International Youth Advisory Congress (IYAC) 17 - 21 July 2008

The IYAC will be hosted by CEOP in conjunction with the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) at a secure venue near London and will consist primarily of interactive workshop based sessions for young people.

The theme of this event will be Online Safety and Security. The vision is that we will bring together up to two hundred young people from within the UK and across the global community to share their experiences of on-line and mobile technologies We aim to give a voice to young people in a forum where representatives from government, law enforcement agencies and industry will not only hear it, but also be encouraged and motivated to act on it.

Most importantly, the thoughts, feelings and suggestions of those young people who attend the IYAC will be collated into a Children and Young People's Global Online Charter. This document will then be used as a blueprint for a strategy that is to be presented to the UN in October as part of the 2008 Resolution of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

We are currently in the process of identifying young people to represent a range of European countries at the IYAC and are therefore requesting that professionals highlight this event and contact us if they are interested in bringing a group of young people to the IYAC.

We are looking for forty young people from around Europe to come to the five-day residential event All travel expenses will be covered, and accommodation and meals will be provided on site The young people will be chaperoned at all times by staff from CEOP and partnership agencies including the NSPCC; and interpreters will be available to translate for non-English speaking children. Full safeguarding procedures will be put in place and made available to teachers and parents prior to the event, and we are able to cater for young people with a range of special needs and disabilities.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Caroline Logue for an information pack before Thursday 20 March 2008.

For further information about the IYAC or about the work of CEOP and/or the VGT, please visit the website at www.ceop.gov.uk