteran participants from the First Annual CYFI Summit in Amsterdam and from the 2012 regional meetings, and through individual interest.

“ The most important thing that I learned from the summit is the diverse way

of engaging youth in finance related topics. There is no such thing as a ‘only this way’ but instead a million and one ways to help our fellow youth in finance literacy. Let it be from entrepreneurship to savings to money management. It is truly a wonderful experience.” Youth participant from Malaysia

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

CYFI Awards Championship The main source of interest for participation in the 2013 Youth Summit came from the CYFI Awards Championship competition. Involvement in the Awards Championship was promoted via numerous social media channels, through our partner organizations and networks, as well as by direct contact. Due to a high volume of publicity and promotion of the competition, there was also a lot of individual interest to participate in the event. The Awards Championship was divided into three segments: Youth Award: recognizing young leaders in the Movement Children and youth themselves have a key role to play in the ensuring the success of the Movement. By taking on leadership roles early in life, they can simultaneously contribute to their own personal growth and improve the lives of their peers. These leadership roles can involve the promotion of financial education or projects to investigate the offerings of local banks. They can offer suggestions to institutions for increasing youth employment opportunities, or propose exciting business ideas. And those who know how to create computer games, apps, or viral videos can help their friends and classmates learn about finance or improve their access to financial products! School Award: how schools can become leaders in the Movement Schools are on the front lines of the Movement. Their efforts play a significant role in determining whether or not local communities receive the Movement’s message. As a result, schools that do an outstanding job of promoting financial education are recognized by the Child and Youth Finance School Award. But what does “outstanding” really mean? Schools can launch initiatives to promote financial education, encourage students to examine levels of financial inclusion, and facilitate student-led projects to determine whether local banks provide child-friendly services. Feedback on the local causes of unemployment is invaluable to the Movement, and schools can offer specific recommendations as to how the Movement’s efforts can be leveraged to stimulate job creation.

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

For example, students can be provided with opportunities to acquire both the basic concepts of entrepreneurship and the capacity to successfully evaluate the financial opportunities and risks involved in launching enterprises. Schools can also encourage students with outstanding IT skills to develop fun tools to help children and youth learn about finance through technology. Global Money Week Award: a worldwide celebration to raise awareness of children’s financial rights Global Money Week is an exciting opportunity for the Movement’s stakeholders to hold events that simultaneously celebrate and advance the worldwide state of child and youth finance! Some examples of possible activities include art shows, essay contests, and school parties. Bank visits can provide an opportunity for children to learn about financial institutions, and bank representatives can give lectures to explain how banks work. Children can work towards a shared charitable goal with a savings drive, or issue statements about their financial needs. Most importantly, Global Money Week helps create conversation about child and youth finance issues, and the Global Money Week Award is intended to recognize those who do an incredible job of accomplishing this goal!

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

CYFI Awards Championship Themes For the Youth and School awards, applicants were able to choose projects related to the five different themes of the summit:

• Technology: encourage students with outstanding IT skills to develop fun tools to help children and youth learn about finance through technology.

Youth Awards

Global Money Week Award

• Financial education promoter: do you want to help us ensure that every child in the world receives Financial Education? Become a Financial Education Promoter!

Global Money Week took place between the 15th and 21st of March, 2013. Children and youth, as well as schools, were put to the task to take part in and create fun educational activities around the world. Participants were awarded on their creativity and impact of their Global Money Week initiatives.

• Bank investigator: do you want to find out which bank in your community offers the best services for you and your friends? Become a Bank Investigator! • Youth employment Investigator: would you like to suggest to the institutions what to do in favor of youth employment today? Become a Youth Employment Investigator! • Young entrepreneur: do you have an exciting and original idea to start your own business or organization? Tell us about it and become a Young Entrepreneur! • Financial techie: do you know how to create computer games, apps, or viral videos? Create one to help your friends and classmates learn about finance or improve their access to financial products and become a Financial Techie!

