Indonesia is seeking to leverage its growing information and communication technology (ICT) industry by gathering international companies and local stakeholders at an upcoming summit and exhibition. [...] The summit will discuss the potential, and challenges, of the country’s digital economy sector and will involve 120 speakers across several segments, namely broadband and the internet of things (IoT), e-commerce and digital broadcasting.

On International Youth Day, which is celebrated annually on Aug. 12, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon chose Palestinian youth Hussein Murtaja from Gaza City to be part of the Advisory Group of Experts for Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security. [...] This group includes 21 youth experts who work in the framework of a project with the aim of finding a new role the youth can play in peace and security building.

Over the past year, Arafa has opened his studio apartment in Washington’s Foggy Bottom neighborhood to refugees and domestic violence victims free of charge, and he’s launched a website to help Americans across the country do the same. The concept of his site, called EmergencyBnB, resembles Airbnb, where people list their homes or a bedroom for travelers to rent by the night. 

When chef Martin Yan moved from China to the United States more than three decades ago, there were only around 3,000 to 4,000 Chinese restaurants in the country. Today, that number has grown more than ten-fold. This, he believes, is one indicator of the increasing closeness between the two countries. “Food brings all of us together,” Yan said. “I think food is the best bridge, the best ambassador.”

Children like those in Zaatari, and millions of others around the world, are central to the work of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity, which I joined last September. This commission is committed to the fourth United Nations Sustainable Development Goal, which aims, by 2030, to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

On the heels of the largest sports diplomacy event, the 2016 Rio Olympics, Empower2Play will launch its very own ten-day sports diplomacy event with the US Embassy in Cite Soleil, Haiti, incorporating American Football, which begins on September 10th. [...] This event will bring together over 300 local youth and 100 volunteers from around the world.

Balad project manager Majd Shehabi explained how this Free Bread project had become one of the organisation’s most succesful initiatives. “We support local farmers by buying wheat directly from them. We then supervise the milling process, and handle all logistics related to distributing free bread to poverty-stricken and displaced families in liberated areas in Aleppo, Al-Atarib and Darat Izza,” he continued. 

Airbnb, the "official alternative accommodation service" for the Olympic Games, has made a big investment into Rio and it's is already paying off. A city that once lacked enough hotels and is living under Brazil's recession has meant big opportunity for the homesharing marketplace. [...] In preparation for the Olympics, Airbnb has worked in coordination with the organizing committee to encourage people to open up their homes for visitors.