People from all over the world will be able to take part in the world's premier youth forum this week even if they don't have access to the internet.
The Summit, which takes place in south Africa, plays host to 1200 exceptional young minds for the One Young World 2013 Summit between 2 and 5 October.
You don't have to be in Johannesburg to take part in the Great Debate
These young delegates will converge on Johannesburg to find solutions to local, regional and global challenges with a special focus on education, global business, sustainable development, youth unemployment, human rights and leadership.
However, for those who can't be there in person, there is still an opportunity to take part through The Great Debate.
Launched by Havas Worldwide Digital, the Great Debate will connect social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook with MXit and standard SMS services, ensuring all young people have an opportunity to take part in the Summit.
It creates an opportunity for every person in South Africa to participate in some of the most important conversations of our time, which has the potential to be the most inclusive discussion ever held – on ground or online.
“This means that a school girl with a standard feature cell phone in Soweto can now interact with the head of Barclays Bank, tweeting from his iPad, for example," explains Lynn Madeley, CEO of Havas Southern Africa.
"South African NGOs will be able to use the platform to profile themselves and their initiatives to an immensely influential audience of global thought-leaders, as well as gain invaluable insights into the global youth market.”
HOW TO TAKE PART IN ONE YOUNG WORLD 2013
To join the general One Young World conversation stream, participants should end a post, tweet or SMS with #OYW.
To join smaller conversations on specific topics, use #OYW as well as one or more of the following hashtags:
Conversation channel hash tags
Education - #Education
Youth Unemployment - #Jobs
Global Business - #Business
Sustainable Development - #SusDev
Leadership & Government - #Leadership
Human Rights - #Equality
Special Sessions
#Youth
#Entrepreneur
#PressFreedom
#KofiAnnanLive - Kofi Annan Dialogues: LIVE
#Protest
#EdTech
#StartUp
#Africa
#Green
For Facebook, install the One Young World application and join the conversation and include the relevant hashtags so the post appears in the right conversation stream.
For those wanting to join the conversation through MXit, locate the One Young World app from the Mxit App Store (to be allocated in the Social category). Remember to use the relevant hashtags.
Users on MixIt can also link their accounts to their Twitter Accounts so anything posted on MixIt is picked up on Twitter.
Participants can also join the Great Debate straight from the One Young World website or mobi site. and again remember to use the relevant hashtags.
Even if users are not online, they can still contribute to the conversation by sending an SMS message to 32403 and using the relevant hashtags.