School Awards • Financial education: projects carried out by schools, educational institutions or other organizations to promote financial education. • Banking services: encourage students to examine the levels of financial access in their community and in their country and find out whether banks provide child-friendly services. • Employment: encourage schools and other organizations to help us understand the roots of unemployment and what can be done to improve the situation. • Entrepreneurship: encourage students to acquire the basic concepts of entrepreneurship and the capacity to successfully evaluate the financial opportunities and risks involved in launching enterprises.

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Application Process

CYFI Jury Members

In order for those interested in taking part in the CYFI Awards Competition to apply, there were a number of application procedures to be followed.

Chair: Baroness Valerie Howarth is the Chair of Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, and the former Chief Executive of ChildLine UK. She has also served in leadership roles in a number of other social initiatives.

Firstly, there was the application form that was to be filled in and submitted online. In the form, applications were asked a variety of questions to describe their different projects. There was also the possibility to add pictures or other material at the end of the application form. Second, each of the applications was evaluated by the CYFI Secretariat according to five criteria: • Excellency - outstanding character and reputation • Accountability - good governance and transparent financial management • Creativity - the creative use of resources to deliver innovative and flexible programs • Partnerships - effective collaboration and partnership • Sustainability - contributions to the impact of children in the long term • Track record - the establishment of community initiatives • Outreach - impressive current and future initiatives • Cost-effectiveness - the innovative implementation of low-cost, high-return initiatives

Prof. Tahira Hira is Senior Policy Advisor to the President at Iowa State University and a noted academic. She has conducted research in a wide range of finance-related subjects. Ozlem Denizmen Kocatepe is a financial literacy advocate, the President of Strategy at Dogus Holding, and a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. Prof. Yanghee Lee is a former Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and a prominent academic at Sungkyunkwan University. She participates in policy work and also received theKorean Woman of the Year award in 2007. Dr. Henrik Naujoks is a Director at Bain & Company and a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Global Exchange for Social Investment.

Third, the applications with the strongest projects were marked as finalists.

Shaun Mundy is a consultant who specializes in issues of financial capability and regulation. He has worked with CGAP, the OECD, the World Bank, and many other leading international organizations.

Lastly, after evaluation of all of the projects, the applications were then passed on to the CYFI Jury who decided on the winning projects.

Andrea Vogel is the Leader of Strategic Growth Markets (Europe, Middle East, India, and Africa) and a Partner at Ernst & Young, the Hague. Lauren Young is the Personal Finance Editor at Thomson Reuters and works closely with both Reuters.com and other Thomson Reuters platforms.

“ I learned the importance of youth involvement in finance issues as decisions

made today by policy changers will affect mostly the youth either now or later in life as the youth are the future of tomorrow.” Youth participant from Botswana

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Youth Summit Program Schedule The Youth Summitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s schedule featured many activities in which children and youth were able to actively engage with both each other and senior policymakers in discussions about the financial issues that matter most to them.

Overview As previously mentioned, the Youth Summit itself revolved heavily around five financial themes. Similarly, the program of the Youth Summit followed a daily theme agenda as well. As many of the 101 children and youth participants were travelling out of their home countries for the very first time, the program schedule of the Youth Summit was constructed using a step-by-step approach to help all participants feel comfortable in and with their new settings and surroundings.

Day 1: Introduction - Kick Start and ice breakers

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Day 2: Finance and Me - Thematic breakout sessions

This approach allowed for a personal and professional continuum to strengthen over the course of the Youth Summit. That is to say, the program was designed in a way to allow for personal connections to be made between the youth participants at the beginning of the Youth Summit, making the dynamic between the participants stronger. By strengthening the group dynamic of the participants from the very beginning, this enabled the youth to work together closely as a team over the course of the Summit to achieve powerful outcomes. The four days of the Youth Summit were categorized as followed:

Day 3: Inaugeration and Culture - Opening Ceremony and Sightseeing tours of Istanbul

