One Young World today announces the shortlist of Candidate Cities that are competing to host the eighth and ninth annual Summits, taking place in 2017 and 2018.
Four cities are in the running to host the event, including: Belgrade, Serbia; Bogota, Colombia; Paris, France and The Hague, The Netherlands. The winners of the Host City Bid Process will be announced at the end of September 2015.
The international youth charity, co-founded by David Jones and Havas Worldwide Co-Global President Kate Robertson, brings together 1,350 young leaders from over 190 countries, making it the most international gathering of young people in the world, other than the Olympic Games.
At the Summit, young delegates are joined by global dignitaries who lend their stature to mentor and guide them in their discussions. In previous years these have included: President Bill Clinton, Kofi Annan, Mary Robinson, Professor Muhammad Yunus, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Arianna Huffington and Sir Richard Branson.
Since the first Summit took place in London in 2010, previous Host Cities for One Young World have included: Zurich (2011); Pittsburgh (2012); Johannesburg (2013) and Dublin (2014). This year, the Summit will be hosted in Bangkok, Thailand and the 2016 Summit will take place in Ottawa, Canada.
One Young World Co-Founder Kate Robertson said:
“As always, One Young World is honoured that such a variety of world cities want to host this unique event. We believe that hosting One Young World can have a meaningful impact on the young populations of the Host Cities and are delighted that we have four such iconic locations who want to welcome our delegates.”
