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Posted: Aug. 09 2006,09:26 by fonbruno from INTERNATIONAL - UNOY - Bruno Fon
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1a) If funds were available, what youth activities related to a CoP would you do as an individual?
Culture
of Peace (CoP) from my own perspective entails a process rather than an
event aimed at creating a violence free environment to all citizens of
a given community. Violence free environment implies free from poverty,
wars, corruption, racism, HIV/AIDS, gender inequality, child abuse,
illiteracy and unemployment. As they say a hungry man is an angry man
so being angry is a threat to peace. So what ever is done to build a
strong CoP should promote sustainable happiness and continued
improvement of humanity. So CoP is an ongoing process that must be
addressed through tailor made solutions for given societal problems and
challenges.
NB: All the information on this questionnaire is particularly answering Zimbabwean context.
I will mobilise youth at a grass root level for Youth Ahead programmes.
My target group would be primary and tertiary institutions in line with
Millennium development goal 2, which says: Achieve Universal primary
education. I intend to implement a programme called Youth Ahead. The
Youth Ahead programmes combines efforts of pupils, teachers, community
structures and health care providers aimed at educating young people
about the Culture of Peace and all related issues. The programme
entails the youth in the various schools providing voluntary services
in their respective communities in which they carry out participatory
needs assessment in their communities to identify the main challenges
and problems towards sustainable CoP.
Youth Ahead programme is
meant to build a CoP in schools in which youths play an active role. It
reaches out to adolescent students aged 12-18 years as well as out of
school youth aged 19-24 years. Its main venue is the school and its
central strategy is peer education. Among main, the aim of Youth Ahead
would be provision of capacity building among the youth with skills
which help them to serve as partner in dialogue with authorities and to
promote more active participation of the youth in the CoP initiatives.
A detailed project is available upon request.
Organize a music gala and festival.
Sponsor a 10-km walk aimed at raising awareness on Culture of Peace amongst youth in particular and societies in general.
Donating goods to orphanages, old people’s homes and hospitals. A detailed project is available upon request.
b) What non-financial support do you need to do these activities?
Networking with other individuals with same goals i.e. facilitating
cross breeding of ideas through cultural exchange at global level and
regional and international conferences and seminars.
Supply of
Educated CoP personnel including peer counselors, to help on training
and seminars. This we call Participatory Approach at MASFAP.
Brochures, magazines, posters about CoP and related issues.
Blankets, food stuffs, toys, clothes for donations.
Tents and music instruments.
c) If funds were available, what youth activities related to a CoP would your organisation like to do?
HELP
ZIMBABWE SUPPORT NETWORK (HZSN) is an auspices of Masvingo Students
Fighting Aids and Poverty (MASFAP) an organization and student
movement. HZSN is a social environment programme for MASFAP fostering
collaboration, co-ordination and stronger participation by society in
planning and implementing CoP and AIDS awareness programmes in the
community. It is a youth programme involving greater participation and
spearheading of programmes by the youth. It encompasses university
students, college students, primary and secondary student, and every
youth in every spheres of life. HSZN intend networks with various
international organisations and will play a pivotal role in the
provision of resources and information to society. Detailed background
and projects (below) are available on request.
Formulating active clubs i.e. drama clubs, music clubs, debates, and
public speaking. These clubs would be allocated certain themes derived
from the overall objectives of MASFAP through its project wing HELP
ZIMBABWE SUPPORT NETWORK. Competition will be conducted in these
disciplines amongst youth.
Launch a Website and Magazine this is
basically aimed at improving our networking and information gathering
and dissemination. With its vision to reach everyone across the globe a
website is the best instrument to market MASFAP.
Organize Sport
tournaments with the aim to increase interaction between and amongst
youth from different backgrounds and communities. We at MASFAP believe
that Peace and health is threatened when people do not have anything to
do so such sport tournaments will occupy youths and will establish a
superb platform for them to learn more from each other.
Cultural
Exchange visits both at national and international level. Cultural
Exchange visits encourages dialogue and cross breeding of ideas thus
gives more options on how to solve problems affecting them.
Establish an Information Centre- this would include opening a youth
Library, Internet Café, Launch MASFAP CoP Magazines and Newsletter.
Basically this Centre will ensure access to more information and will
improve on information dissemination. MASFAP aims to go global so such
services will market us well at global level. We at MASFAP believe like
others that Knowledge is power and youth should be given all the
information necessary to improve quality of decisions they make.
Human rights awareness workshops such as anti domestic violence
workshops, anti child abuse workshops etc and this is in line with
Millennium development goal, which is to promote gender and empower
women. And an awareness campaign is the right platform for such
dialogue.
Establish skills training centre like knitting,
welding and building thus act as youth empowerment and employment
creation. This is in line with Millennium development goal that is
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
Establish a Trustee Fund
aimed at sponsoring through scholarship to able but disadvantaged and
marginalized youth. This is in line with Millennium Development goal 2
thus To achieve Universal Primary education.
Advocacy programme-
this will provide a sound base for the breeding of ideas on how to
fight the AIDS pandemic and build a strong sustainable CoP. The
programme provides a foundation of proper effective strategies
implementation. Its main focus is to come up with solution as well as
to identify and diagnose loopholes left out of our programmes and how
best we can address them. This will enable us to formulate good and
better strategies plans and assay our activities. The programme will
solely be responsible for strategic planning for HIV/AIDS programme and
outreach programmes to the society. Advocacy and education go hand in
hand and appropriate advocacy programmes vary from community to
community depending on many factors including the extend and size of
the HIV/AIDS epidemics, the needs of those infected and affected. Hence
strategies would have to be tailor made to best address a given
audience to best accomplish its goals.
