Thanks to everyone who joined today's live chat in honor of United Nations Day! A special thank you to our speakers, Dara Parker of Handprint Adventures, Sarah Ansel and Cristina Gallegos of UNICEF, and Jessica Rimington of One World Youth Project, as well as TIG staff members Laura Kenyon, who moderated the panel, and Kimia Ghomeshi, who facilitated the text summaries provided in the transcript below! If you didn't make it to today's event, we hope you can join us in the future - this will be a monthly feature! Our next live chat is scheduled for the end of November in coordination with World AIDS Day on December 1. minime-kg: hi everyone!! byefap: We are waiting it doesn't matter minime-kg: This is Kimia with TakingITGlobal minime-kg: thanks for joining us today - we'll get started in just a few minutes byefap: Now I wrote this message from fort erie nallison36: cool i'm from St. Catharines byefap: Have you youth project in St Catharines jelona: hi everyone mcole: hello mcole: this is my first day on tiged. nallison36: i live in ottawa now, but i was invoved in the NCDSB Student Senate and a bunh of different thinks back in Niagara mcole: am I in the right spot for "United Nations Day"? jelona: quelqu'un parle français? byefap: oui bièn sur emilyjk: yes, you are - welcome, mcole! copudo: hello mcole before i introduce myself welcome to TIG you will never regret joining mcole: thank you! geogias: Hello. Am George from Kenya, and happy to be here copudo: am christabell from Kenya jelona: ok ca va mnopq: Hey everyone mcole: I will have a 7th grade geography class coming in in a moment mcole: I am from Pennsylvania, US mfurdyk: welcome mcole :) byefap: George how is kenya right now minime-kg: yay! Dara - we can see you! byefap: je me sens mieux en français et j'etudie l'anglais comme ma deuxieme langue jelona: My name is Jaona. I'm 23. I'm from Madagascar lsteine: i can see everyone but can't hear any thing? copudo: wat the official language am kinda lost mnopq: aura! if you are saying something to everyone can you also please write it (I dont have speakers)! Thanks! copudo: am not connected on head phones but i can read tks pls write all down minime-kg: Laura is currently introducing all the speakers minime-kg: Dara ParkerFounder, Handprint Adventures minime-kg: Jessica RimingtonExecutive Director, One World Youth Project minime-kg: Sarah Ansel,Assistant Project Officer, Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP) Unit, UNICEF-HQ geogias: Kenya is great. I can here and see guys talk, how do I go about it mnopq: minime-kg> Thanks! copudo: yeah pls let us know minime-kg: Sarah is talking about child participation - her colleague is the coordinator of voice for youth minime-kg: at UNICEF minime-kg: She is introducing a few projects minime-kg: What is partticipation? minime-kg: children have the right to be listened to minime-kg: access to information minime-kg: all measures should be put in place to facilitate their participation minime-kg: and enhace their involvement mcole: where is Sarah located right now? minime-kg: participation is important so that youth are part of organizational decision making minime-kg: children are beneficiaries and must be viewed this way geogias: I believe that participation is important in any life of a child so that it build their confidence as they grow up minime-kg: a means for childrena and youth to be actively involved in their communities and responsibile citizens minime-kg: this is what UNICEF understands as child participation minime-kg: now Christina from voices of youth will speak mcole: how can I help from Pennsylvania as a 7th grader? minime-kg: voices of youth website is in 4 languages minime-kg: eng, french, spanish, and arabic GODONOU: hi everybody minime-kg: want to bring all voices from 180 countries into one discussion minime-kg: 60% participation is girls minime-kg: takingITGlobal is one of their biggest partners minime-kg: for war and conflict progams geogias: connection is poor this side. I cannot hear you speak slansel: http://www.unicef.org/voy/ GODONOU: i'm from republic of Benin, West Africa emilyjk: minime-kg is giving a summary of the audio for those who cannot hear copudo: hi GODONOU minime-kg: there is a questionnaire about the convention of the rights of the child murpheus24: There is a lot of echo minime-kg: to learn about your rigihts GODONOU: hi copudo how a re you copudo: great copudo: am so unlucky nospeaker and the way i waited for this minime-kg: voices for youth is a huge network minime-kg: with many youth projects minime-kg: