¡LACVOX en Sonico! LACVOX in Sonico!

Lacvox ahora tiene una pagina en Sonico, la platforma social en la red más popular en Americá Latina! Haz click aqui, y hazte fan! Ya hay más que 2000 fans!! ¿tu eres unos de ellos?

Lacvox now has a page on Sonico, the most popular social networking platform in Latin America. Click here, and become a fan! There are already more than 2000 fans! Are you one of them?

Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network

 

 

For more information please visit: http://orgs.tigweb.org/jamaica-youth-advocacy-network-jyan

Teen editorial from Jamaica: ‘Children have rights, too. Protect them!’

By Jaevion Nelson

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica has been subject to human rights criticisms in regards to our level of intolerance for sexual diversity, poor rehabilitation facilities, an overburdened and inefficient judicial system, human security and the continued impunity of police officers and state representatives who commit crimes.

Two decades ago (1989), world leaders made a historic agreement through the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), which acknowledges that governments, caregivers and stakeholders must respect, promote and fulfil the rights of all children within the society.

Internationally, this was the first instrument to incorporate civil, cultural, economic, political and social human rights. The convention outlined the rights of each and every child to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.

Tragedy reveals dire situation
The tragedy which occurred on May 22 at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre in St. Ann, where seven girls died and others were injured in a fire, has subsequently indicated gross negligence on the part of the authorities to sufficiently execute a duty of care owed to the occupants of this facility. This has intensified the debate on the status of children’s homes and other state institutions.

The conditions under which the girls were reportedly placed to live are quite disheartening. The fact that security guards were allegedly unaware of the existence of fire extinguishers at the facility and were never engaged in a fire drill on property or during their training is alarming.

The unsanitary conditions which the occupants had to contend with, including prohibitions from using the bathroom at nights as there were limited correctional officers, highlights chronic deficiencies. The tragedy reveals a dire need for the protection of children’s rights in such institutions, to aid in the realisation of their basic needs and the expansion of their opportunities to reach their full potential.

Progress and challenges
Jamaica has made significant strides in recognising children’s rights by ratifying the CRC in 1991 and passing the Child Care and Protection Act of 2004. While this is commendable, significant efforts and far more work must be done to ensure laws, policies and programmes articulate that we are serious and committed to building a prudent, protective and enabling environment for the development of all our children.

The extent to which the Government and caregivers are held accountable to a child in relation to the Armadale tragedy is highlighted in Article 3.3 of the CRC, which encourages State parties to “ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision.”

Article 6 further states that “(1) State parties recognise that every child has the inherent right to life and (2) shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.”

‘Children’s rights are human rights’
Therefore, the State and relevant stakeholders have a responsibility to pay keen attention to the physical conditions of children’s homes, employ and train professionals who can provide the kind of social care and protection children need, ensure all wards are enrolled in an educational institution and provide the necessary recreational services needed for the child’s physical, spiritual, mental, moral and social development.

As young people, we must recognise the important role we play in good governance. We must encourage and make public officials accountable to children and youth, thereby ensuring that our rights are protected and advanced.

Our nation is in a serious state of ignorance and selfishness where too many of us young people are consumed with our own success and care little for the development of our country. Take responsibility for your growth and development by being positive models for other young people to follow. And on issues affecting youth, protest orderly and let your voice be heard until the Government and policymakers begin to not just pay attention but more importantly to do something about our concerns as young people.

We must sensitise all Jamaicans about the importance of children’s rights. We must raise awareness that children’s rights are human rights. As UNICEF emphasises, “children’s rights are not special rights, but rather the fundamental rights inherent to the human dignity of all people”.

Vietnamese children raise their voices for action on climate change

HANOI, Viet Nam, 24 August 2009 – Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, a 16-year-old girl from Da Nang Province, will not soon forget the two-day workshop she attended in Hanoi earlier this month. There, she had a chance not only to meet with children from all the regions of Viet Nam, but also to learn about and discuss an issue that could have an enormous impact on all children’s lives: climate change. 

