Marketing & Media News South Africa

Young leaders to address local challenges at international summit

Financial services provider PPS has launched a competition that will enable four South African university students to address local challenges at the One Young World Summit 2014 to take place in Dublin, Ireland from 15 to 18 October.
Young leaders to address local challenges at international summit

According to Gerhard Joubert, Executive Head: Group Marketing & Stakeholder Relations at PPS, the competition offers a unique opportunity for four of South Africa's burgeoning young leaders to attend the One Young World Summit and discuss ideas and solutions with global leaders on issues affecting fields such as; education, global business, human rights and sustainable development.

Support from both public and private sectors

"South Africa is currently facing a massive skills shortage and a number of other social issues that ultimately affect our economy. The only solution to alleviating this is if both the private and public sectors work together to identify and support young leaders, who have the potential to make a tangible difference in our society," says Joubert.

One Young World stages an annual summit, where the most valuable young talent from global and national companies, NGO's, universities and other forward thinking organisations from over 190 countries around the world, are joined by One Young World Counsellors, consisting of global leaders from business, politics, fashion, science and sport.

Past summits have included internationally renowned One Young World Counsellors, such as: Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Sir Bob Geldof, Kofi Annan, Sir Richard Branson, Professor Muhammad Yunus, Jamie Oliver, Jack Dorsey and Arianna Huffington.

Formulating and sharing solutions for some of the most pressing issues that the world currently faces

Catherine Peter, Africa Director - One Young World, says the success of the One Young World Summit 2014 depends on delegates debating, formulating and sharing their solutions for some of the most pressing issues that the world currently faces. "It is critical that companies and organisations, such as PPS, play a vital role in identifying and nurturing these young leaders in the build up to and after the Summit."

The main Summit sessions will be held at the Convention Centre Dublin, with breakout sessions being hosted in over 30 different venues throughout the city. As part of the Summit, Dublin will welcome One Young World delegates with a 'One Thousand Welcomes' tour. Delegates will be given an introduction to the Irish way of life and the country's legendary welcoming reputation through a series of cultural events held at iconic locations over the course of the event.

Each delegate will be introduced to a young Dubliner and together they will take a local's tour of Dublin. They will see the real sights and sounds of the city, not just the ones from tourist maps, but the authentic fabric of Irish life. Visiting delegates will leave Dublin inspired and motivated to deliver change in their own organisations, communities and cities.

After each Summit, the delegates, who are then known as One Young World Ambassadors, work on their own initiatives or lend the power of the One Young World network to those initiatives already in existence.

While One Young World delegates are aged between 18 and 30, PPS - One Young World Summit 2014 candidates must between the ages of 20 and 30 years old at the time of the summit and must be in their fourth (or above) academic year of full time study, who on qualification, will be eligible for PPS membership. In addition, PPS - One Young World delegates must have a commitment to volunteering for other extracurricular activities.

The competition requires students to submit a video which demonstrates their passions, global and local knowledge, ideas and their potential and existing role in effecting positive change in society or their organisation. Qualifying students should visit http://www.ppsinnercircle.co.za/OYW for more information on how to create and upload their YouTube video and submit their application.

The competition closes on 31 July 2014 and winners will be announced by 8 August 2014 on the PPS Facebook page.

Let's do Biz