The Youth Charter is a UK registered charity and UN accredited non-governmental organisation launched in 1993 as part of the Manchester 2000 Olympic Bid and the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
The Youth Charter has campaigned and promoted the role and value of sport, arts and cultural activity in the lives of disaffected young people from disadvantaged communities nationally and internationally.
Specifically, the Youth Charter tackles educational non-attainment, health inequality, anti-social behaviour and the negative effects of crime, drugs, gang related activity and racism by applying the ethics of sporting and artistic excellence. These can then be translated to provide social and economic benefits of citizenship, rights, responsibilities, with improved education, health, social & civil order, environment and vocation, training, employment, and enterprise. The key to the Youth Charter approach is to provide capacity, leadership and self-reliance to reach young people and their communities. Supported by over 250 Global Sporting Ambassadors and high profile social role models, The Youth Charter is pioneering new approaches to tackling the increasingly serious problem of anti-social behaviour amongst the socially excluded youth and now it will join efforts with Words Heal the World to tackle extremism on the online space – a problem that affects young people all over the world since they are the main target of extremist groups.
In the following weeks, Words Heal the World will start selecting students from the University of East London to join the group of students from the University of Westminster in the development of messages to challenge hate on the internet. Besides being available on Words Heal’s website, the content produced by students from the University of East London will also be showcased on July 18th, when we celebrate the Mandela Day.