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» WFUNA Youth Newsletter No.9
WFUNA Youth Newsletter No.9
WFUNA Youth Newsletter
 Dear readers,
It is always a pleasure writing to you…
This time around, it is not the weather that I am particularly excited about, rather it is the introduction of a new section to the newsletter, the "Dear Editor", which has kicked off in this issue.
I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to all those people who took the time to share a piece of their work with us: I thought what you are engaged in is absolutely brilliant and will inspire a great deal of young people the world over to take action and improve the lives of thousands and their communities.
Allow me to apologise for the articles that have not been featured this time around; because of the overwhelming response, I have had to save the rest for the next issue.
As always, many thanks are due to my support team which does the tremendous work of putting this newsletter so beautifully together- Anne Kreft and Sun Junmian. It is always fun working with you!
To the rest of the readers, enjoy…
Prossy
Editor
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Letters to the Editor
My success story
This past week, along with 46 other young adults, I traveled to Tijuana, Mexico on a humanitarian trip with the organization Charities Anywhere. We built a house for a single mother, Claudia, who has five children She also lives with her mother, sister, and brother, so altogether 9 people live in that house with her. The house has dirt floors and the bathroom hangs off of the steep hill that they live on. Despite their living conditions, I have never seen a happier and more giving family than theirs; that's what made the project so worthwhile. We started by making a concrete foundation; that was the hardest day. The second and third day was framing, sheetrock, electric, and sewage. When the house was finished, it looked beautiful. I have never been so happy, or so proud to be part of something as I was then. Seeing the look on Claudia and her family's faces was the most rewarding experience ever.
Bailey Hales, 16
Lindon, UT
I come from a developing country and it is worthwhile to point out that we are facing many problems, such as drug abuse, lack of sexual and reproductive health education etc.
The governments in developing countries do not provide much assistance. Lack of youth policies results in young people being involved in criminal activities. They lack ICT and other media and communication channels.
Lack of job opportunities motivate youth to migrate and work abroad, where they often face discrimination or are underpaid.
I strongly believe that the United Nations is in a position to do something for these people and to help those who are in trouble.
Deepak Das
Ideal Youth Group
Eastern part of-Nepal
I have started the Watch Lions as a community defense force in the city of Tema in Ghana.
After its inauguration on 4th December 2005, Watch Lions was mandated by the Police Regional Commander to serve as an insider organization in local communities. Our mission is to watch Communities 10, 11 and 12. We started our operations in Community 12, where we have a notorious and dangerous neighborhood called 'ASHAIMAN', known for armed robbery and all sorts of social vices.
Michael Onyamenipa
(Watch Commander)
My name is KT Curran, and I am the Director/Producer of The SOURCE - Real life. Real theatre from Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. I am writing to you about our play, The Day I Opened My Eyes:
www.anythingarts.com/source.html
The play focuses on issues surrounding international family planning and global youth. We created this play with a grant from Planned Parenthood Global Partners, and we are bringing the play to Washington, DC to perform for members of Congress in early '07. I wrote a short article about the project, which can be accessed on our website:
www.anythingarts.com/sourceinfo.html.
Very warm regards,
KT Curran
The SOURCE
www.thesourceteentheatre.org
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ARMUN Follow-up
The East African Regional Model UN
"Youth Action on MDGs, by the Youth, for the Youth"
The East African delegates at the African Regional Model United Nations conference in September 2005, combined their efforts to form a Regional Working Group to establish the Eastern Africa Regional Model UN (EARMUN) Conference, which came to life from
1 to 4 August 2006 at the UN Offices in Nairobi.
After nine months of intense planning and organization, these young people, together with their UNAs of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania made EARMUN a reality. The theme of the MUN was "Youth Action in the MDGs" with a special focus on East Africa.
Over 184 delegates from these three countries attended. The participants
were selected from several universities, as well as other youth organizations. The end of the conference saw the creation of a resolution on youth action on MDGs in that region, but the action does not stop at a resolution. All participants signed Commitment Cards on which they pledged their further involvement with the MDGs in their home countries.
EARMUN was such a success that the UN Offices in Nairobi offered their support and facilities for a next EARMUN and also assisted with sending the EARMUN Final Resolution to relevant parties at the UN in New York. Furthermore, it has not even been a few weeks since EARMUN and already the Working Group is planning for the next conference! They are also currently exploring more ways in which they can involve other Eastern African countries, such as Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Sudan, in the next EARMUN.
