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Posted: July 30 2006,09:00 by David from
INTERNATIONAL - Fundacion Cultura de Paz |
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(may
be quoted, see below)
World Federation of United Nations
Associations - personal opinions
Saša Hezir
1a. INDIVIDUAL
ACTIVITIES
I would like to see some of the fund be devoted to
international educational exchange opportunities. The chance to
travel and study the results of justice processes like the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission in South Africa and the Gacaca system in
Rwanda, for example, would be an incredible experience. Studying
international law and conflict resolution on the ground would equip
me with the knowledge and the skills to ensure that crises like the
ones in South Africa or Rwanda could be prevented.
1b.
NON-MONETARY RESOURCES
I firmly believe in the freedom to travel.
After all, it is only fitting for a generation so easily connected
by technology to be able to travel without difficulty around the
world.
1c. ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIVITIES
I would like to see
my organization develop activities that localize many of the global
projects that the UN takes on. I think that the key to moving from
rhetoric to results is the localization of projects. The Millennium
Development Goals are a great example of this potential because
individual communities can address the issues they deem most
important in the ways that they feel most relevant.
2a.
GOVERNMENT POLICY CHANGES
In the United States, where there is so
much political apathy, the government should listen to youth through
forums and town halls and take them seriously. But also, youth
should realize that there is a space in the political process for
them and they should seize the opportunity.
2b. UN POLICY
CHANGES
As with the US, I think that youth can and should speak
up to make policies more relevant to them. However, the UN should
incorporate youth opinions into their outcome documents, even if the
opinions of youth do not always coincide with their governments’
positions. After all, the UN was created to be a forum for all
peoples everywhere.
3. YOUTH PARTICIPATION
Youth should
be given more responsibility in the actual implementation of
policies. This relates back to the localization of policies and how
they can be more effective if people feel they hold ownership over
the results
4. TRANSPARENCY AND FLOW OF INFORMATION
There
ought to be transparent and easily accessible information systems to
support a culture of peace. Youth in poor countries need access to
IT technology and they should be educated on how to utilize those
technologies to network with other youth around the world. There
needs to be better coordination of the work of various organizations
in order to avoid duplication of effort and structures.
5.
MANAGEMENT OF FUND
There absolutely must be youth involvement in
the management of such a fund. The organizational committee to
set it up should involve youth nominated by youth organizations. It
should be free from political influence or ties to any government
that gives the money. To that end, there should not be stipulations
or requirements associated with donations to the funds.
Applications for funding should follow a template that has
outlined predicted clear results. The process by which applications
are selected for funding should be transparent and open. Perhaps
applications can be posted online with a window for open commentary
from youth around the world, and then a committee can gather the
comments and select the best applications.
6. HOW TO REACH
YOUTH THAT ARE NOT YET INVOLVED
Media outreach must be varied to
include both sides of the digital divide. Tools such as podcasts or
blogs or e-forums may work well. But also, there needs to be
outreach to rural newspapers or even to individual schools for word
to spread.
These are personal views rather than representing
the
organization.
**************************
From:
Sa?a
Hezir hezir@wfuna.org
To:
mail@decade-culture-of-peace.org
Date: Monday, August 7,
2006 8:22:22 AM
Subject: Re: Permission to
quote
Sure, that would be fine if you find something quotable
in my response. Please just indicate that it is my personal response
and is not the stance of WFUNA.
I emailed Kimon and will
follow up again today. Hopefully he will complete the questionnaire
soon.
I also wanted to let you know that I will be leaving my
summer internship at WFUNA on Thursday of this week, so if you need
anything past that date, please feel free to contact me at my
personal email: shezir@gmail.com. That said, I
will still have access to my WFUNA webmail for a bit so I will still
be able to liase between you and WFUNA, if needed.
I hope
the report is going well. Please let me know if there is anything
else I can do to help!
All the best,
Sasa Hezir
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