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Posted: July 17 2006,09:02 by David from
INTERNATIONAL - Fundacion Cultura de Paz |
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QUESTIONNAIRE
Firstly) Is your organization
youth-led or primarily youth-serving? Please explain briefly.
Peaceways-Young General Assembly (Young GA) is an
international organization comprised of 91 member organizations
involving about 2 and 1/2 million young people mostly under 18 in 57
countries. It is run by an Executive Committee made up of people
under the age of 18.
1. INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL
ACTIVITIES
a) If funds were available, what youth activities
related to a culture of peace (CoP) would you like to do as an
individual?
The Young GA would like to set up a residential
centre that would offer two-week long intensive courses training
young people and teachers in how to teach conflict resolution and
manage peer tutoring and peer counseling programmes in schools to
develop peaceful people.
b) What non-financial support would
you need to do these activities?
After the center was building
was established, we would need $120,000 per year to maintain staff,
centre, materials and $100,000 per year for scholarships for
participants.
c) If funds were available, what youth
activities related to a CoP would your organization like to do?
The Young GA has already initiated a campaign to advocate for
the Olympic Truce period at local levels. It is working to get funds
to publish and distribute the 105 project plans written already by
children for children to help governments achieve the 21 targets set
forth in the UN document A World Fit for Children. It observes Hear
the Children Day of Peace on September 21st each year to give the
International Day of Peace a special focus in developing partnership
between adults and children to create and maintain a permanent
Culture of Peace. In 2007, the Young GA annual session will focus on
bringing human values into education to develop peaceful people. On
September 21, 2006 the Young GA will launch a campaign to press UN
member states to establish a civil society parliament within the
United Nations General Assembly with a children's parliament as a
branch to make the United Nations more democratic and effective in
maintaining a peaceful world. The Young GA feels that when people
start looking at children with respect, then child abuse will
diminish and young people will grow into peaceful adults. The Young
GA is working towards a PERMANENT culture of peace.
d) What
non-financial support would your organization need to do these
activities?
Media support and support from less senior
government officials to get the children access to senior
decision-making government officials who influence governmental
policy.
2. SUPPORT FROM GOVERNMENT AND THE UN
a) What
changes in youth policies do you think the government/leadership in
your country should make to promote a CoP? The Young GA believes
that all nations should have a national children's parliament that
convenes at least three times a year for 3 days each session or
more, has a year around office and secretary and the budget and
means to communicate several times a year with the nation's
children. Children want peace and they would keep peace issues at
the front of the minds of governmental policy makers and make the
establishment of a permanent culture of peace more
possible.
b) What CoP youth activities do you think the UN
should carry out?
The United Nations prohibits people under the
age of 18 from getting an annual security pass. The Young GA is
managed by people under 18 and serves as a voice for people under 18
in international affairs. However, it cannot have UN
repsresentatives under the age of 18. The Young GA believes
the UN should change its policy so that organizations like the Young
GA that have DPI NGO status, ECOSOC special consultative status and
UNICEF consultative status can have their representatives between
the ages of 15 and 17 able to have an annual security pass to do
organizational business at UN headquarters.
The Young GA
would also like to see more opportunities for young people to
participate in the General Assembly's 5th Committee discussions
without vote. The Young GA would like to see more emphasis put on
celebrating the Convention on the Rights of the Child on November
20th and drawing attention to A World Fit for Children on May 10.
These are important documents which, when fully implemented, can do
a lot towards building and sustaining a permanent culture of
peace.
OTHER QUESTIONS
3. Do you have any suggestions
or recommendations for improving youth participation in CoP
activities on any level (UN, government, civil society)?
It
would be helpful if somehow CoP could get TV news programs around
the world to run a moving banner at the bottom of the TV screen at a
minimum of once a week announcing upcoming CoP activities for a year
in advance including the CoP web address.
4. What could be
done to improve/ensure transparency and flow of information in
promoting the CoP?
Use radio and TV more.
5. To ensure
the best possible benefit of a UN Voluntary Fund for youth on the
CoP, how should it be managed/administered?
The adminstrative
body should include people from 15-24 in the decision-making
body.
6. How can youth not yet involved in CoP activities be
reached and motivated to get involved?
Through schools and the
media.
7. a) Which other organizations do you know of, that
work for a CoP?
The 91 member organizations in the Young
GA.
b) Would you be willing to contact them or may we contact
them with the questionnaire? Please specify.
The Young GA
secretariat has already e mailed the questionnaire to its member
organizations.
8. My response to this questionnaire is my
personal opinion ?
organizational response _X !!!__
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Acknowledge
a child with respect today.
Be a model a child can
respect.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ellen
Brogren
Secretariat Coordinator
Peaceways-Young General
Assembly
1950 Sunset Drive
Reedsburg, Wisconsin 53959,
USA
Tel/Fax: +1.608.524.4608
peaceways@igc.org
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The
Young General Assembly is:
*uniting the young people of the world
in responsible action through the projects designed by young people
at the annual Young GA sessions...
*serving as a respected voice
for the world's children (people under 18)...
*active in the "We,
the Peoples" initiative dedicated to the United
Nations...
*awarded special consultative status by ECOSOC
Edited by David on July 20
2006,10:26 |
