Rede Jovem Program (Youth Net) is a initiative from NGO Comunitas that has the mission to strengthen the low income youth from Brazil and stimulate their social and civic participation by providing access to new information and communication technologies(ICTs).
Rede Jovem Program was conceived to go beyond mere acess to computer technology, even if is initially seen as this by the users. It was conceived as a means of acess to education for citizenship using technologies as main tool and resource.
Thus, both the virtual environment and the physical space were conceived to contribute towards filling gaps ocurring from difficult schooling, to facilitate acess to knowledge and universal culture and, at the same time, to stimulate the role of youth as protagonists, constituting an opportunity for improvement and continued education, associated to leisure and to community projects, as an alternative to that which is offered at school and in the work environment.
Acting in national sphere, Youth Net Program works in metropolitan areas from capitals of Brazil, since the year of 2000.
In 2003, Youth Net initiated new stage, offering its successful methodologies to other institutions and creating new projects for existing public IT centers. Most important projects are: Multimedia Sustainable IT Centers, 0800 Rede Jovem - SMS for social Change – Mobile Youth Net, Youth Spaces (Community based IT Centers), Online Courses, Wikimap project, Training of young managers and monitors for IT Centers, methodological and interaction consulting to community based IT Centers, Free E-mail and blog accounts - Youth Network and interactive services for young people (Youth Network website).