November 2004
THE FOCUS
The issue’s focus will be on Labour and Employment given the recent completion of the Youth Employment Summit in Mexico, the release of the International Labour Organization report and the upcoming International Young Professionals Summit in Australia.
Next month’s focus will be on HIV/AIDS to coincide with World AIDS Day on December 1st. A significant number of OIYP Action Partners are involved in HIV/AIDS related projects and many have made a clear and measurable impact in HIV/AIDS after leaving the Parliament in Sydney. We would love to hear from you about work you are doing in the HIV/AIDS area: particularly answering what is effective in combating HIV/AIDS, particularly in working with young people? Also tell us about any successes you have had – and particularly, what has changed, who has benefited, how can you tell that things have changed? See December’s Voice to read more about the great work of OIYP Action Partners in this area!
We hope you enjoy this issue.
The OIYP Voice Team
Action Partner News
Toto Lonzano
OIYP 2004 Action Partner, Phillippines
Toto recently met with the NAKAMATA coalition, a tribal council of Manobo indigenous elders, in order to gain their support in the implementation of his action plan. His plan aims to teach indigenous people about video production and internet use. The focus is in Central Mindanao region of the Philippines where most indigenous people belong to the Manobo group and their sub-tribes. Central Mindanao is also a location of armed conflict between Government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
He is currently concerned about the expansion of palm oil plantations in the Philippines and the lack of consultation with the Moro and Indigenous Peoples such as the Manobo, T'boli and B'laan, who will be affected by these expansions. He is involved with research and documentation of this issue.
Toto is willing to provide help in video production, photography and film making and would like help in refining his HTML and web designing skills. He can be reached atbagani2003@yahoo.com.
Leonard Boniface
Devotha Edward and Donnassian Ishenda,
OIYP 2004 Action Partners, Tanzania
Over the past month, the Tanzanian OIYP 2004 delegation have been traveling to ten different regions in their country to talk about OIYP 2004 with young people at schools and universities. Supported by UNICEF Tanzania, Leonard wrote an update to us from MwanzaCity. They have also been consulting with Tanzanian youth to determine the feasibility of a Tanzania Youth Parliament.
Their individual Action Plans and trip have received media attention during their adventure. Leonard was on the Dar Es Salaam station Radio Tumaini on November 1st. Interest is strong in universities and media to learn about the impact OIYP has had in societies. The delegation has been talking about the proceedings in Sydney and the ongoing support provided by OIYP in the form of Action Support and Small Grants. Happy travels!
José Guilén
OIYP 2004 Action Partner, Venezuela
Jose’s Action Plan has provided HIV/AIDS information to 80 professors in 60 high schools of the Merida state in Venezuela. These professors, with Jose’s encouragement, are developing education programs within their schools to sensitize and inform students about the risks and factors leading to HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, the organization he works for, the Wills Wilde Society, has successfully convinced the educational authorities of Merida to designate agents in different high schools to promote HIV/AIDS and sexuality awareness.
Jose has been working for two years with the Wills Wilde Society to include communities in Merida in the design and development of HIV/AIDS programs that are specific to them. He would be very pleased to provide more information and updates on his work, and can be reached at joguillen@cantv.net.
Dorcas Izua
OIYP 2004 Action Partner, Democratic Republic of Congo
Dorcas was accepted as a 2004 OIYP Action Partner, but was unable to attend the sitting in Sydney. She was finally able to travel to Sydney in October, where she was interviewed by OIYP Intern Elodie Haté
As a student of public and international law and a member of theAfrican Association of Women for Research and Development (AAWORD), Dorcas works to inform Congolese youth about their legal and political rights in times of strife and civil war. Through AAWORD, she has also helped lobby the DRC Ministry of Youth to spend less on sports and leisure activities and more on infrastructure investment to benefit Congolese youth. Examples of lobby-points include youth employment initiatives, entrepreneurship encouragement and grant programs for local youth involved in development projects. She has also helped in extensive research work by AAWORD on the present conditions of African women. Dorcas is planning on attending the International Young Professionals Summit in Brisbane at the end of November before returning to the DRC.
Story of the Month
Bessie Maruia wins prestigious United Nations Anti-Poverty Award
Bessie Maruia, OIYP 2004 Action Partner from Papua New Guinea, was one of five young leaders honoured by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with an International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) Award. Bessie has trained 63 counsellors on HIV prevention. The UN presented her award at a ceremony held at their headquarters in New York on October 22nd 2004.
The work of Bessie’s organization is estimated to have reached 75 per cent of Papua New Guinea's population with basic HIV/AIDS prevention information. With more than 800 native languages, and diverse cultural practices, factual information on HIV/AIDS and related issues is difficult to find in PNG. Some challenges she faces includes talking openly about sex and providing a medium to voice the concerns of women on matters related to STD’s.
November Feature: Labour and Employment
A story on November’s theme, Labour and Employment. This month, we feature an article by OIYP 2004 Action Partner Renata Florentino, who was part of the Brazilian delegation to the Youth Employment Summit in Mexico.
The Brazilian delegation to the YES conference in Mexico
According to an International Labor Organization (ILO) study – “Global Youth Employment Trends – 2004” youth represent 47% of the 186 millions of unemployed in world. Other important statistics show us that from 550 million workers that make less than a dollar a day, 130 millions are youth. That is a very important issue for Brazilian youth too. In Brazil, half of our 9 millions unemployed are under 24 years of age.