and youth actively participate in most of them minime-kg: other projects at UNICEF - launched a youth report recently - Will you Listen emilyjk: http://petitions.takingitglobal.org/machel slansel: http://www.unicef.org/voy/takeaction/takeaction_3955.html minime-kg: 10 year strategic review for UNICEF - chidren and youth in 92 countries geogias: Hi Mcole, you can help together with other students in your school, highlight on the issues that affects the children around the world, especially those from developing countries minime-kg: all participants involved in making recommendations minime-kg: online surveys, focus groups minime-kg: 125 focus groups, over 1000 participants minime-kg: all currently affected by arms conflict minime-kg: majority of them were from developing countries minime-kg: Will You Listen - Young voices from Conflict - is the title of the report minime-kg: she strongly encourages you to read it - available in english, french, spanish and arabic murpheus24: Where can we get the hard copy of the reports murpheus24: ? koolsenator: Hello everyone...Francis from Nigeria...I just joined the chat. minime-kg: first handn account of how young people experience violene, sexual violence, malnutriion, education slansel: http://www.unicef.org/voy/takeaction/takeaction_3954.html minime-kg: many solutions are outlines in the report - recommendations made by the partcipants GODONOU: welcom Francis how are you doing? minime-kg: many youth want more opportunities for training minime-kg: they say that war is no reason to vilate our rights minime-kg: 2 - they want justice minime-kg: 3 - they want safe spaces in wars GODONOU: this chat is very interesting and the spaekers are also good stephenk: Hullo all,Good to be here mcole: what are the most dengerous countries for children to live in? minime-kg: 4 - they want to PARTICIPATE and help other children in their communities koolsenator: I am fine Godonou copudo: am now connected quite ok now copudo: sorry minime-kg: the last project that she will now speak about is... Juniour 8 Summit minime-kg: during the G8 summit minime-kg: offical part of the agenda minime-kg: for G8 meet with Juniour 8 minime-kg: talking about the same topics as the G8 minime-kg: prior to the G8 last year they had a children's forum minime-kg: where they come up for recommendations for the G8 leaders minime-kg: last year in Germany 0 they had 74 children from the G8 invovled geogias: sorry, my comp had a problem, now am back, though I canot hear you speak byefap: I hear no sounds from the Staff video slansel: http://www.unicef.org/voy/takeaction/takeaction_3675.html byefap: now is ok minime-kg: she encourages us to ACT NOW on issues that affect us minime-kg: You can ask questions for Sara and Christina after the other speakers have a chance to talk slansel: join Voices of Youth and make a difference minime-kg: Now Dara Parker will speak about youth in una-canada minime-kg: she spent the last 11/2 years working for UNA-cANADA minime-kg: UNA-Canada is a NGO based in Ottawa - the capital of Canada minime-kg: United Nations Association - Canada minime-kg: most member states of UN have a UNA slansel: http://www.unicef.org/voy/index.php minime-kg: Canada's is very active minime-kg: and engage youth very well minime-kg: the UNAs are not funded by UN minime-kg: mandate is to involved the public in their activities minime-kg: main office for Canada is in Ottawa - there are 15-25 staffmembers minime-kg: there are also 15 volunteer branches minime-kg: across Canada minime-kg: from east to west minime-kg: there are different ways to get involved minime-kg: overview of the projects are... first was Sport in a Box minime-kg: engage children 9-12 in development issues using sport minime-kg: active in 20 regions across cAnada minime-kg: went thourhg series of games to learn about the Millienniun Development Goals stephenk: Sorry some of us have slow connections.I am only following on with the text. minime-kg: they created a box to embody images of sport in their society copudo: hie Steve minime-kg: ie. music to their favourite song copudo: dont worry i will feel u in stephenk: Hi Cristabell minime-kg: all boxes were engaged with another particiant minime-kg: sorry - exchanged boxes minime-kg: Then for the older audience - an HIV/AIDS project minime-kg: series of 9 action teams across cAndaa minime-kg: workshops to develop a canadian youth declaration to be presented at the AIDS conference in Toronto 2006 minime-kg: from this they developed a HIV/AIDS guide minime-kg: this is one their site