Ngoc Anh was proud to be selected by her peers at the workshop as one of five children who will represent Viet Nam at the Children’s Climate Forum, to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark from 28 November to 4 December 2009. The Forum immediately precedes the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will take place in Copenhagen in this December.

According to the Deputy Director of the Children’s Bureau under the Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs (MOLISA), Nguyen Trong An, one of the main purposes of the workshop is ”to consult children.”

“We, adults, want to listen to the children’s  ideas in order to develop plans of action that provide better care, support and protection of children from the bad impacts of climate change in Viet Nam,” he said.

Implications of climate change

The 5-6 August workshop in Hanoi, organized jointly by MOLISA and UNICEF, aimed to increase awareness of climate change among Vietnamese children – and to motivate them to take action.

A total of 126 children and young people from 21 provinces participated in the workshop, where they learned about various aspects of climate change and its implications for their lives and communities.

The young participants shared their thoughts as they worked on finding solutions to this global problem.

“They were very intense and hard working days,” Ngoc Anh reflected. “I enjoyed it a lot and also learned from other children what is happening in other regions of the country.”

A ‘vital role’ for children

It is critically important for children and young people to be involved in finding solutions to climate change. Empowered by knowledge and information, they can be real agents of positive environmental change.

“We in UNICEF believe that children have a vital role to play and should be empowered to act,” said UNICEF Deputy Representative in Viet Nam Jean Dupraz, addressing the youth workshop.

“We hope to see all of you become active Climate Change Ambassadors in your communities, your homes, your schools, your neighbourhoods,” added Mr. Dupraz, ”in order to generate more interest and action among your peers and adults.”

Children’s recommendations

At the end of the workshop, participants agreed on a set of proposed actions to tackle climate change. The recommendations were collected in a document, entitled ’Children’s Declaration about Climate Change in Viet Nam’, which will be presented to the official Vietnamese delegation attending the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

The next four months leading up to the Copenhagen Forum will be a busy period for Ngoc Anh and the four other youth team members from Viet Nam. They will attend meetings with relevant government ministries to develop a collaboration plan and carry out many activities to raise public awareness of climate change.

Ngoc Anh hopes to be a strong voice for Vietnamese children. “I would like to bring all the messages that we agreed to at this workshop to Copenhagen, and present the situation and expectations of children in Viet Nam,” she said.

Children, young people unite online to address climate change

DAEJEON, REPUBLIC OF KOREA, 20 August 2009 - Children and young people across the world are joining forces to address climate change with a new initiative, Unite for Climate, www.uniteforclimate.org launched today at the International Children & Youth Conference in Daejeon, Republic of Korea.

UNICEF, together with UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, youth activists, academia and the private sector have developed an online space to enable youth networks, children, young people and experts to collaborate on climate change using open-source technology.
UNICEF and partners have been increasingly broadening the global scope of youth engagement through technological innovations. Through networking opportunities and social tools offered on the Unite for Climate site, young citizens can connect, share knowledge, learn, and engage in the issue of climate change.

Most of the tools are designed for low-bandwidth areas, allowing more children and young people to join Unite for Climate. Amongst other partners, YouTube and FlipCam have been supporting the Youth Climate Debates that will also be launched in Republic of Korea as part of Unite For Climate.

This week, children and youth from some 110 countries have been discussing the challenges of climate change at the TUNZA International Children and Youth Conference in Daejeon, Republic of Korea, organized by UNEP. An action plan will be produced and a statement delivered to world leaders urging them to sign a proactive agreement at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen (COP15) in December.

Unite for Climate is supporting youth engagement in major global events, including: the UN General Assembly, Climate Week NYC, the Global Action Day organized by 350.org in October, and UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Forum in Copenhagen in November.
 
In addition, Unite for Climate will connect at least 150 schools around the globe from September 2009. The Connecting Classrooms project will foster dialogue on climate change between school children, and is supported by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Mediterranean Center for Sustainable Development among other partners.

