Youth leaders gear up for Junior 8 Summit, to parallel upcoming G8 meeting in Italy

By Amy Bennett

NEW YORK, USA, 26 June 2009 – If you had the opportunity to tell the world’s leaders what they should do to solve global problems, what would you say? That’s the question youth delegates to the Junior 8 Summit will wrestle with as they prepare to meet with presidents and prime ministers from the G8 industrialized nations in Italy next month.

One issue isn’t up for debate: All of the delegates agree that children and young people have a fundamental right to participate in decisions that affect them directly. In fact, that’s the whole idea behind the ‘J8’.

Youth perspectives
Around the world, teams of young people aged 14 to 17 are packing their bags for the 2009 youth summit, which is scheduled for 5-12 July in Rome. The J8 takes place parallel to the G8 meeting, which will be held this year in L’Aquila, Italy.

At the J8, a total of 32 youth delegates from the G8 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States – will be joined by teams of four young people each from Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mexico and South Africa.

J8 representatives will meet with the G8 leaders on 9 July to present the ideas that come out of the youth summit, in hopes that world decision-makers will seriously consider the perspectives of children and young people.

‘Leaders of tomorrow’
At the J8 meetings each year, young people have the chance to connect with their peers from other nations and share their concerns and ideas. Most important, they work together on youth-oriented solutions to major global problems, and they bring these recommendations directly to the attention of G8 leaders.

“I really think these are the leaders of tomorrow,” said violinist Nicola Benedetti, a UNICEF High Profile Supporter who attended the first youth summit in 2005. “When you listen to them speak, they really have the belief that things can change.”

Added J8 2008 delegate Je-Meila Maloney from Barbados: “We believe, as the J8’s community, that when we have touched one life, we have touched a generation.”

Accountability from world leaders
In the first days of the J8 Summit this year, all of the participants will meet to exchange stories of their lives and experiences. They will also make presentations to each other about the information they have gathered on the three themes of the summit: climate change, the world financial crisis and development in Africa.

Based on these conversations, the delegates will decide on their shared priorities and goals, and prepare their joint declaration. A smaller number of participants, representing the entire J8 team, will present the group’s conclusions in a face-to-face meeting with the G8 leaders.

Judging from past years, these young people aren’t likely to hold back their feelings at that meeting. Accountability is key to seeing their hard work during the summit pay off.

“We think it’s important that the G8 leaders follow up on the declaration and actually show us what they’ve done and what improvements they’ve made,” Japanese J8 delegate Yohei Oka said at the 2008 summit.

To learn more about the J8 Summit and read the past J8 Declarations, please visit http://www.j8summit.com/.

World Drug Day – June 26!

See the 2009 PSA here: http://www.unodc.org/drugs/

Read the World Drug Report 2009 here: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2009/June/world-drug-report-2009-released.html

Get the facts here: http://www.unodc.org/drugs/get-the-facts/index.html

‘The Youth Times’ newspaper speaks volumes for Palestinian teenagers

NEW YORK, USA, 25 June 2009 – Although much of the news from the Occupied Palestinian Territory is focused on violence and conflict, there is different, yet just as important, reporting happening on the ground in the region – reporting from a distinctly youth perspective.

‘The Youth Times’, a project of the Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activation (PYALARA), is a monthly 24-page newspaper published in Arabic and English by young people, for young people. It is the only Palestinian newspaper for youth that is distributed throughout the territory.

Through a comprehensive training program, ‘The Youth Times’ develops young people aged 14 to 25 into leaders while providing both Palestinian and international audiences with vital stories that speak across borders. (Read a copy of ‘The Youth Times’ here - some articles are in English, others in Arabic)

‘Hot topics’ for young Palestinians

When Palestinian young people get together – just like their peers the world over – they want to talk music, movies and fashion. In the offices of PYALARA and ‘The Youth Times’, teens not only get to talk about these topics but are also given the opportunity to report and write on them.

Music and fashion are just two of the topics that the young contributors write about. They also cover local politics and problems in their communities. A recent story focused on the horrific experiences of women during an attack on the neighbourhood of Al-Zaiton in the eastern Gaza Strip. In the same issue, an editorial by two 14-year-olds – entitled ‘PUNKS…When Today’s Teens Live the 70s’ – discussed ‘punk’ aesthetics and what it meant for young Palestinians to adopt this style.

