Global News

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Young General Assembly Session in Malawi July-August 2005 Announcing THE SIXTH ANNUAL YOUNG GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION   Friday, July 29, (arrival day) through Sunday, August 7, (departure day) 2005  at the Post Office Training Centre in Blantyre, Malawi Hosted by Sue-Williams Education and Development Foundation and the African Network for the Protection and Prevention Against Child Abuse and Neglect     This exciting global gathering of young leaders offers delegates a balance of productive time in working committees and time to relax and enjoy new friendships with like-minded young people from all over the world. It is set in beautiful Malawi in eastern Africa. The schedule contains stimulating working days, fun filled nights, and the opportunity to experience the rich culture of Malawi and the other cultures of the attending delegates during evening cultural sharings    The meeting will focus on how young people can stop all forms of violence against children and youth and have the following outcomes: 1.       a statement for the 60th United Nations General Assembly Session 10-year Review of the World Programme of Action for Youth that will be presented at the UN by a delegate from the Blantyre session; 2.        Participants will also create a booklet of practical, low cost project plans that young people can do to free their communities and the world of abuse and violence against children and youth and which will help to achieve the United Nations goals in the articles concerning abuse in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, A World Fit for Children targets against abuse and Millennium Development Goals concerning the elimination of abuse. Discussions will result in a Young People’s Declaration Against Abuse; and 3.       the annual business of the Young General Assembly will be conducted so that the organization involving more than 2 and ½ million young people worldwide can operate more effectively in the future.   Peaceways-Young General Assembly (Young GA) was created, developed and is run mainly by people under the age of 18. It serves as a respected voice for people under 18 in international affairs and unites the world’s young people in responsible action through its project plans and activities that bring United Nations goals to life in local communities. The fourteen-year old international organization holds consultative status with ECOSOC and UNICEF and NGO status with UN DPI. It has also been endorsed by UNESCO.   Sue-Williams Education and Development Foundation was established in 2002 in Blantyre, Malawi. Ken Williams Mhango is its Executive Director. The Foundation offers training and development programmes, provides scholarships for needy children and orphans and promotes HIV/AIDS education and child rights.  The African Network for the Protection and Prevention Against Child Abuse and Neglect is a sister organization in Blantyre focusing on eliminating all forms of child abuse.    REGISTRATION    Because there is only room for only 60 international delegates, early registration is advised. Each delegate must register beforehand. People under the age of 18 will be given preference and will have the opportunity to become Young General Assembly Ambassadors. Registration for the Malawi Session closes June 30, 2005. Participants are responsible for their own transportation costs to and from Chileka Airport in Blantyre. The Conference Fee of US covers transportation between Chileka Airport and the conference venue, sleeping quarters for 8 nights, meals, and educational materials.    REGISTER BEFORE JUNE 30, 2005 with: Peaceways-Young General Assembly Secretariat, 1950 Sunset Drive, Reedsburg, Wisconsin 53959 USA, Tel/Fax: +1.608.524.4608,    peaceways@igc.org
Poverty, war and HIV/AIDS threaten half the world’s children NEW YORK/LONDON, 9 December 2004 - UNICEF’s Executive Director Carol Bellamy officially released UNICEF’s flagship report, The State of the World’s Children 2005, at the London School of Economics.  This year the focus is on the triple threat to childhood which is posed by poverty, war and HIV/AIDS.  Backed by in-depth statistics on children around the globe, the report says that more than 1 billion children are denied the healthy and safe upbringing promised by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989 and ratified by nearly all governments around the world. The report stresses that the failure by governments to live up to the Convention’s standards causes permanent damage to children and blocks progress toward human rights and economic advancement. Too many governments are making informed, deliberate choices that actually hurt childhood,” Bellamy said.  “Poverty doesn’t come from nowhere; war doesn’t emerge from nothing; AIDS doesn’t spread by choice of its own.  These are our choices.” Bellamy was accompanied at the launch by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Vanessa Redgrave, Professor Peter Townsend of the London School of Economics, and 18-year-old Temidayo Israel-Abdulai, a youth activist from Nigeria. Working with researchers at the London School of Economics and Bristol University, UNICEF concluded that more than half the children in the developing world are severely deprived of one or more of the goods and services essential to childhood: 640 million children do not have adequate shelter 500 million children have no access to sanitation 400 million children do not have access to safe water 300 million children lack access to information (TV, radio or newspapers) 270 million children have no access to health care services 140 million children, the majority of them girls, have never been to school 90 million children are severely food deprived “The quality of a child’s life depends on decisions made every day in households, communities and in the halls of government,” Bellamy said. “We must make these choices wisely, and with children’s best interests in mind.  If we fail to secure childhood, we will fail to reach our larger global goals for human rights and economic development.  As children go, so go nations.  It’s that simple.” View @ http://www.unicef.org/sowc05launch/index_24461.html