Day 4: Action - Dialogue with adults to present policy recommendations

Day 1 (Monday 6 May): Introduction Throughout May 6th, children and youth from across the globe arrived and gathered in Istanbul. The children were welcomed to the Summit by CYFI’s Managing Director, Ms. Jeroo Billimoria. This day was filled with excitement as dozens of youngsters travelled outside of their countries for the very first time to meet with other youth participants from near and far. The day was dedicated to allowing children and youth to get to know each other as many participants were dazed by the novelty of not only visiting a new city, but by faces as well. The participants were given time to break the ice as they were put into groups for a number of “Getting to Know You” activities. During their first activity, the youngsters broke the ice by drawing a “Who’s Who” board in which they shared stories about their backgrounds and motivations for attending the Summit. Objective 1 As the children and youth who took part in the Youth Summit came from more than 40 countries across the world, speaking more than ten languages, the “Who’s Who” activity allowed for the youth to connect with one another without using words as their main source of communication. The Who’s Who activity laid the foundation for the youth to unite as a one despite their cultural differences. By giving the children and youth enough time to feel comfortable with their new peers, this made it easier for the children and youth to work together as one throughout the remainder of the Summit. In fact, one of our youth participants from Paraguay told us that he really enjoyed working in groups as he “had the opportunity to share with many other children and youths from different countries, cultures, languages and more.” Later in the evening, the children and youth went out to dinner where they continued to get to know each other. While at the restaurant, the children and youth took part in a second activity: “Global Youth – Making Cross Cultural Intersections”. During this activity, the children discussed their national currencies and discovered how the nature of money has changed throughout history.

Objective 2 Just as the Who’s Who activity allowed for the participants to connect with one another as the world’s young people despite their diversity, the goal of the “Global Youth – Making Cross Cultural Intersections” activity was to learn about the similarities and differences between global currencies, and the currency connections made and shared by youngsters across the globe despite their differences. During this activity, participants learned that they all “have different currencies and the values vary a lot” but that currency in itself is something that “connects all people”. As one group of youngsters pointed out, “we all have different designs but money has the same usage.” The children and youth realized that money serves as a representation of the diversity of the world but that money also “shows unity to the world”.

“ The most important thing I learnt at

the summit was that you can never be too young to make a difference. I was especially intrigued by a really young lady from I think Peru (not so certain) that despite his age he was doing so much from his community.” Youth participant from Kenya

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Day 2 (Tuesday 7 May): Finance and Me This was the first full day for the 100 children and youth attending the Youth Summit, and it was a very full day indeed! While many of these children and youth are used to starting their morning classes to the sound of a school bell, this particular Tuesday morning was different, as they had the chance to be the ones ringing of the bell – the Borsa Istanbul’s (Turkish securities exchange) opening bell, that is. The Chairman & CEO of Borsa Istanbul, Mr. Ibrahim Turhan, whose support has been instrumental in the realization of the Children’s Meeting and the Summit, said at the ceremony: “We will reshape the future by opening the doors of the Istanbul Stock Exchange to children, and continuing our support for children and young people in the coming period.” Following these exciting morning activities at the Stock Exchange, the children and youth divided into five sessions which ran parallel to the five sub-themes of the Summit. These sessions gave the participants the opportunity to collaboratively discuss the challenges they face related to the financial themes and to propose solutions for such issues. The following key points were made: Economic Citizenship Education: Young people are socially and financially vulnerable. They need proper financial education and often times they do not receive ECE, since it is not compulsory in school curricula. Banking Services: Across the globe, there is a general lack of child-friendly banking services which results in a high percentage of children and youth who do not have bank accounts. Children and youth are unable to access financial services due to the following barriers: age limit, opening fees and bank location. Entrepreneurship: Students should be encouraged to acquire the basic concepts of entrepreneurship and the capacity to successfully evaluate financial opportunities and risks through designing financial or social enterprises. However, children and youth are not provided with the necessary financial support, fundings, resources or skills to be able to start their own businesses. Additionally, children and youth are often times not taken seriously in the business world.