No matter what the subject, however, the most important element is that the stories told in ‘The Youth Times’ are diverse and focus on topics of interest to youth.

The monthly publication consists of several thematic sections, including pages on the economy, politics, sports, arts and literature, health and education. Every issue also features a centre section on a different ‘hot topic’ for youth. The majority of the articles are written by youth volunteers and edited by staff.

An inclusive production process

Production of the newspaper begins at a monthly meeting with the young writers in several locations: Gaza, Nablus, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Hebron and Bethlehem. About  20 volunteers attend each  meeting to brainstorm about main topics and new trends. The meeting is facilitated by staff sub-editors, who follow up with volunteers as they conduct research, do interviews and write stories.

All of the major decisions about the content of each issue, including layout and photographs, are made during these monthly editorial meetings.

PYALARA believes in giving youth volunteers as much responsibility and input as possible. It begins with training that fosters dynamic and versatile thinking – while also developing leadership skills based on positive change and open communication.

Long-term impact

The long-term impact on young people is an integral part of PYALARA’s vision. Almost half of the association’s 30-person staff consists of former youth volunteers. 

PYALARA Communications Officer Eman Sharabati, 23, began volunteering when she was 17: “It’s really given me this power to be an active person in this society, and to think more about the problems that we should work on as young people,” she says.

‘The Youth Times’ hopes to expand its network of youth reporters globally, using the newspaper to strengthen international relations among young people, and continuing to participate in a worldwide effort supporting youth rights.

‘I’m Part of the G8 Too!’ – Website gives people a virtual seat at the G8 Summit

By Roderick Huntress

 

L’AQUILA, Italy, 22 June 2009 – You may not have a seat at next month’s G8 summit, but a new website by UNICEF’s Italian National Committee is offering what might be the next best thing: a way to communicate with the leaders there.

The programme – called ‘I’m Part of the G8 Too!’ – brings online visitors together to show their support for the three goals UNICEF aims to achieve at the meeting in L’Aquila:

• Secure continued funding for Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTC) of HIV, and for diagnosing babies as soon as possible
• Focus attention on the special vulnerability of girls to HIV and AIDS
• Reinforce an existing commitment by the G20 countries to social protection, with an emphasis on ensuring that social systems are both child-sensitive and AIDS-inclusive. 

Social protection uses measures ranging from transfers of cash to legislation to support health, financial stability and equality for children and their families.

How the programme works

The ‘I’m Part of the G8 Too!’ site encourages visitors to leave their names, and to upload a picture showing what it means for them to have a place at the summit. All of the photos will be compiled into an online gallery, with the best ones selected for the programme’s homepage. 

Ultimately, the site will serve as an interactive online petition. On 9 July, delegates from the J8, the junior version of the G8, will personally deliver the names of those participating in the ‘I’m Part of the G8 Too’ programme – and a selection of the best photos – to leaders attending the meeting. 

The J8 brings together young people aged 14-17 from around the world to consider the same issues the G8 countries address, and to draft recommendations for the leaders to consider.

Cost-effective efforts

At the gathering in L’Aquila, signs of support for UNICEF’s goals will be crucial.  Evidence from previous global economic crises indicates that women and children often fare worst at such times. 

The organization wants to ensure that funding for programmes to aid the most vulnerable – including those affected by HIV and AIDS – is protected despite the downturn.

It is far more cost-effective to protect funding for HIV programmes at current levels than to cut it now for short-term gain – and hope to restore it later.  What’s more, cuts would undermine the moral and legal right of children to enjoy both the highest possible level of health and the best chance for survival.

A voice for children

The original gathering of leaders that evolved into the G8 came in response to another global money crisis in the early 1970s.  At first, the participating countries concentrated on economic and financial matters alone.  But, over time, the agenda expanded to include other areas of world concern, including development.

The July meeting in Italy carries the same sense of urgency that led to the G8’s creation, but comes with a broader sense of mission.  UNICEF will use its expertise to help underscore the ways in which that mission can include the planet’s children

When advocates for competing issues clamour for attention at any big summit, it’s easy for members of the public to feel that their voices aren’t being heard at the highest levels.  The ‘I’m Part of the G8 Too!’ programme offers a creative way to communicate to world leaders one’s personal commitment to supporting child health and survival.       

