The White House Opportunities
.: Welcome Marina .: Seeking Environmental Leaders
.: Good-bye Marc .: World Conservation Union (IUCN)
.: Long live Marek! .: UNDP Equator Initiative Prize
.: PCI Weddings .: BBC?s Generation Next
Faith in Europe .: International Student Festival
.: Update .: Youth Employment Summit
BTTC Challenge .: Video Documentary
.: Ambassador Coordinator meeting .: Youth Book
Be the Change! .: Essay Competition
.: Call for Projects! .: Youth links
 
September 2006

Introduction

Peace Child encourages everyone to spread the word about the International Day of Peace that takes place on 21 September.

The International Day of Peace, was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly and was first inaugurated on the third Tuesday of September, 1982. In establishing the International Day of Peace, the United Nations General Assembly decided that it would be appropriate "to devote a specific time to concentrate the efforts of the United Nations and its Member States, as well as of the whole of mankind, to promoting the ideals of peace and to giving positive evidence of their commitment to peace in all viable ways? (The International Day of Peace) should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.?

Join the worldwide movement to create a Global ceasefire and a day of peace and non-violence. For more information on Peace Day, and on where and how it is being celebrated, visit:

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The White House
Hello again, Marina Mansilla Hermann
Marina is back at the White House for the umpteenth time, taking a pause from her globe-trotting life! (Rosey ran into her three times last year on three different continents - in India at the Tunza Meeting, in Scotland for the World Youth Congress, and in Montreal where she was at the Climate Change Conference!) She is possibly the longest serving Peace Child youth activist ever ? having been with us for 11 years, starting at age 12 in Argentina when she picked up a copy of Rescue Mission : Planet Earth in a supermarket. As well as coordinating the 25th Anniversary celebration in London, Marina is here to clean up all aspects of Peace Child?s
administration ? from the methods of licensing Field Offices and other partner organisations, to our filing systems, our book store, alumni and project lists + to set up a digital hub office to keep all our records in a central database. It?s exhausting having her here! ? a bit like having one of those cartoon characters who rocket round the house, kicking up clouds of dust, re-organising everything. Good for us ? and essential if Peace Child is to become more organised in its next 25 years. Thank you Marina ? we shall savour every minute that you are with us, before you head back to your job at Ashoka in December.
So long Marc Ludwig
This week, we say goodbye to Marc Ludwig, media officer for the last four months ? and a principle coordinator in the Faith in Europe project. Marc has just delivered his report on his whistle-stop Eurorail-pass tour of Germany: 21 meetings in 16 days + 250 filled out questionnaires and 77 e-mails collected for individual young Germans ready to help with the project. An excellent result,
Marc! Congratulations: you have set the standard by which other member state collaboration will be judged. He leaves us for the Sevastopol, St Petersburg and Bonn ending up with Ashoka in Frankfurt where he will be making films about their youth work. Thank you Marc! We will keep in touch.
Long live Marek
For the second summer in succession, Peace Child International ? and the young women of Buntingford ? have been the beneficiary of a visit by a young body-builder from the Czech Republic, Marek Vaculik. Brother of Jiri Vaculik, the architect who designed and built the White House Stables Block when he was just 19, Marek has come over to improve his English ? and carry out running repairs on his brother?s brilliant design. He has also been
touching up the outside of the White House ? stripped to the waist in the summer heat, like Rick and Jolion who did it last time in the year 2000 ? and like them, causing tongues to wag the length of Buntingford High Street. He has also replaced the Kitchen and bathroom floors, repainted several rooms ? and generally been a fantastic asset to the White House. Thank You ? Marek!!
Peace Child Weddings
It has been suggested that Peace Child should start a new line in arranging international weddings. 3 former Peace Child interns got married over the summer. We wish them every happiness. Jagan Deveraj (director of Peace Child India) married Maeve Wadge (UK), who was an intern at Peace Child India, on Sunday 20th August.
Alison Staat-Niederehe (USA) married Nagy Szabolcs Hungary on Saturday 8th July. They met through United Games in Hungary.Our last editor, Erin Seiff (USA) married an Englishman who she met over the Atlantic on her way over to work at Peace Child.

Faith in Europe
Update

Marc has recently returned from his two-week Germany trip where he established many links with German and international NGOs and youth groups.

We would like to acknowledge and thank the hard work and contributions of Felicity, Emma, Yuriko and Marc to the Faith in Europe project. We now have over 600 UK completed questionnaires.

Due to feedback from our key partners and also from other interested parties, we have decided to expand the scope of the project to focus on European identity which is a topic that many NGOs and youth organisations are interested in. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be updating our website () and will encourage people to give us online feedback.



BTTC Challenge
Ambassador Coordinator meeting

On Wednesday 23rd August we held a one day meeting for Ambassador coordinators to discuss how to improve the Ambassador Pack and expand the Ambassador programme.

We had coordinators from Cornwall, Worcestershire, London, Yorkshire as well as two recently trained Ambassadors from Buntingford who all shared their experiences with us. We hope to have the new pack which

will be aimed at Ambassadors, Coordinators, Teachers on line at the end of September.

We are currently working with Francisco and his team in Equador to create a young and very user-friendly homepage for the Be the Change! Challenge where everyone worldwide will be able to sign up to do their very own Lifestyle Contract and much much more!

