UNOY Peacebuilders

The United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY Peacebuilders) is a global network of young people and youth organisations active in the field of peacebuilding. Our main areas of action are networking, training, empowerment for action/support to youth projects, campaigning and advocacy, and practical research on the role of youth in peacebuilding.

Newsletter

The newsletter of April 2008 is now available. You can find it by clicking on 'latest newsletter' on the right-hand side of the page. If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, please send an e-mail to campaignHiddenText@unoy.org and put 'subscribe newsletter' in the subject.

Member of the Month

The member of the month is Escuelas de Paz, schools of peace foundation in Colombia. More information about their projects can be found by clicking on 'member of the month' on the right-hand side of the page.

Advocacy Workshops at Radboud International Model United Nations 2008

On April the 15th the UNOY Advocacy Team conducted a series of workshops on advocacy and political lobbying at the Radboud International Model United Nations in The Netherlands. Read more here.

Dutch Queensday Campaign 2008 'Violence Against Children & Youth'

The VACY spring Campaign is nearing! On this upcoming Dutch Queensday, Wednesday April 30th, UNOY will be raising awareness on the issue of violence against children & youth. We will spend all day at the Breedstraat in the city centre of Utrecht where we will have a stand with several activities. People can write their thoughts on the issue on violence against children and youth and post this on our artistic 'wall'. Also children can leave a handprint for the cause.

It is not too late to help out! If you or your organisation are interested in getting involved in UNOY's campaign, please feel free to contact us. We would appreciate your participation. Please contact the VACY advocacy officer Myrthe Struiksma at advocacyHiddenText@unoy.org.

Hopefully we will see you on April 30th at our stand!

NGO meeting with Professor Pinheiro and Public Hearing in the European Parliament

The UNOY Peacebuilders Advocacy Team participated on April 14th 2008 to an NGO meeting with UN’s former independent expert on violence against children, Professor Pinheiro, followed by a public hearing in the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights in Brussels. Read more here.

Call for applications

Peace Education Training project officer, starting per direct
African programme officer, starting end of May
Advocacy programme officer, starting end of May
For more information, click here.

Study session Budapest successful

The United Network of Young Peacebuilders in partnership with Peace Action, Training and Research Institute of Romania (PATRIR), Youth Action for Peace (YAP) and the Earth Charter Youth Initiative (ECYI), organised a study session entitled "Applicability of peacebuilding in youth work." It took place from 2-9 March 2008, at the European Youth Center in Budapest, Hungary and was supported by the Council of Europe (COE). The main purpose of this study session was to enhance the applicability of Peacebuilding practices in youth work.
For more information, please see UNOY's latest Peace it Together Newsletter and keep checking this website for more updates on the follow-up of the study session.

Youth Advocacy for a Culture of Peace: A Reflective Guide for Action in Europe

‘Youth Advocacy for a Culture of Peace: A Reflective Guide for Action in Europe’ is a tribute to the role of youth in peace advocacy. It is about youth coming together and helping each other to understand how to carry out efforts towards achieving a culture of peace. It is a space for youth to share their advocacy experiences with other youth in order to give them the encouragement and guidance to push for their cause not just to the wider public, but to policy-makers as well. Where youth have participated in advocacy campaigns, this tool-guide is a way to sustain those efforts and to keep youth empowered.
The publication was written based on the critical reflections of the Youth Advocacy Teams of UNOY Peacebuilders in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In addition to UNOY Peacebuilders, youth and youth organisations shared their advocacy experiences. The organisations involved include U Move 4 Peace (Belgium), the Helsinki Citizen’s Assembly - Vanadzor (Armenia), YERITAC (Armenia), the Hague Appeal for Peace (NY, USA), the Human Rights Information & Documentation Centre (Georgia).
In ‘Youth Advocacy for a Culture of Peace: A Reflective Guide for Action in Europe’, five youth advocates share their experiences and inside tips. In addition, a number of other youth who have been involved in peacebuilding advocacy have provided input. Based on this, an extensive tool-guide was developed, which includes practical tips, examples and exercises. Basic concepts such as advocacy, peace and the role of youth are also explained.

The tool-guide motivates youth to take action in the context of the International Decade for the Culture of Peace and the All-Equal All-Different Campaign.
Please click here to download the report (1.1 MB).

Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations

UNOY representative Nina Aeckerle and Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan

UNOY Peacebuilders was present at the First Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations in Madrid in January 2008. The event was hosted by the Spanish government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Jorge Sampaio, the High Representative of the Alliance of Civilizations. The Forum put emphasise on several areas: Immigration, youth, politics, media and education.
For the youth participants the Forum was organised in two parts. The first was a media orientation session, where all of us met for the first time and were introduced to the purpose of the Forum with reference to the focus on media and the Youth Solidarity Fund. On the second and third day the official Forum took place.
There were many high profile politicians from all over the world joining the Plenary Sessions and Working Sessions. In addition to Zapatero and Sampaio, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations Jorge Sampaio, Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, Director-General of UNESCO Koïchiro Matsuura, Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union Javier Solana Madariaga and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi were present. In addition, numerous Presidents, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, royalties, politicians, industry executives, writers, academics, and representatives of religious and grass-roots organisations were participating in the Forum. Frederico Mayor and Manuel Manonelles, president and director, respectively, of the Foundation for a Culture of Peace were also present. The UNOY representative also made a comment in the session on Media reminding the participants of the panel to include youth directly in their projects and to give us a voice whenever we ourselves cannot do so.
At the end of the forum there were several important announcements made:

The majority of representatives expressed their good will in enforcing the objectives of the Alliance of Civilizations in their respective countries and in furthering networks of cooperation of all kinds among their countries,
This also includes various discussions at the policymaking level and the establishment of partnership agreements, with UNESCO, the League of Arab States, ISESCO, ALECSO and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) - and a letter of intent with the Council of Europe,
The Alliance of Civilizations Clearinghouse was launched, beginning with the theme of Media Literacy Education,
As well as the Rapid Response Media Mechanism, trying to facilitate properly researched and well based responses also in situations immediately after a crisis,
Furthermore, the Youth Solidarity Fund was established. It will provide support for youth-led programs in the field of intercultural and interfaith dialogue,
The Global Youth Employment Initiative, called Silatech, was announced,
A multi-million dollar Alliance of Civilizations Media Fund, the first non-profit fund for media production,
An action-oriented statement of solidarity and joint commitment was signed by diverse religious leaders toward the goal of advancing shared security and peace and providing youth with guidance to counter extremist influences.

The First Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations showed goodwill and can be seen as the basis of agreement. Hopefully the goodwill is transformed into real action within the field of intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and support for youth organisations all over the world. Next year’s forum will be held in Turkey and hosted by Mr. Erdoğan. For more information go here.

VACY NEEDS YOUR HELP!

Street Campaign 2008 “Violence against Children & Youth”
Spring is nearing and it is time for another VACY campaign! UNOY will organise a street campaigning event on Wednesday April 30th, the Dutch Konigninnedag (Queens-day). Together with 'Youth Service Initiative', a youth organisation based in Utrecht, UNOY will be creating public awareness on the issue of violence against children and youth. There will be a stand on the ‘Vrijmarkt’ in the city centre of Utrecht where we will approach people on the streets and talk about the issue of violence against children. Their thoughts and opinions will be asked and collected and people will have the chance to write those thoughts on an artistic wall which will be displayed. The 'wall' will be created by a group of students from a local school in Utrecht.
If you or your organisation is interested in getting involved in UNOY’s campaign please feel free to contact us for we would appreciate your participation. Please contact the VACY advocacy officer Myrthe Struiksma.