Surinamese youngsters speak out against mobile pornography

by Zarissa Windzak.

Bluetoothing around pornography with your mobile phone. It seems to be the rising of a new trend in Suriname. Every day there would be a new video on the scene. Exept that youngsters seemed to enjoy sending around these video images, the bigger problem was that they were actually the ones making it.

“I was shocked when I saw one of these videos for the first time. It was a young girl, about 14 years of age, and three other boys. I immediately called my chief about this”, says Marijke Etnel. As one of the employees of the largest Telecommunication provider in Suriname (TELESUR) she asked to start a project in which she wanted to include youngsters. Within the project she hoped to convince youngsters about the damage, the pain and the embarrasment of spreading and especially making certain videos could cause. “Say no to porn on my mobile phone” the project was called. In no time Marijke and a group of volunteers started visiting schools in Suriname. They held discussion groups and soon it became clear what the problem was. “Kids and mostly girls agree to make certain videos with their phones out of love. If the boy asks a girl, she does it out of love and he makes sure his face isn’t seen in the video”, Marijke explains.

It didn’t take long before all different kind of organizations began speaking about this new trend in Suriname. Even the officials from the police force had something to say about it. “Any spreading or owning images of youngsters participating in sexual activities is classified under child pornography and anyone walking around with these images can count on some jail time”, Dennis Kolf from the Surinamese police force says.

Now it seems like a turn of events, because it’s youngsters who are now speaking against this kind of mobile porn. Marijke’s project seemed to have worked and through different youth organizations youngsters are trying to convince each other to stop sending or even making certain videos. Through music, discussion groups and even plays they are speaking against mobile porn.

Recently students from the Trinidian Diego Martin Central Secondary school visited Suriname. They were invited by the Telecommunication company of Suriname (Telesur) to participate in yet another discussion group about this issue. It didn’t take long for the Surinamese younsters to realise that many Trinis also experience the same problem. “Kids do it because they feel like their gaining a sense of popularity. And you can see them walking around on the school yard with pride”, one of the Trinidian teachers said. Students from Suriname and Trinidad eventually started discussing the problem, but also thinking about the solutions. “In the end I don’t only want them to say no to the mobile porn, but also to explain why they’ re saying no. So others could understand why it’s a problem”, Marijke explains.

Proyecto Cinemateca Rural para la Infancia con el apoyo de UNICEF

La Paz – Bolivia mayo 2009.- En nuestro país el acceso al cine es muy limitado, suscribiéndose sólo a las grandes ciudades (eje central) dejando al olvido ciudades intermedias y más aún al área rural; este marco referencial genera una oportunidad para la Cinemateca Boliviana, depositaria de la memoria visual boliviana, de llevar cine al área rural.

 

El lenguaje artístico-técnico que brinda el arte cinematográfico, favorece la socialización de contenidos, convirtiéndose en un aliado estratégico para capitalizar actitudes y conductas internalizadas por la narrativa. Es bajo esta lógica que la Cinemateca, a través de la adecuada programación de películas optimizaría la comunicación humana dinamizando formas de expresión.

 

OBJETIVOS

Objetivo general

Mediante la narrativa cinematográfica en contextos rurales, queremos lograr que los niños, niñas, adolescentes y adultos reconozcan su interculturalidad y su participación en la comunidad coadyuvando a la generación de la cultura de paz.

 

Objetivos específicos

 

• Lograr un espacio de participación en la comunidad y sobre todo de adolescentes mediante concepto de cine foro como una forma de cultura cinematográfica.
• Lograr que los niños y jóvenes a través de la pantalla de cine conozcan otras realidades y otras cultura, con temáticas comunes.
• Generar que los jóvenes reconozcan su importancia en la construcción de la sociedad mediante la lectura de las estéticas cinematográficas.
• Promover el derecho a la comunicación en la infancia mediante las formas de expresión que el cine plantea.
• Generar un espacio en las comunidades rurales donde el aprendizaje de su realidad y de otras se logre internalizar para el desarrollo.
• Contribuir a la autoestima de los adolescentes con su participación y reconocimiento en el cine foro.
• Desarrollar en los jóvenes participantes una lectura crítica de las imágenes y sonidos con los que diariamente están relacionados, y que dichos jóvenes actúen como medios que posibiliten la propagación de esta lectura en sus contextos, familia, colegio, amigos, comunidad, etc.
• Demostrar que el cine es la armonización de las demás disciplinas artísticas, humanas y científicas.