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Employment: Some countries face youth unemployment levels as high as 46.6%. The main causes for this are: the global crisis, a lack of knowledge and experience in working life, choosing the wrong field of work or study, high rates of school dropouts and debt. Technology and Communication: Technology can be an important resource to access banking services such as mobile and online banking. It could be used as a financial tool to cater specifically to children and youth, but due to a lack of access to technology, and/ or lack of awareness regarding its link with finance, technology is not fully taken advantage of. After these break-out sessions, the children and youth enjoyed an afternoon full of group activities and brainstorming sessions. As a result, they developed a series of recommendations which they would present to policymakers on the last day if the Summit.

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

In the evening, adults, children and youth came together at the Inaugural Gala Dinner to jointly celebrate the start of the Summit. This dinner was not only the first time for adults and children to come together as a single group during the Summit, but was also an exciting time for the children and youth to dress up in traditional clothing to show off the true diversity and joy of the summit. The dinner was graciously hosted by the Central Bank of Turkey. Mr. Mehmet Yörükoğlu, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Turkey, welcomed the guests, offered his support to the Movement, and wished the participants a successful Summit. He then gave the floor to Mr. Ahmed Al Hendawi, the SecretaryGeneral’s Envoy on Youth, who stated that we need to make sure that more countries, NGOs, policymakers, ministries, and committed youth join the Movement. Mr. Yörükoğlu stated that on behalf of the Secretary General, he encouraged all of the participants present, both youth and adult, to join forces so that 100 million youth can have access to financial services that are designed to meet their needs and, more importantly, that are protective of their rights. Ms. Reeta Roy, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation, also took the time to reiterate her statements on the importance of the role of children and youth in shaping the Movement. Ms. Roy noted that the Mastercard Foundation believes that when one combines education, skills, mentoring, skills for employability, and access to savings, you can transform lives, and this is why the Mastercard Foundation is a part of the Movement. The Inaugural Gala Dinner’s youth speaker, a young lady enrolled in the BRAC Uganda program, provided an outstanding highlight of night. She inspired the audience with a story of how she became involved in the Movement: by using her entrepreneurship skills to support her family. This story served as a reminder to all participants, both young and old, of the power of youth and the importance of financial literacy in young people’s lives.

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

“ I learned that the youth should be as

involved in promoting finance as much as adults are. As early as now, we should start a financial awareness wherein children and youth all over the world can have the insights that the participants in the summit had. I learned that a young child can be part of a big advocacy and could help in reshaping the concept of finance.” Youth participant from Phillipines

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Day 3 (Wednesday 8 May): Culture Over 400 senior level participants from 101 countries were present in Istanbul to take part in the 2nd Annual Child and Youth Finance Summit and Awards Ceremony. The Summit opened with an elaborate opening ceremony featuring keynote addresses by high level dignitaries and prominent industry leaders. H.E Mr. Ali Babacan, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, opened the ceremony with an inaugural address to welcome the children and youth, as well as the 300 adult participants, to the Summit. In addition to Mr. Babacan, other key stakeholders gave welcoming addresses, including Mr. Ibrahim M. Turhan, Chairman & CEO of Borsa Istanbul, Dr. Vahdettin Ertaş, Chairman of the Capital Markets Board of Turkey, and Dr. Cigdem Kogar, Executive Director of the Banking and Financial Institutions Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. To round off these speeches, there were three youth participants from India, the Philippines, and South Africa, who shared details of their activities in the Youth Summit over the past two days. This was an exciting time for these youth participants as it gave them the chance to inform the adults of what they have learned and experienced in the first days of the Summit as well as their favorite memories made thus far. For example, the two boys had both enjoyed being able to ring the bell at the stock exchange. Youth Exhibition Similarly, the children and youth were able to share not only with their fellow participants, but with the adults as well, a small sample of their initiatives throughout the world as part of the Youth Exhibition. The Youth exhibition was a colorful and creative display of the various projects, programs, activities and businesses that the children and youth take part it. On display was a mixture of projects such as posters from Romania to show their Global Money Week project, shoes from South Africa, handcrafted jewelry and candle holders from Botswana, local keepsakes from Paraguay, sweets and chocolates from Ecuador and more.

