Romeo Does Not Have to Die!

On April 3^rd, Jet Li, an international film star and a martial arts expert, was appointed to be World Health Organization's Goodwill Ambassador. After experiencing the 2004 South Asian tsunami firsthand, Jet Li became actively involved in disaster relief efforts as well as promotion of mental health amongst youth. He set up the Jet Li One Foundation, which collaborates with the Red Cross Society of China in focusing on education, health, environment, and poverty. In honoring his effort as well as encouraging his future involvement, the World Health Organization chose Jet Li to be the spokesperson for raising awareness on key health issues. The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that directs and coordinates support on international public health issues.

Before Li’s appointment, many other celebrities have led the efforts of United Nations, such as George Clooney as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, Drew Barrymore as the Ambassador Against Hunger for the World Food Program, and Angelina Jolie as the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

Better Opportunities in Moldova

Can you imagine living in a country where you are not given the same access to opportunities as your friends? After gaining its independence, Moldova suffered a decline in its economy and many of its citizens were displaced and without jobs. Moldovan orphans, children without families, single mothers and expectant mothers are among the beneficiaries of a new UNDP program entitled, “Better Opportunities for Women and Youth,” that will provide psychological and social services, life skills classes, and job-preparation coaching.

By educating Moldova's underprivileged youth and women, the country hopes to improve its economy by providing more citizens the opportunity to participate. After completing classes and job-preparation coaching, adults will be able to apply for jobs in seven newly created partnerships with private businesses. By having the incentive to receive higher education and effectively change their futures, underprivileged youth be rewarded with job opportunities upon the completion of their programs.

To find out more about the "Better Opportunities for Women and Youth" in Moldova, click here

INtegrating the OUTcasts

Were you a member of a clique in high school? Whether you were a member of the chess club, a cheerleader, a Mathlete, or MVP of the football team, it was societally acceptable for you to receive an integrated and equal education. However, young people living with HIV have experienced discrimination by society due to the lack of public education about the disease. From 2001-2007 the prevalence of HIV in Eastern Europe has increased 140 percent. People are so afraid of the social effects of being HIV positive that many have neglected to seek medical help for their condition. According to a recent survey regarding the education of HIV positive children, many citizens living in the Ukraine and Russia believe that it “would be better to create a boarding school for them, so that they could be educated separately.”

To combat the negative stigma that is associated with HIV, UNDP has launched a campaign in Eastern Europe to help promote public education about the condition and to integrate historically marginalized populations into society regardless of their status as a HIV-positive individual. Providing equal education, access to jobs, and health care are the main goals of the UNDP's work in Eastern Europe.

For more information, click here

A 'Swish' Heard around the World

He dribbles, he shoots, he scores!

With that swish of the net, the Bulls forward Luol Deng gets the crowd cheering, and gets Sudanese kids on their feet as well. Luol donates $50 for every basket he scores to Ninemillion, a campaign created two years ago by the UNHCR, with Nike and Microsoft as invaluable team members. It hopes to give over nine million children, many in South Sudan, better access to education, sports and technology by 2010. Not only does the campaign strive to secure donations, but it wishes to give a voice to the refugee children and to inspire people of every nation with their undying courage and limitless strength.

Team up with Luol and the UNHCR in guaranteeing a brighter future for refugee children and in inspiring a new generation alive with their own hoop dreams!


JOIN OUR TEAM!

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Who you gonna call? Not Ghostbusters...THE UN!

Imagine being a child traveling in a foreign country and walking down the street with your family. All of a sudden there is an explosion and you get separated from your parents. You learned in school what to do in an emergency: Call 911! Suddenly you realize that 911 doesn’t work, you can’t find you parents, and there is nobody to help you.

So what can you do as a trapped, lost, or injured child in a foreign country? Thankfully, the UN has your back! The UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has asked countries throughout the world to link to a global child helpline. The UN has proposed the helpline number to be 116 111, which is already being used in European countries such as the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Portugal and Sweden. Child Helpline International’s (CHI) data shows that more than 10.5 million calls are made to child helplines every year for counseling and emergency intervention. In today’s globalized world, a universal child helpline will greatly benefit the well-being of children everywhere. Next time you are a child in an emergency, all you have to do is call 116 111 and help will be on the way!