 

RESULTADOS ESPERADOS

 

• Adolescentes de los municipios rurales se apropien de los diferentes lenguajes como medios vivos de comunicación.
• Apropiarse de los sentidos como herramientas para el continuo desarrollo humano y comunicativo.
• Aumentar las competencias comunicativas, mejora de la autoestima tales como el amor, la comprensión, la amistad y la justicia.
• Habilidades en la lectura narrativa: argumento, historia, núcleos narrativos, estructura narrativa, protagonista, relato; es decir el cuerpo del relato.
• Lectura artística: elementos del lenguaje del cine: imagen y composición, luz, color, atmósfera, textura, cámara, angulaciones, planos, montaje, ritmo, sonido, música, diálogos y personajes, etc.
• Lectura temática: temas y significaciones de la película, problemas que aborda, propuestas que plantea, ideas, juicios, argumentos individuales y universales de la película.

 

CRONOGRAMA DE ACTIVIDADES

 

Se establecerá una metodología para la selección de la programación que será llevada a los municipios en los cuales se puede tener acceso a través de la captación de recursos.

Se definirá la metodología de los cines foro para motivar la participación de la juventud en los municipios rurales y se desarrollará una herramienta de evaluación y monitoreo.

Elaboración de materiales de difusión y estrategia de promoción.

Se desarrollará un cronograma de reconocimiento previo del terreno y actividades de promoción y concertación con medios de comunicación locales de la “Cinemateca Rural” y definición de puntos focales de la comunidad.

Elaboración de una memoria en video documental de toda la experiencia.

 

La Cinemateca Rural estará presente en los Municipios de Sacabamba, Vila Vila, Capinota, Arque, Porosa, Presto, Llallagua, Chayanta, Sacaca, Caripuyo, Monteagudo, Muyupampa, Loreto, San Andrés, San Ignacio, Porvenir, Puerto Rico y Challapata.

 

Se exhibirán materiales para niños, niñas y adolescentes aportados por la productora NICOBIS  y el del Festival Colibrí.

 

Sobre UNICEF

UNICEF trabaja sobre el terreno en 155 países y territorios para ayudar a los niños y las niñas a sobrevivir y avanzar en la vida desde la primera infancia hasta la adolescencia. El mayor proveedor de vacunas para los países más pobres, UNICEF apoya la salud y la nutrición de la infancia, agua y saneamiento de calidad, educación básica de calidad para todos los niños y niñas, y la protección de los niños y las niñas contra la violencia, la explotación y el SIDA. UNICEF está financiado en su totalidad por las contribuciones voluntarias de individuos, empresas, fundaciones y gobiernos.

 

*******

 

 

 

 

Para mayor información:

 

Wolfgang Friedl

Especialista en Comunicación – UNICEF Bolivia

Celular: 715-58781

wfriedl@unicef.org

Taking a stand against violence

By Cordelle Lazare.

Over the years violence has become very conspicuous in our daily lives. It is almost as daily as our three necessary meals . The ‘Why?’, question always comes up, and many try to give answers, but who is to say what really causes such outward violence?

Many persons have the notion that violence is only physical. It would be remiss not to make the ignorant wise. It is seen globally that verbal and emotional violence are rampant. But it pains the wise that children, teens and women make up the majority of those affected. Women face domestic violence. Though the initial effects may be physical, the long term is emotional. Sadly, in such situations children are usually entangled. However, it has been noted in the Caribbean that men also face domestic violence. This time with the women being the ones who are inflicting fear and harm and showing dictatorship and bravado. Unlike domestic violence against women, this is not often reported because the men feel that their manhood is lost. This is truly wrong on both counts and does not help anyone.