Unite for Climate:
Public website:
www.uniteforclimate.org

Online Community:
http://uniteforclimate.org/

Youth Climate Debates:
http://www.youtube.com/youthclimatedebate
Connecting Classrooms – Starting in September 2009

For more information and interview requests, please contact:
Gerrit Beger, UNICEF NY,
Tel + 1 212 326 7116
E-mail: gbeger@unicef.org

Miriam Azar, UNICEF NY,
Tel + 1 212 824 6949
E-mail: miazar@unicef.org

India’s Child Reporters Initiative: a twinkling star in the dark night

ORISSA, India, 18 August 2009 – Four years ago, UNICEF spearheaded an initiative called ‘Child Reporters Reporting on Children’s Issues’ in order to give a voice to the marginalized children of the remote Koraput District. 

An innovation in child participation, the outcome was a newsletter aptly called ‘Ankurodgama’ – which is translated as the sprouting of a seed, the first sign of life.

In their first issue, the children reported on topics close to them such as the lack of safe water, child marriages, challenges in attending school, and food insecurity.

“Before, we had no aspirations except going out to find some jobs after our education was over. But the reporting process has enabled us to understand our village, our community, and livelihood opportunities around us,” says Child Reporter Laichan Muduli.

‘A twinkling star’

The programme includes more than 1800 children, aged 10-14 years, from over 150 schools of Koraput. Together, they contribute to a polished, full-colour, bi-monthly broadsheet supplement of a leading local daily ‘Anupam Bharat’, with a circulation of over 140,000 copies in the state.

Anupam Bharat has been known to sell out on the days the supplement appears. All primary schools in the district receive a copy and any extra copies are sent to a rapidly growing mailing list of officials, decision makers and intellectuals.

“The Child Reporters programme is like a twinkling star in the dark night. It brings a sense of collective effort among the children,” noted one-time teacher Gayatri Goud in the Response section of the October 2008 issue.

Education and advocacy

The Child Reporter initiative seeks to encourage peer education and child advocacy among all children, not just those immediately involved in the programme.

“Every child is a potential Child Reporter – it’s a self-fuelling fire,” said UNICEF Representative in Orissa Shadrack Omol. “The desired end product is to inculcate the ability to respectfully express and accept divergent views on an issue. The children are not critics but a part of the solution.”

The Secretary of the Koraput Farmers Association Sarat Kumar Patnaik and the convener of the People’s Group for Children’s Development Chelapila Santaka have taken a great interest in the Child Reporter programme.

Both organizations have actively pushed for greater visibility by helping the children gain access for interviews and events, while providing technical assistance, improved production qualities, monitoring of content and even setting up a blog.
 
“We are really proud of our Child Reporters. Their stories not only help the children understand themselves and their surroundings but also give society an idea of their developing consciousness and willingness to participate for greater social progress,” said Mr. Santakar.

The initiative is also supported in partnership with the District Primary Education Programme.

The way forward

Although success stories abound, there are challenges and barriers that still need to be overcome.

A defining limitation of the initiative is that it is a school-based programme. Not all children are in school and those that are, are not equally literate, which means some voices in the community are not being heard.

The Child Reporters have to be trained to reach into the community to pick up the views of children who are not in school and bring them to the fore.

 “We are now regarded as the children with more information and links to the outer world,” says Child Reporter Upendra Khora.

Addresses of UNICEF Offices in the region/Direcciones de las oficinas de UNICEF en la región

can be found here (on pages 34 and 35)

se encuntran aquí (en paginas 34 y 35)

LACVOX CONTEST – Promo Materials/Concurso LACVOX – Materiales de Promoción

Poster in English (Para Español, vean abajo!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afiche en Español

I CONCURSO DE CORTOS SOBRE LOS OBJETIVOS DE DESARROLLO DEL MILENIO – OAJNU BS. AS

Buenos Aires, julio de 2009. La Organización Argentina de Jóvenes para las Naciones Unidas (OAJNU), invita a estudiantes secundarios, terciarios o universitarios a realizar cortos documentales o de ficción sobre los Ocho Objetivos del Milenio, acordados por los Estados miembros de las Naciones Unidas en el año 2000 para combatir la pobreza y mejorar las condiciones de vida de la población mundial, el plazo que se dispuso para cumplirlos es el 2015. ¿Qué es lo que se hizo hasta ahora? ¿Llegaremos a cumplir los objetivos antes de la fecha estipulada?    

