ADVANCING SOCIAL INTEGRATION AND INTERGENERATIONAL SOLIDARITY’

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FAMILIES
 

Family is one of nature's greatest masterpieces in which its members are to be intimately acquainted without having a proper introduction to each other. The bond is just embroidered naturally from the first day of our lives when warm hands embrace our bodies and hearty smiles comfort our cries. The closest family to us is our parents who are the only ones obligated to adore us; compared to the rest of the world whose affection needs to be earned.

To acknowledge the significance of family, 15th May has been specially observed as the International Day of Families. This day aims to promote awareness of issues relating to families. This year’s theme, Advancing Social Integration and Intergenerational Solidarity, realizes the fact that in every family consists of members who come from different generations thus challenges of having a fruitful intergenerational relationship are encountered.



In light of this year theme, we, at World Assembly of Youth (WAY), realize that the creation of positive intergenerational relationships can assist in building strong family-bonds. We do believe that through a positive intergenerational relationship, an efficient avenue can be created allowing preservation and smooth transfer of historical, cultural and traditional values over generations.



Together with this year International Day of Families, we also reiterate our encouragement to young people from all around the world to embrace intergenerational solidarity and tolerance in their families. Opening your heart to the leeway of friendships with our elders can facilitate advancement of social integration and eventually bring in a new level of harmonization within the family as well as society. A small step can be started today by having one or two hours of your evening time spent with your elder family-members. It takes simple steps like spending time with your elders by sharing simple stories or exchanging stories about your day.



Though it might look trivial, maintaining constant conversations with elder family-members may help young people to understand their way of thinking and gain some of priceless knowledge throughout the process. If face-to-face conversation seems to be impossible, utilizing a means of communication technology will be another great option! So, what are you waiting for? Pick up your cell-phone and dial their numbers! You can start by wishing them



To quote Albert Einstein, “Bear in mind that the wonderful things you learn in your schools are the work of many generations. All this is put in your hands as your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honor it, add to it, and one day faithfully hand it on to your children,”

 

Source: http://www.way.org.my/

‘ICTS AND IMPROVING ROAD SAFETY’

WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION AND  INFORMATION SOCIETY  DAY

 

The current global statistics on the situation of road safety paints a gloomy picture in which 3,400 people die daily because of road accidents, 1.24 million lives’s lost annual globally on our roads. Young adults, aged between 15 to 44 years, account for 59% of this figures. It is crucial to note that this population represents the majority of the work force within our societies, thus the economic loss is significant.

With advances in ICT, we have become more connected than ever. Information transfer and access has been made easy with development of smart phones and other ubiquitous technology. ICT has enabled us to chat with friends and family in different continents, transfer information at high speeds; get first hand news of events happening around the globe, all this available at the touch of a button. With this, we have become more distracted from our everyday duty of being cautious when on our roads. The result has been increased deaths on our road, with 1.3 deaths globally of which 59% of those being young adults of ages between 15-44 years. This represents a significant group that drives most economy’s, thus the economic loss is significant.

Contrary to all this, ICT has benefited our road safety campaigns through development of intelligent solutions such as anti-collision systems, intelligent highways that monitor traffic flow, global positioning systems that warn us about road conditions to night vision systems that have made driving at night much safer.

The theme for the World Telecommunication and  Information Society  Day (WTISD) 2013, “ICTs and Improving Road Safety”,  endeavors to bring awareness on the role of ICT towards road safety improvement. It is our hope that even as we progress with new developments in ICT, we should at all cost strive to avoid distractions caused as a result while on our roads. Let this day be the first step we take towards achieving the goals set out in the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety.

The World Assembly of Youth (WAY) would like to call all youth, youth leaders, members, and partners as well as supporting organizations to address this issue of ICT and road safety improvement with the uttermost importance, through innovative and collaborative ICT solutions.  We believe the generation today should be the most responsive part of societies when any changes are felt due to the existence of new technological advancements. They should avoid the negative fortuities that result from it by informing others on the risks and becoming more informative on safeties. As Ernest Greenwood once said, “Accidents, and particularly street and highway accidents, do not happen - they are caused.”

Source: http://www.way.org.my/