Kingston, Jamaica :-- The Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network (JYAN), an initiative sponsored by the USAID through it’s JA-STYLE project, announces a Call for Papers for the YUTE X - Youth Advocacy Conference. Young persons from the ages of 16-24 are invited to submit abstracts by Friday, April 18, 2008 and completed papers by Monday, April 28, 2008.

Abstracts and Papers should be written around any one of the following and should reflect adequate evidence of research: Youth Advocacy: Impact on Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS; Youth Advocacy through the media; Youth Representation, Governance, Decision-making Processes, Lobbying; The Impact of Youth Leadership in the Region; Youth Advocacy: New Approaches, Old Problems; Youth Advocacy through Creative Art Forms (music dance, visual art, poetry); CSME, CARICOM, Youth Leadership; or, Youth Advocacy in the inner city.

Papers may be submitted in one of the following formats and should reflect the same topic and should be an extension of the abstract.

1. Individual Paper Presentations: Authors are requested to provide up to three keywords to help organizers to assign accepted papers to thematic groups.
2. Panel Organization: Individuals may propose the organization of a panel around a common theme. Organizers must submit both a panel abstract as well as the abstracts of the papers to be included in the panel (maximum of 4 papers per panel).
3. Poster Presentation: Authors must submit an abstract clearly indicating that they are interested in making poster presentation.

Papers will be reviewed by the selection committee based on content, presentation and suitability for the event and relevance to the Conference focus. They should be submitted with the author’s relevant biographical and contact information (name, age, mailing address, email, organization) and abstract title should be included. Papers should be no longer than 600 words and presentations should be no longer than 5- 7 minutes in length. Abstracts and Papers should be submitted by email to youthadvocacyconference@gmail.com.

The YUTE X - Youth Advocacy Conference will be held at the Knutsford Court Hotel on Wednesday, May 7 to Friday, May 9 and climaxes at Emancipation Park on Saturday, May 10 for an expo, done in association with Education Transformation Team.

The Conference is aimed at raising young people’s awareness of the various issues such as Adolescent Reproductive Health, Substance Abuse, Violence, Youth with disabilities, as well as the state of advocacy in Jamaica and the Caribbean region.