Sightseeing After the Inauguration Ceremony, the children and youth headed out for a day of fun in the sun, touring the heart of Istanbul. Although the importance of finance was fundamental to the Summit, being able to explore and tour through a new country and culture was just as importance. As the Youth Summit was a time for children and youth to come together from all walks of life to unite by celebrating their diversity, an afternoon of sightseeing to discover the similarities and differences between their own home towns and Istanbul gave a new dimension to cultural understanding for the youngsters. As this way the first time for many of the participants to leave their home countries, there was certainly a lot to see. The sightseeing started off with a gorgeous view of the Bosborus River from Gulhane Park. The tour then continued through the park to historical sights of Istanbul such as the Hippodrom, the Blue Mosque, and an ancient cisterne. The children and youth were also able to view one of the small bazaars of Istanbul. To end the evening, the children and youth took a dinner cruise down the Bosporus River. While on the cruise, many children enjoyed the chance to talk about their individual projects with one another, and all of the children and youth enjoyed the opportunity to dance the night away. Over all, the sightseeing tour was a big success with the children and youth and, as one youth participant from Botswana told us, “on Wednesday I really enjoyed the summit as that was the day we cruised on a boat. It was my first time experience and I loved it.” Therefore, the Youth Summit not only opened the eyes of children and youth to a wider perspective of finance, but to a wider perspective of the world as well.

“ We all have different designs, but

money has the same usage. Money represents our love to each other. Money shows unity to world.” Youth participant from Mexico

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

May 9th day marked the final day of the Youth Summit, and was also the most inspiring. The Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Day 4 (Thursday 9 May): Action Summit’s young participants took part in a “Children and Youth Dialogue” with the senior level policymakers from the general summit. Although this was not the first point during the Summit which gave the children and youth an opportunity to interact with the adult participants, this was the first chance the youth participants had to take stand to and voice their opinions. The “Children and Youth Dialogue” allowed for the children not only to express what they feel the most pressing financial issues and challenges are for youth, but gave the children and youth the opportunity to voice what action they wanted to be taken. The day was split into five breakout sessions in which children and youth were able to share their ideas and give their opinions. These five break-out sessions were dedicated to Economic Citizenship Education, Banking Services, Entrepreneurship, Youth Employment and Technology and Communication, and ran parallel to the break-out sessions the children and youth took part in on the second day of the Summit. During these sessions, the children and youth expressed their joy in being able to speak directly with the adults. As one youth participant from the Phillipines pointed out, “My favorite part was when we were able to present our ideas to the

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

policy makers. We were able to pool together our thoughts and no matter how diverse our cultures are, we still managed to come up with a presentation that will ignite the policy makers’ interest.” In fact, a number of youth participants expressed the impact that they felt by being able to interact directly with the policy makers. One youth participant from Kenya spoke very eloquently on behalf of the other youth participants by stating that “youth engagement is about a deeper transformation that makes us central in the work of the organization. We stop being just a target group or beneficiaries and become integral to the process of finding solutions and become part of implementing solutions”. During the “Reshape” session, delegates (both adults and youngsters) put forward policy recommendations to create or extend policies or governmental initiatives on Child and Youth Finance issues. In particular, two youth participants from the Ukraine and Botswana represented the child and youth participants by presenting the policy recommendations to the delegates and senior-level policy makers.

Policy Recommendations

Economic Citizenship Education: Should be free for all students and provided through banks (practical education) and schools (theoretical education).

Banking Services:

Children understand the value of saving for the future. A pair of German and Filipino projects to promote savings are strong models for others to follow as they focus on small savings banks in urban areas as well as joint savings programs in rural areas.

Entrepreneurship:

Entrepreneurship training and opportunities should be developed and implemented for young people, and encouraged through (for example) government grants for young entrepreneurs.