This is one reason I chose to apply for the Youth Employment Summit 2004in Mexico while I was at the OIYP in Sydney. Another was that I live in Brasilia, our nation’s capital, and want to know all I can to be an effective youth advocate in a political centre. First, I got involved with the YES net in Brazil, keeping in mind the goal of involving government in setting a youth employment agenda. My country is one of the ten leaders of Youth Employment Network- YEN, created by the ILO, World Bank and UN, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. But, as often happens with international commitments, they remain on paper and do not impact people’s lives through implementation.
To change this situation is a central goal of my Action Plan. As the UN Toolkitsays, we have to make commitments matter. By bringing to civil society the power to create and develop its own projects, the chances of a project’s success are dramatically increased. Youth should get therefore get involved with the design and implementation of programs that affect their lives. We cannot just wait for government to solve all issues. We can and we should develop our own solutions to our problems. In the second week of November, youth organizations and other representatives of civil society and international organizations are going to have a meeting with the Brazilian government. This time, I hope there are more than just speeches and action is taken to deal with youth unemployment.
To read about Renata’s experience from the YES Summit, please visit http://updates.takingitglobal.org/read/fiommetta. You can visit the website of Renata’s organization (Grupo Interagir – Brasil) www.protagonismojuvenil.org.br. Renata can be reached at renata@interagir.org.brfor any comments or questions.
OIYP 2004 Action Partners Mony Chenda, Cambodia and HongVu VanDinh, Vietnam are also part of the YES Network. Mony is with YES Cambodia and can be reached at monychenda_im@francophone.net. Vu is with YES Vietnam and can be reached at hongvuvan142@yahoo.com.
Letters to Voice
Uranium Mining in major Indian Tiger Reserve
Dear Voice,
I am writing regarding a very serious environmental issue here in India. UCIL (Indian Uranium Mining Company) and the Atomic Minerals Division (Indian) have completed a secretly held preliminary survey of uranium mining in India's largest Tiger Reserve and largest uninterrupted forest, the Nagarjuna Sagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve (more than 3000 sq. kilometres). They tried to lobby the Andhra Pradesh State Government in 1992-1993, but this failed as the State Government and the state Pollution Control Board rejected permission due to the obvious threats from the project to wildlife and the forest. They were also concerned about the potential for radioactive pollution on the Nagarjuna Sagar Reservoir, one of the largest reservoirs in the world, on the River Krishna. The project also will threaten several tribal hamlets located within the fringes of the reserve.
Now these people have procured the permission directly from the Central government, sidestepping the state Pollution Control Board's objections, and have completed a survey of the land with this permission. At present the situation seems to be slipping from our hands, as there is nothing we can do but lobby with the Andhra Pradesh state forest department, given the Central government is unreachable from here. We do not have any contacts to represent our state at New Delhi. We are trying to file a public interest litigation, but none of us are experienced given this is not the kind of work we do. If the Srisailam Tiger Reserve, one of the world's largest tiger reserves with over 65 tigers is lost, then along with it more than 100,000 hectares of forest cover will be lost immediately, bringing extinction to several endemic species. Please help us save the Srisailam Tiger Reserve as potential scale of destruction makes this very urgent. Kindly reply to me with any comments or help you can provide soon as you can at vikram_aditya_99@yahoo.com. You are also encouraged to send letters addressed toThe Director, Project Tiger, Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, Hyderabad, India
Sincerely,
Vikram Aditya, OIYP Action Partner 2004, India
From Colombia with love
Translated from Spanish:
Dear friends:
Greetings from beautiful Colombia. We have just celebrated the Day of Love and Friendship in my country. I have never given this date much thought, but now since my circle of friends has grown, I think it is important to share this tradition with you. There is a song by Silvio Rodriguez that is called 'At the End of this Trip’. Listen to this song and remember all our beautiful moments together at OIYP, our conversations, our parties, our tears and smiles, because these years, as it says in the song, are lying in the sky, and left are those that can smile radiantly despite death. At the end of the trip is the horizon, at the end of the trip are you and me intact. 'Arriba' my friends and brothers. My wishes from Latin America for a Happy Day of Love and Friendship.
Jesualdo Arzuaga Ramirez
OIYP2004 Action Partner, Colombia
Phillippines National Youth Parliament
Dear Oxfam!
This is Hernando P. Bacosa. I’m 23 years of age, and an alumnus of the 4th National Youth Parliament here in the Philippines. We’ve just successfully held the 5th National Youth Parliament on October 26-29, 2004 in Legazpi City, Philippines.
This event was unlike the past four Parliaments, which were more like a congress of legislators and sometimes spiraled into useless debates and exchanges of words, which ultimately led to resolutions of little use. This Parliament was structured more like a workshop, allowing participants to exchange ideas in little groups. After the Parliament, the delegates have something to bring in their respective localities, an action plan, which they have to implement within two years. It’s really commendable.
I guess the OIYP has inspired this recent Parliament. Thank you for setting an example. I know how OIYP operates based on what I’ve read from your website and what I’ve heard from my friends who attended in Sydney. I hope to see more innovations in the future for our National Youth Parliament.
Long Live OIYP! God Bless, take care and more power!
Very respectfully yours,
Hernando
Patrick Henry Asinero, OIYP 2004 Action Partner, Phillippines,was also in attendance at the 2004 Phillippines National Youth Parliament
ENDNOTE
The world's best reformers are those who begin on themselves.
--George Bernard Shaw
Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say "why not?"
-- Robert F. Kennedy
To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
-- Anonymous