Advocacy will include policy development that should be science and evidence based on our target groups.
Training Programme - this is mainly the pillar of MASFAP projects and
activities. MASFAP having realized the importance of empowering society
saw the need to train its members so that they are fully equipped to
deal with everything affecting their humanity and ensure they make well
calculated thought out decisions. Home based care givers, peers
counselors, youth leaders, relief officers, advocates will need to be
given some form of training people being let out of the mainstream to
pursue their roles in society diligently.
MASFAP also realised
the need to train society by equipping them with general life saving
skills which help alleviate the from immediate poverty through informal
skills like poultry, gardening, welding, sewing, knitting, dressmaking,
carpentry, cooking, computer training and hairdressing. Millennium
Development goal to Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
Training
will target society or everybody in the community and certificates of
attendance given at the end of each training session. Training will be
tailor made for a locality, and ensure they carry out their own needs
assessment.
d) What non-financial support does your organisation need for CoP activities?
Networked to other youth organizations with similar or related goals.
Following Personnel- Peer counselors trainers, CoP trainers, IT technician and other trainers in all related issues.
Computers and all necessary accessories to construct and start an internet café
Welding machines, sewing machines for our Skills Development Training Centre.
Sporting equipment i.e. balls, uniforms, rackets, hockey sticks etc.
CoP literature i.e. books, magazines, UN publications, newsletters,
Brochures, fliers, Review of conferences done before in relations to
the CoP.
Stationary e.g. bond paper, exercise books, diaries, pens, staplers, pins, manila etc.
Office equipment like tables, desks, chairs etc.
Motor vehicles.
Music instruments.
2a) What changes in youth policies do you think the government/leadership in your country should make to promote a CoP?
Government should equip teachers with adequate training to provide CoP education in classrooms.
We advocate for policies and structures that allow planners and
decision-makers to full and active participation in CoP intervention
programmes.
There should be intergenerational evaluation in which
youths, teachers and government have a more horizontal and democratic
relationships that respect difference of age, gender and life choices.
Lawmakers should set policies that allow institutional foundation for youth participation in schools hence youth empowerment.
Set up a fund shear heading youth programmes and activities.
Leadership should give enough space to youth to make decisions
pertaining issues directly affecting them thus moving away from older
stakeholders trying to formulate solutions for the young people.
b) What CoP youth activities/initiatives do you think the UN should do?
More Financial resources to youth projects and initiatives.
Add more youth in developing countries in policy formulation and implementation since this is where Peace is more threatened.
Network youth organisation globally more.
Organize more youth seminars in Africa to educate youth on human rights, child soldering and the concept of Culture of Peace.
United Nations should not only come into play more when peace is
already at stake but should come up with preventative policies even
when things are well
This is achieved only if the is a strong research from grassroots of all communities of member countries.
OPTIONAL QUESTIONS
3)
Do you have suggestions or recommendations for improving youth
participation in CoP activities on any levels (UN, government, Society)?
Organisations, Non Governmental Organisations in particular should be
assisted with the vision to be self-sustainable. A 3RD type of NGOs
should be encouraged and formed i.e. no more begging. Improve
sustainability through encouraging NGOs to venture into business to
avoid collapse when aid is suspended or removed.
4) What could be done to improve/ensure transparency and flow of information in promoting the CoP?
Regular publicized Audits both Financial and social Audits.
Uphold good corporate governance.
Youth Organisation should be registered with a common committee or
organisation both at national and international levels where minimum
requirements are set.
More leadership courses and refresher courses for youth leaders.
Media both private and public should be involved when projects are
being carried out. So organisations should establish a very close
relationship with the media fraternity.
Sponsors should do regular assessment visits both advised and not advised.
5) To ensure the possible return of a voluntary fund for youth and CoP, how should it be managed/administered?
Financial Audits both internal and external usually governed by International Accounting Standards.
Establish a standard reporting format of all results.
Organisations should have a legally binding constitution approved by
legal practitioners and written in line with international laws
concerning NGOs. This should clearly show the Finance policy governing
the activities of the organisation.
Youth organisation should
appoint, employ and/or elect qualified and able individuals especially
on post that work with funds, for example posts such as Finance
Director, Accountant.
Uphold and adhere to good corporate governance as per King II report on corporate governance.
Engaging Auditing firms for external auditing
6) How can youth not yet involved in CoP activities be reached and motivated?
Aggressive marketing through aggressive awareness campaigns in remote areas.
Sustainable arrangements and partnerships with Media fraternity i.e. Television, radio, print media.
Create free bees and brochures.
Make use of role models and influential personalities in society to spread the CoP gospel.
Organize catchy events like free music concert with the theme of raising awareness on CoP.
8a) Which other organizations do you know of that work for a CoP?
CCJP, Transparency International Zimbabwe
b) Would you be willing to contact them or may we contact them with the questionnaires?
Unfortunately, I do not have their contact details at the moment. But
will definitely contact you as soon as I get the contact details of
the people involved.
8. My response to this questionnaire is my personal and organisation’s opinion
Name of organization: Masvingo Students fighting Aids and Poverty (MASFAP)
Address: Box 66835 Kopje, Harare Zimbabwe
Contact Person: Jeffree M Rugare
E-mail: masfap@yahoo.co.uk or jrugare@yahoo.com
Telephone and fax: 00263 11 736 244 or 00263 91 211 496
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