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As Canada enters the new millennium, a growing percentage of our population will be under the age of 30. Perhaps the biggest barrier to the meaningful engagement of youth in our society, current and future, is child poverty and the inequality of access to caring support, information, skills and technologies necessary for their productive contribution to a healthy Canada. We propose to seek the support of the private sector and all levels of government, to support a three year program that will allow youth to mobilize their communities in order to eradicate these barriers. The process of The Students Commission/TG Magazine has proven highly successful in providing youth with the tools, motivation and support to begin action for systemic change. Our definition of "child poverty" is a broad one, not just restricted to economics. We define poverty as the unfair and unequal access to the resources that allow young people a fair chance of succeeding in life. Equal access to resources is our goal: the right of all young Canadians to experience success, positive reinforcement and self-esteem. We will, at a minimum, engage 2000 young people in skill building workshops to create 2000 projects addressing the issue. Sharing Resources 2000 will create a cross-Canada youth program that implements community action for systemic change, sustaining communication through a network supported by multimedia, Internet and personal exchanges. The theme "Sharing Resources" will encourage young people to discover the values and skills they have to give, and will focus on young people creating equal opportunity for all young Canadians in the new millennium. Projects by youth will seek to enable young people to break cycles of child poverty, will enable access to technology and promote youth engagement in society in Canada, and around the world. In many cases, through increased awareness generated by Sharing Resources 2000, young people will be encouraged to take their project ideas and volunteer with existing organizations and groups experienced and active in this social issue.
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