By: Monique Theron
South Africa
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Young People at WFUNA
 Gerald Chen
My name is Gerald Chen, from Mainland China. Currently I am doing my internship at the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) in Geneva, Switzerland
Pursuing a career in diplomacy and international affairs and contributing to UN activities has always been my dream. Joining WFUNA made familiar names such as ECOSOC, ILO, OHCHR, ITU, and Disarmament Conference become part of my life. Particularly, it is very exciting for me to walk through the Aisle of Flags into the Palais des Nations every morning.
Indeed, this internship is a personalized programme that allows me to match my strengths with WFUNA's activities. With an educational background in management research, I have focused on the membership system, fundraising projects, and the UNAs exchange network initiative, which have all helped me to develop my knowledge of how to run an international organization. As well as contributing to the operations, I also participated in different kinds of UN conferences. For instance, when attending the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Substantive Session, I had face-to-face opportunities to learn diplomatic skills from experienced diplomats and thus strengthen my understanding of international affairs.
It is also an amazing experience to work with WFUNA's Deputy Secretary-General, staff and interns, thus enhancing my teamwork skills. Geneva is certainly a great place to be for an internship - clean city, cultural diversity, gorgeous weather in the summer, beautiful lake, and fantastic mountains.
Laurainne Demierre
 I can say from this internship, that it has helped me gain self-confidence and skills as I spent most of the time working independently. Furthermore, the office is located in the Palais des Nations in Geneva, where the UN holds most of its consultations and meetings and being extremely interested in the UN, this availed me the opportunity to attend many conferences, which gave me good insight into the system.
I would like to express thanks to the WFUNA team for its kindness. It was great working with them in a very enjoyable environment.
 Teel Lidow
The World Federation (New York office) offered me two things: a lucrative backdoor into the world of the United Nations (a world that would most likely have been otherwise inaccessible), and a glimpse of the backroom diplomacy that drives the organization; and an opportunity to experience the internal workings of a functioning NGO along with all of its accomplishments and downfalls. Both of these aspects of my experience here are sure to be of value to me for as long as I find myself within the "international community."
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Youth Activates at the UN
International Youth Day
In celebration of the International Youth Day-12 August 2006- the United Nations hosted a panel discussion on "Tackling Poverty Together: The Role of Young People in Poverty Reduction" on Friday, 11th August. The program included presentations by Joop Theunissen from the UN Division for Social Policy and Development and by youth participants in the International Conference on Human Rights as a Tool for Social Change on how youth and poverty are defined, how they are related, and how young people can engage in poverty reduction worldwide.
With 85% of the world's 1.1 billion youth living in developing countries and half of the global youth living on less than $2 a day, speakers made clear why youth involvement in poverty eradication is so important. Four participants in YMCA's Global Teens program then shared with the audience, most of whom were young people, their encounters with poverty in Thailand, Costa Rica, and even in the United States - in South Dakota. Strong family bonds struck the participants as one of the biggest assets that people in developing countries possess in their fight against poverty.
Knowing nothing of Western materialism, they keep up their daily struggle against poverty by supporting each other and enjoying life despite their desperate situation. Poverty, however, is not only a feature of developing countries but can also be found in South Dakota - and even in New York. "Teens Take the City" is a local YMCA program that helps young people get actively involved in local governance: three participants talked about their fight against poverty in Brooklyn and Harlem. T'neil Essor, Shanequa Lassiter, and Vincent Little John have lobbied mayor Bloomberg to take measures against signs of local poverty, by promoting better sexual education in public schools to prevent early pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases; by fighting for the establishment of a supermarket in a poor area; and by lobbying for improved garbage collection services to prevent the spread of asthma and other diseases in affected areas.
The International Youth Day celebration was rounded off by performances by the West Side YMCA, a group of 13 young people who entertained the audience with sign language interpretations of songs.
By: Anne Kreft
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What's going on at the UN
Dear Model UN Participants,
The UNA-USA Model UN Calendar is currently being updated for the school year of 2006-2007. It is now searchable by country, state, month, number of participants and type. The calendar is a valuable resource for conference organizers and attendees, and we urge you to make use of it. Once a conference has been posted, an online event space is automatically created for participants to create blogs, post photos, and upload documents such as position papers and draft resolutions. Please visit
www.unausa.org/site/apps/cd/calenderindex.asp to post a new event.
Another new resource being offered on the UNA-USA website is a Model UN Kiosk, where you can purchase Model UN related items, such as gavels and stopwatches, as well as t-shirts, mugs, water bottles and backpacks. Don't forget to visit the Model UN homepage at http://www.model-un.org to make use of other UNA-USA resources, including guides to preparation, position papers and resolution writing.