 
Be The Change
BTC! Call for Projects

Be the Change! Programme
Small Scale grants for Youth-led Projects
01th september until 31th october

Peace Child International has created the "Be the Change!" Programme (BTC!) to support young people to get involved in local community action and development projects. Peace Child encourages young people to BE THE CHANGE they want to see in their communities and to make it possible we created a small scale grant programme for youth-led projects.

If you are under 25 years old and have a project that concentrates on the development of your community at a local level, take a look at the requirements for the grant programme and submit your proposal to Peace Child International.

The Be the Change! desk officers will guide and advise you to identify your local issues, priorities and problems and also help you present solutions.

AFRICA:
ASIA:
EUROPE:
LATIN AMERICA:
NORTH AMERICA:
SMALL ISLAND STATES:
UNITED KINGDOM:


Opportunities
UNEP is Seeking Environmental Leaders
UNEP is looking for dynamic, creative, forward looking, dedicated and results-oriented senior managers and environmental experts with outstanding leadership qualities, a track record of succeeding in a multi-cultural environment, the capacity to bring together and respond to governments, civil society, the private sector and other partners in creating opportunities and solutions for sustainable development.
This is happening at a moment in time when the United Nations is undergoing reform and when global environmental governance is being redefined. A significant number of UNEP positions at all levels are currently open for application. For employment opportunities and how to join UNEP visit www.jobs.un.org or
   
World Conservation Union (IUCN)
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) is pleased to announce an e-discussion forum entitled "The Future of sustainability: Have Your Say!" which will take place between August 21st and September 15th 2006 which is open to the public as well as IUCN
networks. Please distribute this through your networks and have your say! For more information on the Discussion Forum and on how to participate please visit:
   
UNDP Equator Initiative Prize
Awarded biennially, the Equator Prize recognizes five community-based projects that demonstrate extraordinary achievement in reducing poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the equatorial belt. Prize winners receive international recognition for their work and an opportunity to help shape international policy and practice in the field, as well as a monetary award of US$30,000 each. Adding to the excitement of this year's Equator Prize,
one 2006 finalist will be selected to receive a renowned Rare Pride Campaign, supported by the new Equator Initiative partner Rare. Details on the criteria for the Equator Prize, information on the award process, and the online nomination system can be accessed through the Equator Initiative website:
The nomination process will be open through October 31, 2006; the Equator Prize will be awarded in early 2007.
   
BBC?s Generation Next
The BBC is planning a special week of programmes to run in December dedicated to understanding and exploring the world through the eyes of the next generation. If you are under 18 we want to hear from you.
What do you think are the most important world issues today? What do you think about most? What has the biggest impact on your life?
Tell us about your real experiences and how they affect you. If you've got pictures and audio, we'd like to see and hear that too. As well as publishing a selection of your stories online, with your help, we'll turn the best ones into programmes and online specials for the Generation Next season. For more information:
   
Norwegian International Student Festival
ISFiT in Trondheim will be held on 16 - 25 FEB 2007. The topics are about Globalization. Students from around the world will present their work. The main goal of this event is to break cultural and religious barriers, and
promote tolerance and international understanding. For further information please visit http://www.isfit.org E-mail: question@isfit.org. Phone: +47 73595268.
   
YES Network Global Summit - Youth Employment Summit
The YES network's 3rd global summit will be held this September 13-16 in Nairobi, Kenya. The theme of this year's summit is 'creating markets unleashing entrepreneurship.' Sessions will discuss issues including building trade capacity, attracting foreign investment, and grassroots techniques, in addition to
capacity building workshops. The YES network expects over 2000 delegates from 120 countries to attend. The YEN Secretariat is leading workshops and Core Partners, the ILO and the World Bank, also plan to attend.
For more information:
   
Video Documentary
YAKA International is calling for help in their video documentary called "Head in the Stars, Feet on the Ground,? on youth action for a sustainable development.
They are looking for a young person between 15 and 30 years old, who is doing or has done a concrete micro project and was the main leader or initiator of the project (even if
an adult/mentor helped). This young person needs to be willing to share his or her life and energy to inspire other youth.
YAKA is also looking for musicians and key partners in the countries of these young activists. For more information, or if you know anyone who may fulfil this criteria, please email
   
Youth Book
"Youth Activism, Engagement and Participation, Good Practices & Essential Strategies for Impact" There are more than 60 case studies focusing on events, music activities, advertising to youth, websites, setting up youth advisory councils, and much more. The case studies are surrounded by tips and tactics from world experts in this field, as well as links to toolkits and further
resources. While it was specifically written for Amnesty national offices, many organisations interested in better engaging youth will probably find it useful! For more information visit:
If you have any feedback, send it to or, Amnesty International at
   
Essay Competition
ADB today called on the young voices of Asia to participate in an essay competition on the topic, ?Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific.? The competition, organized by ADB and ROAD, a network of Japanese university students concerned about development issues, is part of an event that will precede ADB?s 40th Annual Meeting, to be held in Kyoto, Japan, in May 2007. The competition provides an opportunity to publicize the vision of today?s youth for the future world in which they will live, work, and govern. English-language essays of up to
2,000 words are invited from university students aged 18-29 years who are citizens of ADB?s developing member countries, as well as Japanese students at Japanese universities. Essays must be submitted online. Those without access to the Internet can submit their essays to the nearest ADB field office. Deadline for entries is 31 October 2006. For more information:
   
Youth links

   

Peace Child International
The White House, 46 High Street
Buntingford, Herts, SG9 9AH
United Kingdom