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National Poster Contest 2006 - Young People’s Participation

“UNFPA has a vision of a world fit for young people. It is a world that
promotes and protects their rights, provides opportunities to develop
their full potential, welcomes and respects their voices and views, and
where they live free of poverty, discrimination and violence.”
—Thoraya A. Obaid, Executive Director, UNFPA
INSIDE PANELS


UNFPA is sponsoring its 14th annual poster contest for young people.
This year’s theme is “participation”. Young people are a dynamic force
for positive change as organizers, leaders and valuable partners to
supportive adults. With needs that differ from adults, young people also
offer different perspectives and may be in tune with the most effective
and appropriate responses in development plans and services.

1.5 billion people in developing countries are between the ages of 10
and 24
Over 500 million young people (15-24) live on less than $2 per day
57 million young men and 96 million young women (15-24) in developing
countries cannot read or write
14 million adolescent girls (15-19) become mothers every year
Young people (15-24) account for over 40 per cent of all new HIV
infections. More than 6,000 young people each day—one every 14 minutes.
Young women make up over 60 per cent of 15- to 24-year-olds living with
HIV/AIDS. Globally, young women are 1.6 times more likely to be living
with HIV/AIDS than young men.



Design Themes 2006

Entries to the UNFPA National Poster Contest should show the positive
impact of young people’s participation in development plans. The contest
encourages young artists to demonstrate an understanding of population
and gender issues. It also provides an opportunity for UNFPA offices
and partners to publicize the UNFPA mission. Posters may be based on the
concepts below or inspired by the artist’s own response to the theme.


The United Nations


The United Nations recognizes the benefits of youth participation. This
statement is by Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General:

“Young people have the energy, ideas and optimism to make a difference.
They are a force for positive change. Yet millions of young people face
lives of poverty, exploitation and despair…If we are serious about
reaching the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, we must involve young
people today. We must invest in them; we must learn from them; we must be
their partners.”

As a young person, you have a role to play in shaping the development
of your community and your country. The Millennium Development Goals are
a blueprint for action agreed by all the world’s countries. Leaders
have set high goals and are working to meet them, but they can’t succeed
without you. Inspired? Base a poster on the quote above.


2. Working Together to Achieve Dreams

From a 10-year-old girl to a young man of 24, your needs are different,
your cultures diverse—but you all have dreams. Around the world, young
people are working side-by-side with leaders to help make these dreams
come true. Joining together can help convince decision makers to
consider, respect and act upon your views.

Create a poster about young people working together towards a common
goal. Identify an issue that is of particular concern to people your age.
Focus on connections: networking, building bridges, forging
partnerships, linking with youth groups around the world, enlisting the help of
supportive adults, contacting elected officials, and working with
nongovernmental organizations and the United Nations system. Create a poster
to inspire and empower your peers. Use a shocking statistic, humour or
an image that moves the heart to send a message that makes an impact.

3. Preparing to Participate: Skills, Information and Opportunity
Young people need knowledge and skills to make informed, responsible
decisions. UNFPA supports programmes that provide youth-friendly
information about reproductive health and the life skills required to handle
risky situations. Perhaps you and your friends are concerned about an
issue that threatens your health, safety and future opportunities. You
want to take action, but don’t know how to start. You need special skills
and information.
If you want to influence decision makers, it’s all about how to
participate in social and political processes. What are your rights and
responsibilities? What laws and policies currently exist at the local,
national and international levels? How are decisions made, and are
opportunities open to you to participate in the process? Create a poster that
tells a story with images, like a cartoon, about the process of becoming
prepared to participate in decisions affecting your life. Create a
poster about building the skills of citizenship.

How to Enter


The UNFPA office in your country will organize a National Poster
Contest. A winner will be selected from each of the age categories listed
below.

Age Categories

Category I 10 to 12 years
Category II 13 to 15 years
Category III 16 to 19 years
Category IV 20 to 24 years


Specifications

Artists are welcome to use a variety of media, including crayons,
markers, paint, pen and ink, coloured pencil, chalk, collage and original
photography. Submit entries on paper or cardboard within the following
size limits:

No larger than 60 x 45 cm (18″ x 24″)
No smaller than 28 x 23 cm (8½″ x 11″)

On the back of each poster, include:
The artist’s name, age and age category (specify I to IV)
Name of institution and grade (or occupation, if not in school)
Address


Please package the entries carefully. Packaging will be used for return
mail.
Deadline
Deadlines for the National Poster Contest will be determined in each
country by the UNFPA office. For more information on young people and
youth participation in development plans, please contact the UNFPA
Representative or the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Representative. Or, visit the UNFPA Web site at www.unfpa.org/.
Winners
Winners of the UNFPA National Poster Contest will be announced on a
date selected by the UNFPA country office. An awards ceremony may be
organized and publicized.

Copyright: All submitted works become the property of UNFPA. UNFPA
reserves the right to publish entries, with credit to the artist, in
connection with UNFPA activities. The artist is responsible for obtaining
permission from all subjects appearing in the artwork.