minime-kg: 3 - Youth of Today, City of tomorrow minime-kg: learning about sustainable activities minime-kg: looking at human settlement issues minime-kg: Model UNs are a great way to get involved as well minime-kg: youth participate through their schools minime-kg: as a delegation from their school - doing a mock united nations minime-kg: over the course of 3 or 4 days minime-kg: each school represents a different country minime-kg: this takes place in Ottawa minime-kg: they pass resolutions at the end minime-kg: great way to learn how the united nations work minime-kg: Sense of Belonging - diversity and ant-racism minime-kg: in 9 countries i think minime-kg: promote youth getting involved in civic engagement minime-kg: priorities were defined by the youth whow ere invovled minime-kg: involved minime-kg: UNA-Canada is not officially a youth organization minime-kg: but many of their projects are youth0focused minime-kg: the average age of the staff are in their 20s minime-kg: one of the progressive things is that they have a board with a permanent youth spot minime-kg: the youth member does a great job of representing the youth voice minime-kg: how can you get involved? in Canada, there are 15 volunteer branches minime-kg: contact the one closest to you! minime-kg: learn more about our projects through the site minime-kg: if you have your own ideas, please contact us minime-kg: for more on Millenniun Develpment Goals: http://www.takingitglobal.org/themes/mdg/ koolsenator: Hello I guess my connection has been reestablished minime-kg: now jessicca from one world youth will be speaking slansel: we can ear minime-kg: In Columbia, there are provided with IT resources minime-kg: and information on the millennium development goals in the context of their local community minime-kg: but we know that Talking is not enough minime-kg: so we pair schools together minime-kg: fro around the world minime-kg: to design and implement a collborative community project OneWorldYouthProject: www.oneworldyouthproject.org minime-kg: it is collaborate, but not charity based minime-kg: 48 schools in 20 countries minime-kg: including africa, asia, norther america, and expanding in south america minime-kg: 26 young people, from 16 to 26 years minime-kg: it is volunteer-based minime-kg: how can you get inovlved? minime-kg: if you are interseted in becoming a volunteer (project ambassador) minime-kg: we accept applications on a rolling b ases minime-kg: 3-5 new staff every year minime-kg: schools can become involved as well minime-kg: we accept applications up to May minime-kg: we are excited because we see this movement growing of youth people involved in the millenniun development goals minime-kg: no matter how isolated they feel - they want to be a prt of the movement minime-kg: Now time for questions!! minime-kg: do you have any questions for one of the speakers? matthewsplace: We are getting a lot of echo feedback when you speak Laura - matthewsplace: one of the others must have their mic to close to their speakers koolsenator: Mine is not actually a question but...a commendation for Jessica on her work with One World Youth Project..I cordinate a sister pair here in Lagos, Nigeria minime-kg: Mcole had asked a question - minime-kg: what are the most dangerous coutnries sfor children to live in? mnopq: I got a question for Dara Parker> Dara, is Handprint in any way collaborating with social entrepreunerial orgs such as Ashoka? minime-kg: this question is for Sarah geogias: Mimime-kg, how can schools in Kenya get involved in your activities Dumletam: what are your thoughts on the current trend of affairs with youths in Africa? What can be done to help them overcome the issues of poverty, war and diseases? OneWorldYouthProject: koolsenator--- happy to have you here in the chat and involved in One World Youth Project! minime-kg: most dangerous countries - she wouldn't specifcy any country nallison36: For Jessica: Are there currently any Canadian primary, middle or secondary schools participating in the One World Youth Project? minime-kg: The question for Dara - dara says they are working with many development agencies stephenk: I am also wondering if these projects are running in Africa...say Uganda specifically because young people here would benefit alot minime-kg: How can schools in kenya get involved - they can go into the oneworldyouth website minime-kg: and download the application slansel: hi jess minime-kg: they will contact you during teh summer of 2008 OneWorldYouthProject: http://www.oneworldyouthproject.org/psites.html