The World Intellectual Property Organization launched its first Youth Empowerment Strategy, dubbed IP-YES! a new policy framework aimed at providing strategic coherence to WIPO’s existing youth engagement efforts, and bringing the world of IP closer to the youth.
Amidst calls for greater youth inclusivity and representation in the global IP system, IP YES! arrives in time to help us inspire, educate, and empower the next generation of creators, innovators, IP experts and entrepreneurs worldwide.
The new policy framework seeks to cater to the unique aspirations and needs of youth in three key action areas:
- Sparking passion: To amplify WIPO’s ability to bring IP closer to youth, as well as inspire and promote youth-led innovation and creativity.
- Building skills: To equip youth with the right IP education, training, knowledge, and skills.
- Empowering action: To create meaningful opportunities for youth to apply their acquired knowledge and succeed in their fields of interest.
Through these actions, IP-YES! will help WIPO to equip younger generations with the IP insights, resources and opportunities required to materialize their visions for the future and transform their ideas into tangible outcomes.
Many young people are unaware of the abundant opportunities that IP provides. This was highlighted recently in WIPO’s first global IP perception survey, WIPO Pulse, which tracked global IP awareness and perception of about 25,000 people in 50 countries. The report found that respondents aged between 18 and 24 had significantly lower IP awareness scores than other age groups.
WIPO’s engagement with youth is certainly not new, previous initiatives have seen the publication of six IP-themed animated episodes developed in close collaboration with the creators of the “Pororo the Little Penguin” TV franchise to educate children about the importance of IP rights.
There has also been the “WIPO IP Clubs” project as well as a growing catalog of training and skills programs through the WIPO Academy, which has benefited 150,000 young people in the past two years alone.