On the last day at the Summit, the children and youth participants were given the opportunity to present their recommendations to policy makers. See picture on the left. This moment marked the milestone of the Summit in which children and youth announced the need for financial modifications; the moment in which children and youth from across the world raised their voices to turn movements into actions in order to reshape the future of finance for young people everywhere. In fact, one of our youth from Malaysia pointed at that for him, his favorite part of the summit was when â&#x20AC;&#x153;we present our ideas to the policy makers. This shows that we are having the power to change and determined the future and finance related topics in this real world. We know that our suggestions and voices are being heard and actions are being taken. What a way to express youth empowerment.â&#x20AC;? This call to action was heard as Mr. Babacan, the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, committed to support the Movement by placing child and youth finance on the global agenda of the G20 during Turkeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presidency which was a very empowering moment for the children and youth.

Employment:

Employment opportunities should be created through targeted interventions, including apprenticeship programs in high schools, access to job advisors, vocational training, and scholarships for top students.

Technology and Communication:

Ensure widespread financial access by increasing mobile banking, providing safe and appropriate specially designed youth bank cards, and facilitating online education.

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Youth Summit 2013 Awards Ceremony On the final day of the Youth Summit, BRAC USA’s Susan Davis led a celebration of the Movement’s accomplishments while spotlighting the goals and aspirations for the future. Within the Movement, achievements related to knowledge creation and transfer, resource sharing, and the power of partnerships were celebrated. To continue the celebration, Mr. Marc Bichler, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), and Ms. Ozlem Denizmen, Chairperson of Foder, chaired the Awards Ceremony. CYFI conferred awards for outstanding achievements by youth, financial service providers, and national authorities. As previously mentioned, the Awards directed specifically at the children and youth were the Youth, School and Global Money Week Awards. The Awards Ceremony was a very special time for the youth participants. As one of our youth participants from Kenya pointed out, she really enjoyed the entire Summit but “especially the awarding time which was a real celebration to the finalists and I felt encouraged and positively challenged.” The recipients of awards in each category are as follows: Youth Award – Mahir Jethanandani, US 15-year-old Mahir visited banks in his community to conduct an investigative survey. He wrote an extensive conclusion in which he evaluated and ranked banks by their services for children and youth. In addition to these considerations, he also evaluated the promotional material of the banks. This led to the creation of an online petition to make American banks more child and youth friendly. School Award – King Fahad Academy, UK The school started a catering business, which is run by students and donates its profit towards school charities. The school also organized a financial education unit in a local primary school. Global Money Week School Award – Transylvania College & the Cambridge International School in Cluj, Romania and Centro de Divulgación del Conocimiento Económico, Colombia

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Transylvania College – 13 intercurricular activities were arranged, which were directed to kindergarteners all the way to business students. There was collaboration with other banks, city hall, NGOs, the Ministry of Education of Romania, and the private sector. The activities in Romania reached 90 teachers, 600 students, 1300 parents, and 32 children from 10 initial partner schools with more than 30 teachers. Centro de Divulgación del Conocimiento Económico – Worked to realize a project in collaboration with the Universidad Central de Venezuela, la Universidad de Carabobo, and the Universidad Bicentenaria de Aragua. 37 university students from the ages of 17 to 21 designed activities to increase the awareness of the importance of financial education among local secondary school students and the surrounding community. They also organized a radio program in cooperation with 15 schools from two different states. Many aspects of bank operations were displayed through several performances. For example, they explained how “reserves” in a bank work by performing a tale from One Thousand and One Nights, and used the Merchant of Venice to explain interest rates. From the commitments to the Movement by participants, to the policy recommendations made by children and youth, to the final celebrations and awards, the Summit was made rich by the valuable contribution of all its participants, both adults and youngsters. The Summit was officially concluded by the Chairman of the Turkish Capital Markets Board, Dr. Vahdettin Ertaş, who gave these heartfelt remarks: Life-long friendships have started here in Istanbul. We have much to do for the financial education and inclusion of our children. Please bring the key messages of this Summit back to your home countries. While the Summit itself may have officially concluded, the fun wasn’t over for the children and youth. As a final goodbye, the Youth Summit participants had a farewell dinner together. This dinner marked the end of a memorable week, the celebration of new friendships, the power of young minds and voices, and the beginning of the new future of finance for children and youth around the world.