For further information

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Art in Action

The power of expression was celebrated as over 12,000 children across the globe created priceless pieces of art. After the United Nations Postal Association (UNPA) declared an art competition with the theme “we can end poverty,” children from about 130 nations participated in the International Children’s Art Competition. The competition was held in honor of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The winners of the competition were granted the honor of designing stamps that will circulate internationally. The UNPA will use 5 stamp designs created by young winning artists from Armenia, China, Indonesia and Zimbabwe to represent the poverty eradication theme.

See the joyous pieces of art and visit the gallery where the pieces are displayed in a slide show.

To learn more about how are can be used as activism on behalf of the United Nations, contact UNDP-USA.

Games for Good

Kids don’t just play games, they benefit from them.

In efforts to raise money for the United Nations Children's Fund, you can play a couple of online games that educate and fundraise for UNICEF. The game's website promotes an advocacy group that works on behalf of UNIFEF, U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Through partnership, UNICEF and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF provide entertainment, opportunities for volunteers, fundraising outlets, and educational tools that function on behalf of children around the world.

The online games allow players help others via different missions related to promoting education, nutrition, clean water standards, better health practices, and sound responses to emergency situations. Players can challenge their friends and compete to see who is more successful in completing missions similar to the missions conducted by UNICEF in real life.

Check out UNICEF’s games and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Support children around the world. Learn about UNICEF. Play games for good!

Kids: THINK and then write about tolerance

Did you know that there is a UN agency that helps the mail you send from one country get to its destination in another?

The Universal Postal Union (UPU) is committed to promoting communication among people by helping national postal services be better at delivering the mail AND creating mechanisms for the free flow of international mail.

Each year the UPU sponsors a letter writting contest for children around the world. The idea is to get children to think about an imporant issue facing our world and practice their writen communication skills. This year the contest asks children to write a letter explaining why the world needs tolerance.

Check out the contest website!

Email the US Postal Service to encourage them to participate (or if they do, to say so somewhere on their website)

Youth: Lots of them, lots of opportunity

There are 1.2 billion people who are between 15 and 24. That's a lot!

To take a look at the major issues, opportunities, and challenges facing these young people, on Tuesday the United Nations released The UN World Youth Report 2007.

In addition to talking about youth as a postivie force for dealing with world problems, it identifies 15 priority areas inlcuding employment, education, health, poverty and violence.

Check it out at http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/wyr07.htm.

Innocent Victims

Yesterday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) marked the first-every Global Day of Action Cluster Munitions, urging governments to create a legally binding international agreement banning deadly arms that pose a great threat to civilians, especially children. The agency explained that children were especially susceptible to these weapons because of their natural curiosity and desire to play. Cluster munitions often look like balls or canisters, while others are brightly colored, making them even more attractive to children.

One third of cluster munitions casualties in Afghanistan were children, while during the Kosovo war, more children were hurt by cluster munitions than by anti-personnel landmines. Tragically, children continue to fall victim to cluster munitions years or even decades after the end of a conflict in countries such as Bosnia, Cambodia, Iraq, Laos, Serbia and Vietnam.

Children who survive cluster munitions blasts are often permanently disabled or suffer from sight or hearing loss. In countries where cluster munitions are most prevalent, most parents rarely have the ability to afford both medical and school bills, thus causing great hardship for the entire family. “Too many tragic stories show that cluster munitions cannot be used in populated areas without jeopardizing a child's right to life, to health, to play and to a safe environment,” the agency said in a press release.

A Partnership for Empowerment and Awareness

The discrimination that children with intellectual disabilities face often means that they are less likely to have adequate healthcare and education, and more likely to encounter violence, abuse, and exploitation. UNICEF and Special Olympics International are now collaborating to reconcile these inequalities.

On October 3, 2007, they launched a partnership focusing on healthcare, education, recreational sports, and employment policies for children with intellectual disabilities. It coincides with the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai. While in the Chinese city, UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman stated, “This new partnership will help make the point that children with disabilities have the same rights as all other children. They are entitled to adequate health care and quality education, and to live in an environment that protects them from abuse, exploitation and disease.”

The partnership will initially concentrate on Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, El Salvador, Jamaica, Panama, and Uzbekistan, before expanding to more countries in 2008. Focusing on developing countries is especially important as children with intellectual disabilities in these countries run an even higher risk of being overlooked or mistreated.