PRESS RELEASE

Dominica Youth Environment Organisation Inc member off to Washington
The Dominica Youth Environment Organization (DYEO) Inc. announces that one of its members, Ro-Anne Remy, will travel to Seattle, Washington for a six-month programme of environmental restoration and community based programs from June 18.
This program is organized by EarthCorps International, a non-profit organisation which trains outstanding young persons 18-25 years from international environmental organizations.
Miss Remy will participate in restoration works of heritage sites in Washington including maintaining hiking trail; planting native trees and shrubs and removing invasive plants; land preparation, maintenance and plant establishment;.
“I am very happy to have been given this training opportunity to participate in this wonderful programme. It is something that I have dreamt of and am glad that my organization has secured this opportunity for me to make a further contribution to my country upon the completion of the programme,” says Remy.

The Dominica Youth Environment Organization Inc. is a non-profit, non-governmental organization founded in 1993, with a mission to improve the quality of life among youth by facilitating their personal development and promoting their full involvement in all social and physical environment matters.
The organization has experienced significant growth and has been involved in or has coordinated a number of activities and projects at the national, regional and international levels and has conducted and has assisted youth in attending leadership and other training courses.
DYEO Inc. has organized various environmental activities including the International Beach Clean-Up Campaign here every October as well as environmental camps, floating classrooms, symposiums etc.
The organization is currently recruiting young persons as members between the age of 16 and 35 who have a keen interest in environmental work and national development.
For more information contact Terry Raymond Executive Director (767) 245 3040, Mr. Daren Esprit President (767) 615 2116.

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
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>HOW WE ENVY THE WORLD CUP
>June 2006
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>You may wonder what a Secretary-General of the United Nations is doing writing about football. But in fact, the World Cup makes us in the UN green with envy. As the pinnacle of the only truly global game, played in every country by every race and religion, it is one of the few phenomena as universal as the United Nations. You could even say it's more universal. FIFA has 207 members; we have only 191.
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>But there are far better reasons to be envious.
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>First, the World Cup is an event in which everybody knows where their team stands, and what it did to get there. They know who scored and how and in what minute of the game; they know who missed the open goal; they know who saved the penalty. I wish we had more of that sort of competition in the family of nations. Countries openly vying for the best standing in the table of respect for human rights, and trying to outdo one another in child survival rates or enrolment in secondary education. States parading their performance for all the world to see. Governments being held accountable for what actions led them to that result.
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>Second, the World Cup is an event which everybody on the planet loves talking about. Dissecting what their team did right, and what it could have done differently -- not to mention the other side's team. People sitting in cafés anywhere from Buenos Aires to Beijing , debating the finer points of games endlessly, revealing an intimate knowledge not only of their own national teams but of many of the others too, and expressing themselves on the subject with as much clarity as passion. Normally tongue-tied teenagers suddenly becoming eloquent, confident, and dazzlingly analytical experts. I wish we had more of that sort of conversation in the world at large. Citizens consumed by the topic of how their country could do better on the Human Development Index, or in reducing the number of carbon emissions or new HIV infections.
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>Third, the World Cup is an event which takes place on a level playing field, where every country has a chance to participate on equal terms. Only two commodities matter in this game: talent and team work. I wish we had more levellers like that in the global arena. Free and fair exchanges without the interference of subsidies, barriers or tariffs. Every country getting a real chance to field its strengths on the world stage.
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>Fourth, the World Cup is an event which illustrates the benefits of cross-pollination between peoples and countries. More and more national teams now welcome coaches from other countries, who bring new ways of thinking and playing. The same goes for the increasing number of players who between World Cups represent clubs away from home. They inject new qualities into their new team, grow from the experience, and are able to contribute even more to their home side when they return. In the process, they often become heroes in their adopted countries -- helping to open hearts and broaden minds. I wish it were equally plain for all to see that human migration in general can create triple wins -- for migrants, for their countries of origin, and for the societies that receive them. That migrants not only build better lives for themselves and their families, but are also agents of development -- economic, social, and cultural -- in the countries they go and work in, and in the homelands they inspire through new-won ideas and know-how when they return.
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>For any country, playing in the World Cup is a matter of profound national pride. For countries qualifying for the first time, such as my native Ghana, it is a badge of honour. For those who are doing so after years of adversity, such as Angola, it provides a sense of national renewal. And for those who are currently riven by conflict, like Côte d'Ivoire, but whose World Cup team is a unique and powerful symbol of national unity, it inspires nothing less than the hope of national rebirth.
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>Which brings me to what is perhaps most enviable of all for us in the United Nations: the World Cup is an event in which we actually see goals being reached. I'm not talking only about the goals a country scores; I also mean the most important goal of all -- being there, part of the family of nations and peoples, celebrating our common humanity. I'll try to remember that when Ghana plays Italy in Hanover on 12 June. Of course, I can't promise I'll succeed.
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>Kofi A. Annan