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

CYFI Youth Committee

CYFI Global Youth Survey

While the Youth Summit itself may have only been a few days long, the Movement will continue. In order to help the Movement to continue gaining momentum, a CYFI Youth Committee was formed. By becoming a member of the Youth Committee, the children and youth are given the opportunity to remain active with the Movement in between CYFI Annual Summits and Regional Meetings.

The CYFI Global Youth Survey is a detailed extension of the issues raised by the youth participants during the Youth Summit which is being distributed globally via the internet. Based on the issues and challenges raised by the youth who were present at the Summit, a survey was created to focus on the specific details of such issues. The CYFI Global Youth Survey consists of three segments:

Youth Committee Selection Process

• My Education: This section focuses on financial inclusion, financial literacy and Economic Citizenship Education. This sections puts emphasis on how to and where to receive Economic Citizenship Education and which specific topics children and youth feel they are lacking knowledge in.

On the last night of the Summit, the participants interested in becoming youth committee members were split into their respective regions where they gave short peer-to-peer speeches highlighting their commitment and dedication to acting as a committee member. Of the 101 and youth participants, 35 participants showed interest in continuing their involvement with the Movement by becoming Youth Committee members. As the 35 Youth Committee members come from countries all over the world, it was decided after the Summit that Regional Representatives would be elected to lead the committee members in their respective regions. Due to the incredible levels of enthusiasm and positivity shown from all of the members, it was a difficult decision to decide on Regional Representatives. Therefore, one of the main tasks given to the committee members to assist in the decision making process of the regional representatives was the participation in and distribution of the CYFI Global Youth Survey.

“ The most important thing I learned

from the Summit was the importance of an established goal among participants. Having designated leaders to establish goals and encourage participants is crucial to achieving a goal. ”

Youth participant from USA

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

• My Money: This section focuses on child friendly banking services. As it became very evident that many children and youth who were present at the Summit did not have access to banking services, this section is being utilized to determine the banking barriers across the world as well as desired banking services for children and youth. • My Future: This section focuses on employment and entrepreneurship skills. Because such an emphasis was placed on employment and entrepreneurship during the Summit, the Global Youth Survey breaks these topics apart to determine the most pressing factors. The aim of this survey is to reach out internationally to children and youth who were not present at the Summit, to gain a wider perspective of the financial world for young people today. Therefore, in order to select the Youth Committee Regional Representatives, the task was given to reach out to 100 other children and youth within their network to take part in the survey. Given that this was a very difficult assignment to complete, the Regional Representatives were decided based on the completion of this task as many of the members went the extra mile to distribute surveys to children who are unable to access the survey online as well as children who are currently on holiday from school, making outreach more difficult.

Based on these efforts, CYFI congratulated the Youth Committee members from Botswana, Kenya, Costa Rica, Paraguay, USA, Malaysia, Philippines, Sweden and the Ukraine on their new role as the CYFI Youth Committee Regional Representatives. As a Regional Representatives, these ten youth will work together to formulate their own agenda and decide on their own objectives and duties as a committee. The following main tasks will be carried out in collaboration with the other Youth Committee members under the facilitation of CYFI:

• Monthly projects related to finance to be carried out across all regions • Monthly Webinars between regional representatives to discuss and evaluate projects • Quarterly newsletters to be distributed throughout the CYFI network As children and youth are the foundation of CYFI as an organization, as well as the Movement, the Youth Committee will serve as a bridge to connect young people across the world to work to reshape the future of finance.