An increasing phenomenon is violence among youth. There are many reasons why this takes place, whether be it race, sex, mate, money, etc. However, none should be condoned. Rather than spending time to seek advancement for all and band to help make policies which will affect us and those to come, we spend our days chewing at each other. Some, which  many result in death or hospitalization due to serious injury. They vast majority of the time we decide to brandish a weapon or engage in a fist fight , rather than seat as young, disciplined persons and talk. Or simply just walk away from it all with the thought, “A coward lives to fight another day!”, in mind. Are we not pained everytime we hear a fellow brother or sister has to be laid to rest over stupidity? Do we ever stop to think of  the families involved at the end of the day? More than three quarters of the time the answer is, “No!”. We only seem to think of here and now and never long term. A Caribbean calypsoian, from the island of Dominica, by the name of Tarina sang a fitting rendition during her country’s 2009 Carnival Season. This song is entitled, “Endangered Species” and speaks about the violence among young men and comparing the existance of men to certain species like the polar bear. However, this can not be applied only to young men, though they are the ones, the majority of the time, leading the path of violence. It can also apply to our young women.

It is high time that we take a stance and stop commiting crimes against self, others, country and those to come. We need to band together, strong and united and firmly seek progressions for all never allow regression to become a thought.

 

 

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Hace 40 años, Una Carta del Futuro/40 Years Ago, A Letter from the future

This article is both in Spanish and English. For the English version, please scroll down.

By Andrea Arzaba

Marzo 29, 2050

Apenas ayer encontré mi diario, el cual escribí cuando era niña, hace ya casi cuarenta años. Y pensar que el mundo ha cambiado tanto desde aquel entonces. Aún recuerdo los automóviles que contaminaban nuestras calles, convirtiéndolas en lugares descoloridos para vivir, quitándonos toda esperanza. También recuerdo el gran desperdicio de agua que producíamos en cada momento, sin importar lo poco que nos quedaba y las guerras que comenzaron a generarse por las sequías que provocamos nosotros mismos. Además de que la electricidad aun se producía a partir de petróleo o carbono, lo cual dañaba demasiado al ambiente. Cuando yo era niña, la gente no tenía una cultura de reciclar, por flojera o simple ignorancia, de manera que la basura no era aprovechada y se formaban imponentes montones de basura en las ciudades.

Me alegra tanto el saber que ahora la humanidad ha cambiado para bien. Las que antes eran fábricas contaminantes ahora sirven de museos, en donde se muestra todo lo que alguna vez dañó al medio ambiente, como lo fueron los automóviles que funcionaban por gasolina, las botellas y envases de plástico, la ropa sintética, etc. El transporte que usamos hoy día es a base de la energía solar, y además gran cantidad de gente se transporta en bicicleta, manteniendo una comunidad saludable. El agua en su mayoría es recolectada de la lluvia, la cual antes de usarse es desalinizada por plantas que funcionan con turbinas de viento.

La gente cambió mucho desde hace cuarenta años entonces, y todo esto, se generó gracias al entusiasmo, iniciativa y ejemplo de las generaciones jóvenes.

ENGLISH

March 29th, 2050

Yesterday I finally found my diary, the one I wrote when I was still a girl, forty years ago. I can’t believe how much the world has changed. I remember all the automobiles that used to contaminate the streets, turning our cities into colourless, hopeless places to live. I also remember the enormous quantity of water we used to waste at any time, without even thinking about it, and the wars we produced in the end because of the drought that we generated. In addition to those problems, we had electricity that was created by petroleum or carbon, something that damaged the environment too much. When I was a girl, most of the people did not have a recycling culture, because they where lazy or they ignored the problems, the garbage was not reused and we only got humongous piles of trash in the cities.

 

It makes me so happy to know that humanity has changed for good. Factories that used to pollute environment now stand as museums, where you can observe some of the things that used to cause damage to the environment, like cars that used to work with gas, plastic bottles and packs, synthetic clothes, etc. The transportation we use everyday works with solar energy, and most of the people use bicycles, which keeps people healthy. Water is collected from the rain, and plants that work with wind turbines desalinate it.

 People changed a lot since then, and this happened thanks to the enthusiasm, initiative and example of the young generations.