Speaking about the partnership, Special Olympics International Chairman Timothy P. Shriver explained, “We are thrilled to partner with UNICEF to empower children with intellectual disabilities and their families and to increase public awareness about critical issues facing this population in the developing world.”

Education. Empowerment. Equality. Three words a developing country loves to hear.

Let Children Run the Country

Who says children shouldn't take the law into their own hands? In fact, with their openness to different points of view and eagerness to help people who suffer, they almost seem perfect for this job.

A group of 150 children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) feel the same way, and with the help of the UN they set up a Children's Parliament to deal with any and all grievances brought forward by young Congolese people.

With no officers over the age of 17, the Parliament bases its advice to its clients on Congolese law and the UN's Convention of the Rights of the Child. The body deals with a surprising number of cases - 105 since January - ranging from neglected children to women who feel their husbands provide inadequate support for schooling and general care. According to Vice President Arthur Omar Kayumba, the Parliament has a growing sense of legitimacy, even amongst authorities such as the special police.

In 2002, UNICEF held a Special Session on Children, which capitalized on the fact that it is often a country's youth that can best identify problems, priorities and sometimes even solutions to challenges they collectively face. In the DRC, youth-centered decision making has proven to be an effective way of bypassing one of the country's most significant problems: corruption.

Sometimes, you've got to let kids have their way.

Youth Unite!

Few organizations have the power to unite people across the world in celebration of a common cause. The UN did just that on August 12 for International Youth Day, established 8 years ago to enable young people to become as politically and socially involved as possible in pressing global issues.

If you want to get involved

Youth organizations have a very refreshing take on how to take action on the Millennium Development Goals. I particularly recommend UNICEF's Voices of Youth for ideas and practical advice on where to begin on the road to advocacy.

Another great resource is TakingITGlobal, an interactive online community that connects you to others with similar interests and ideas. Create a profile and start sharing information today!

Governance From A Young Age

It is challenging to think of long-term issues such as education about democracy in post-conflict countries, but someone has to do it. Democratic governance is one of the five key areas which UNDP focuses on as part of its multilateral approach to development, and the youth of Afghanistan have demonstrated intelligent and passionate interest in contributing to this cause.

UNDP has recently worked closely with Support for Establishing an Afghan Legislature (SEAL) and the Ministry of Education in organizing an Afghan Youth Training Assembly, held in June. This conference brought together students from 80 schools to discuss broader issues of governance as well as specific problems facing the country, like the lack of materials in public schools.

The best ideas about representation and participation can often come from a country's uncynical and much more optimistic youth, and this is why it is extremely important to give this group a voice.

See here for more information on UNDP's work in Afghanistan.

Young, but Business Savvy - Microcredit in Turkey

Recently, UNDP has created a revolutionary micro credit program for Turkey’s youth, in partnership with the Turkish Economic Bank (TEB) and the Young Managers and Businessmen’s Association (GYİAD). The program, which will help around 500 18-35 year olds create new businesses, takes a multifaceted approach to business entrepreneurship by providing not only initial funding but also business education, vocational training, and consulting services to new companies.

The president of GYİAD, Pınar Eczacıbaşı, thanked UNDP for its efforts:

I believe that we are cooperating with the best partners in this field both in Turkey and on an international level and that we are creating a major opening for Turkey’s young population. I believe that the Micro Credit Project that was initiated in order to encourage the youth into production and entrepreneurship will be successful.

This project continues the microfinance theme, which was established in 2005 with the UN's International Year of Microcredit. UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis pledged support for Turkey's push for youth entrepreneurship, an innovative project that will provide new opportunities for young professionals to participate in the economy.

Water - A Youth Perspective

Each year UNDP's flagship Human Development Report takes a hard hitting look at a major issue effecting human development. This past year the report looked at the many challenges associated with water - from access to clean water to its use in farming to dealing with water sources that cross multiple states.

UNDP and Peace Child Int'l have just come out with Water Rights and Wrongs. This short report gives kids from around the world the opportunity to share their perspectives - with photos, poems, and stories - on the issues in the report. It's only 32 pages (with lots of photos) but I highly recommend it.

You can download a pdf or read it online