minime-kg: there are 3 schools involved in Canada - again you can view them on the site matthewsplace: Is anyone using micro-finance with young people as a development tool, if so how young a person would you lend to? koolsenator: Thanks Jessica....ours is Youth In Transit... minime-kg: Q: trend of affairs for youth in africa and how to get involved - oneworldyouth has a project in Uganda koolsenator: thanks.. mnopq: My question for Dara is a part of a larger concern whether orgs such as Handprint or One World youth Project collaborate or think of collaborating with more solid and established players in the domain of development such as Ashoka, AINA, which can provide knwohow, logistical and other suport and share their experiences. And these orgs will benefit from influx of youth in their activities. What do you think/ minime-kg: but currently there is no youth group in uganda slansel: yes minime-kg: they are hoping to have one in the future though! GODONOU: how can we ask questions to the speakers Dumletam: Moderator, I'm having a lot of breaks in transmission. minime-kg: DAra says: there is a ton of opportunities out there for young people mnopq: Thanks Dara! minime-kg: handprint adventures helps youth find travel information - where to visit, volunteer, work, etc matthewsplace: Thanks all OneWorldYouthProject: thank you Laura and to TIG! minime-kg: thanks everyone emilyjk: there is also an event page http://events.takingitglobal.org/16045 byefap: Thanks for this nice conference BobN: thanks everyone Dumletam: thank you to all speakers GODONOU: bye bye and thank you very much slansel: thank you and bye emilyjk: where we can post all the links mentioned minime-kg: live chat group: minime-kg: http://groups.takingitglobal.org/chat_reminder geogias: THANKS ALL stephenk: Thank all for time too. minime-kg: thanks! mnopq: thanks all and bye!! copudo: thnak you but i have are commendation koolsenator: Question for Dara, could you be kind enough to mention a few of such tons of opportunities as related youths in a developing country like Nigeria emilyjk: kimia thank you for transcribing! copudo: try to expos esome of tehbest practise in Africa BobN: yeah kimia BobN: that was great stephenk: I am requesting thoru that chat notes be emailed to us since some of us have had breaks yet the information is very useful slansel: please visit Voices of Youth http://www.unicef.org/voy/index.php BobN: i even ended up using that when my headphones would cut out minime-kg: if you guys having any other questions for the presenters emilyjk: we will post the transcript and links on the event page minime-kg: feel free to ask! laurakenyon: Thanks for participating everyone! It was great! koolsenator: Anyway, the chat was great and thanks TIG, for the opportunity, to Jessica, greadt regards, Dara and Sarah..hope to share some of my projects I am working on in Nigeria copudo: Dara thanks for the enlighting and hope w ecould have regional chats too copudo: i havea question OneWorldYouthProject: thanks --and good luck with Youth in Transit--- happy to have them involved in OWYP this year! stephenk: I am member of VOY and it is Great! koolsenator: Precisely a week(31st 0ctober) from today, I would be hosting a Youth Leadership Summit for young high school students across Nigeria slansel: thanks! keep on spreading the word! minime-kg: if any of you have recommendations for our live chats minime-kg: please send to kimia[at]takingitglobal.org geogias: This was a great interaction. Weshould have such kind of interaction more often slansel: And please endorse the Youth Report "Will you listen?" copudo: ok slansel: http://www.unicef.org/voy/takeaction/takeaction_3954.html minime-kg: we will be doing live chat almost every month from now on! koolsenator: Alrite Dara....got your response mnopq: Kimia> i would suggest to have more focused and mroe frequent online chats mnopq: ocused in sense of having a specific topic, general enough to assure number of participants stephenk: bye guys.Got to go now.Comming to 7Pm here. koolsenator: Minime..great ! It won't be a bad idea. minime-kg: okay thanks mnopq mnopq: welcome copudo: can i ask members in Canada minime-kg: copudo - what would you like to ask? copudo: who today nominated UNperson of the year minime-kg: Dara - do you know? copudo: was teh person focused in youthwork minime-kg: i will find out for you minime-kg: and TIG message you the answer copudo: great minime-kg: ok bye everyone! koolsenator: Bye..Everyone....lets keep the youthful flame burning minime-kg: awesome, oh yeah!