At least one thing is true of youth in every country: give them access to technology and a bit of guidance, and they’re capable of changing the world for the better, Mashable reports. Helping young people do exactly that has been the job of the State Department’s Ronan Farrow for the past year. Farrow has served as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s special advisor on global youth issues since the middle of 2011. He firmly believes that technology is radically altering what it means to be a young person today, as social networks give them an unprecedented opportunity to have their voice heard and connect with other youth around the world to fix the problems they face.
“It’s going to be people under 30 that solve this generation’s problems,” said Farrow. “Our principle at the State Department has been, ‘How can we turn to young people using these new technologies and tap them for their solutions?’”
According to Farrow, the State Department recently launched a “hard, honest review” to see if its policies and outreach programs worked for young people. The result? A diplomatic corps that’s been trained in social media and digital outreach, ready to engage youth on myriad platforms…