From 29 to 30 October 2006, the United Nations will convene the Global Youth Leadership Summit at UN Headquarters.
This meeting is a culmination of a series of regional summits held in Africa, in Senegal (2004) and Morocco (2005), in Asia in Japan in 2004 and in Latin America and the Caribbean, in Brazil in 2005.
Participants of this summit will include two youth leaders ages 18 to 30 -one young man and one young woman- from each of the 191 countries of the United Nations.
These young people will be nominated by their UN country offices on the basis of their experience and commitment.
The youth summit will focus on strengthening the movement to engage young people in decisions about the future- of their communities, their regions and the emerging global civil society.
This will be an opportunity for young professionals seeking a way to connect to a larger global community to make their place in leadership positions. By bringing together young leaders, as well as young professionals in the private and public sector, the Summit aims at preparing them for the challenges ahead and helping to create a prosperous, safe, peaceful, healthy world for future generations.
For further information please visit www.un.org/youthsummit/gyls.html.
On 29 November 2006, the United Nations will hold a conference on the theme, Our Common Humanity: Principles and Values for Development. This will be held against the backdrop of the 2005 World summit, at which Heads of State and Government agreed, among others, to ensure that globalization is made fully inclusive and equitable in a declaration in which they called for "broad and sustained efforts to create a shared future, based upon our common humanity in all its diversity."
In partnership with interested parties, a global forum will be organized in the framework of the Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (GAID) on the promotion and inculcation of these values and principles and lending them practical expressions in the actions of governments.
The objective of the conference is to send a strong message that the global community is one family with common values, and to promote the concept of equity and fairness through ICT.
There will be in attendance, prominent leaders and individuals in government, private sector, entertainment, sports, science and technology, and media.
 The United Nations New York Office of Sport for Peace and Development has appointed a renown Brazilian soccer star, Ronaldo Assis de Moreira, a.k.a, Ronaldinho, a popular player for the FC Barcelona team as its ambassador.
One of Ronaldinho's first activities as UN Spokesman will be helping mobile youth worldwide to tackle poverty in connection with the United Nations Global Youth Leadership Summit in New York on 29-30 October, organized by the New York Office of Sport for Development and Peace.
For further information please visit: www.un.org/sport2005
Announcements
In partnership with the government of Nigeria, the United Nations Youth Association of Nigeria will hold a National Youth Leadership summit from 23 through to 27 October 2006 in Abuja, Nigeria. This event is part of a series of regional summits in the run up to the Global Youth Leadership Summit, which will be held at UN headquarters in New York in early November 2006.
The theme of this summit is "The Nigerian Dream: Breeding young leaders through mentorship and globalization to achieve the MDGs by 2015."
The main objective of the summit is to mobilize the support of young people for the effort to attain the Millennium Development Goals.
His Excellency the President of the Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is expected to brace the occasion with his presence.
A chance to add your voice
WFUNA-Youth will bring together its members for the second time with the major aim to review its preliminary organisational structure, which at the 37th WFUNA Plenary Assembly in Barcelona was put into a Memorandum of Understanding by all UNA representatives.
The WFUNA Youth meeting will be held from 6 to10 November 2006 - simultaneously with the World Federation's Plenary Assembly in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
At the Youth meeting, we will have the chance to finalise a permanent constitution. This will enable WFUNA-Youth to work on a solid basis and establish effective long-term planning.
The internal discussion about the tasks of WFUNA-Youth has already begun after the interim authority sent out a questionnaire on the structure and tasks of WFUNA-Youth to all its members and established an Internet platform to discuss the amendments to the preliminary constitution.
The Internet discussion is symbolic in the sense that youth now have the opportunity to shape the organisation.
In order to further strengthen UNYAs and UNA youth sections worldwide WFUNA-Youth will also organise a capacity building workshop. WFUNA-Youth welcomes any UNYAs or UNA youth sections' contributions in designing a proposal for the workshop.
Additionally the Youth Meeting will offer its participants the possibility to exchange expertise, methods and best practices, which might pave the way for the development of innovative ideas and the planning of common projects to be embarked upon at the end of the conference. In this way, the organization of UNYAs and UNA youth sections through a global network will create tremendous benefits for their activities at home.
At the WFUNA Youth Meeting each UNA that is a member of WFUNA selects up to five youth representatives under the age of 30 who will then actively participate at the Youth Meeting. Have you already signed up for the Youth Meeting? Please do so as soon as possible to facilitate the planning.
I am looking forward to working with you all in Argentina.
By: Dania Röpke
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Hosts the National Youth Leadership Summit