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

A word from the Youth Participants After the Summit, a number of youth participants gave their input regarding what they took away from the Summit. For example, one of our youth participants from Botswana told us that the most important thing he learned from the summit was “the diverse way of engaging youth in finance related topics. There is no such thing as an ‘only this way’, but instead a million and one ways to help our fellow youth in finance literacy. Let it be from entrepreneurship to savings to money management. It is truly a wonderful experience.” Another youth participant from the Ukraine stated that, commenting on her personal impressions of the Summit in Istanbul, she feels “strongly positive about its influence on my future and I can’t but put its value on the top of my list of accomplishments. The best and the most memorable events I took part in during the Istanbul summit were bringing together children and policy-makers to interact and sharing commitments, efforts and innovations.” With the positive feedback we received from the youngsters regarding their participation at the Summit, CYFI is happy with the lessons learned by the children and youth and confident that these lessons will be taken further to reshape the future of finance.

“ With this amazing experience of

CYFI I could enlarge my knowledge about financial education. In addition, I had the opportunity to share with many other children and youths from different countries, cultures, languages and more.” Youth participant from Paraguay

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Media Television Coverage The CYFI Youth Summit 2013 was highlighted on a number of different local and international television stations including: CNN (Nina dos Santos) CNN Turk (Live interviews) Para Durumu (Turkish News) TRT (Live coverage of inaugural addresses) A Haber (40 minute television program dedicated to Child Finance & the Summit) International Coverage The CYFI Youth Summit 2013 also had media coverage from around the globe including: The New Age Online - South Africa Children International â&#x20AC;&#x201C;USA Financial Consumer Agency of Canada - Canada Portal Paraguayo de Noticias - Paraguay Africa Finance Forum - Africa Regions The Sacremento Bee - USA

Youth Summit Summary Report 2013

Child and Youth Finance International PO Box 16524 1001 RA Amsterdam Netherlands + 31(0)20 5203900

Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI) lead the world’s most extensive child and youth finance Network, that together makes up the Child and Youth Finance Movement. We connect Ministries and Governments, CEOs, heads of NGOs, financial institutions and children. By aligning and coordinating efforts of organizations all over the world the Movement is able to share resources, model best practices and empower each other to reach the target of the Movement: Reaching 100 million children in 100 countries by 2015 with financial inclusion and financial education to make sure that every child and youth have access to a basic savings account and the financial knowledge and skills needed to operate this account. By doing this we aim to give the adults of tomorrow the tools to lead lives free from poverty and financial instability. Stay connected with us Website: www.childfinanceinternational.org Facebook: ChildFinance Twitter: ChildFinance LinkedIn: Child and Youth Finance International To read our publications, please visit: www.childfinanceinternational.org/movement/publications

Global Money Week

Global Money Week is a global celebration that is taking place in the second week of March each year. The Week engages children and youth worldwide in learning how money works, including saving, creating livelihoods, gaining employment, and entrepreneurship. Countries and organizations all over the world participate by engaging children and youth in activities such as global web chats, visits to banks, ringing the bells at the stock exchange, radio shows and cartoons and much more. Stay connected with us Website: www.globalmoneyweek.org Facebook: Global Money Week Twitter: GlobalMoneyWeek

Finance & Me

Finance & Me is a platform initiated by Child and Youth Finance for children and youth to take action in reshaping the future of finance. It allows for youngsters to stay informed about the latest Child and Youth Finance Movement activities going on around the globe so they can remain active and involved in the Movement. Finance & Me also serves as a bridge between young people and adults as children and youth are encouraged to utilize this platform to share their experiences and voice their opinions. Stay connected with us Website: www.financeandme.org Facebook: Finance & Me Twitter: FinanceandMe

YouthTech

YouthTech is a blog where Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI) shares technological innovations around the topic of financial inclusion and education for children and youth. It provides a platform where experts within the CYFI network and beyond engage in discussions about the potentials of technology in enhancing financial capability of children and youth. Moreover, YouthTech also serves to share best practices and to document how technology is shaping the Child and Youth Finance Movement. We hope this will contribute to the understanding of what is needed for technology to make a difference in the current financial inclusion and education landscape and the ways of turning it into a reality. Stay connected on the blog: www.youthtech.info