El concurso busca crear conciencia y difundir dicha temática, además de involucrar a los jóvenes en producciones de este tipo. El mismo cuenta con el apoyo del CINU (Centro de Información para las Naciones Unidas) y la Universidad del Cine (FUC). El jurado de dicho concurso está compuesto por personas idóneas en la temática, como ser la Sra. Daniela Ingruber, miembro de UNESCO Australia.

 

Los cortos serán recibidos en formato DVD hasta el día 31 de Agosto.

El ciclo culmina con una muestra del material realizado por los participantes, abierta al público en general y gratuita, donde también contaremos con la presencia de personas idóneas en la temática que brindarán charlas a fin de concientizar acerca de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio.

 

Para mayor información: cineodm@oajnu.org /  www.oajnu.org

Coordinadora: Valeria Bula

A window of hope for girls in Jalalabad

By Cornelia Walther

JALALABAD, Afghanistan, 11 August 2009 – In Afghanistan, more than half of the population is below the age of 18. Youth literacy rates are low.  For young women and girls, the situation is of particular concern. 

Numerous girls are forced to marry as young as 14-years-old, and many are confronted with early pregnancy, sexual abuse and domestic violence.  As opportunities for vocational training and employment are limited, many young people get disillusioned and take up dangerous jobs or drugs. 

Afghan youngsters grow up in an especially complex environment, confronted every day with conflicting values. Violence and death have become an integral part of the Afghan society – but there is still hope for possibilities of a better future.

Youth Information and Contact Centers

To empower young people to make informed decisions and actively participate in the decision-making process of their community, UNICEF, in collaboration with the Afghan Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs established Youth Information and Contact Centers (YICC) in six provinces in 2007. Working with young people between the ages of 12 and 25, the goal was to enable them to develop skills to solve problems.

“I am a poet. For a long time I have suffered from violence and injustice in our society but I couldn’t express myself, until one day I took pen to paper. The YICC finally gave me an opportunity to learn English and taught me how to use a computer.  It will help me to become someone one day,” said 16-year-old Nilab Tanhar.

Building relationships

The YICC were inspired by the Afghan non-governmental organizationbSocial Volunteer Foundation which is part of the Child Protection Action Networks (CPAN), set-up by UNICEF and the Government of Afghanistan to protect children in the war-torn communities of Afghanistan. Today, 27 CPAN exist all across Afghanistan, connecting governmental and non-governmental organizations, to protect and promote children’s rights in the country.

When the center opened its doors in 2007, girls were forbidden by their families from attending group discussion sessions. To increase parental confidence in the centres’ reliability, UNICEF and its partners recruited female animators and provided car transportation from the girls’ homes to the YICC, circumventing the problem that women usually face when travelling alone.

Fostering open communication

Today, several hundred girls attend trainings and discussions, but all the challenges have not been overcome.

“My whole family is literate, but my parents engaged me to an illiterate man,” said Nilab. “Every time I want to come here I have to beg like a child for him to accompany me. I am not interested in marriage, but want to publish my book of poems. I need to be in contact with other people but they won’t let me leave the house.  Only because my aunt is accompanying me can I be here today.”

Every Tuesday, Nilab and a dozen other girls meet in Jalalabad’s YICC to discuss the problems they are facing and issues concerning them. 

“The girls have woken up. Discussions like the ones that we now have every week about marriage, relationships, and professional perspectives would not have been possible two years ago,” said the Director of the YICC Daoud Noor Agha Zoag. 

“We do not say we have responded to all their problems but little by little the situation is improving.  This progress was possible because we are a strong team: The Ministry of Youth for the Government, UNICEF for the United Nations and the Youth Federation for the Civil Society. Together we will go ahead!”

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