From 24 February to 4 March 2010, UNOY Peacebuilders will partner with 18 organizations to design a "Peace Bag" toolkit meant to faciliatate inter-cultural dialogue in order to contribute to a culture of peace. This if the first phase of a three part project and will take place in Barcelona, Vilanova a la Geltru. This project is supported by the Anna Lindh Foundation. Click here to visit the website, or read more for the complete press release.
Press note

Barcelona, February 24th 2010

Create a handbook of good habits making people aware about culture of peace. This is the target of the meeting gathering in Catalunya an amount of young people from 14 different countries all around Europe and mediterrean area, in order to reach a consensus about a common vision of peace and intercultural understanding. During 9 days - since February 24th to March 4th - 18 organizations involved in this project promoted by Catalunya Voluntària and called Peace Bag for EuroMed Youth, will be working to design a "Peace bag", a toolbox enabling the contribution of a larger intercultural comprehension, helpful in solving conflicts and awaring about peace culture in youth working.

The project, the only spanish one in 2010 recibing support from Fundación Anna Lindh, also tries to fight against stereotypes and to reforce cooperation through shared initiatives by euromediterrean countries.

The meeting will be set within Barcelona, Vilanova and la Geltrú, this is just the first part of the project, consisting of three parts indeed. During the first step, the young people will be working on themes like peace, interculture, solving of conflicts, dialogue construction in youth framework. All the results of these meeting will be used as outline preceding the very handbook publication - third step - ; the handbook will be distributed to institutions, public and private organisms part of that countries, as a guideline in youth working.

In the second step - developing through March and June - the participants will be working from their own countries, identifying new initiatives regarding peace and intercultural arguments throughout youth work, and implementing that experiences in the local field of participant countries.

The consolidation of the project will be effective in third step, (10th - 16th of June in Cairo), when the Peace bag for EuroMed Youth handbook will be finished. www.catalunyavoluntaria.cat

"Young people are crucial in peace process, because they are the main actors of future society. Enforcing peace and interculture via Peace bag it's a way to enstablish a platform of dinamic cooperationship between them", points out Meghann Aurea Villanueva, director of Peace Bag for EuroMed Youth project.

Young leaders who will take part in the project come from counties as Algeria, Egypt, Jordania, Liban, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey, Israel, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Romania. Beyond their collaboration in Peace Bag project, the participants will take part in Anna Lindh Forum, organized in Barcelona from 4th to 7th of March. Peace Bag for EuroMed Youth frames in Clam per la Pau program, of Fundació Catalunya Voluntária. Established in 2007, Fundació Catalunya Voluntária works together with Barcelona Voluntária, celebrating this year her 10th anniversary as volunteer entity, and very experienced in youth internacional activities organization. The main target of the Fundació is to promote youth volunteering, and youth mobility, also the internazionalization of Catalunya's entity work, and the creation of non-formal educacion spaces.

More information:
93 412 4493 o 616343752
comunicacio@catalunyavoluntaria.cat
catalunyavoluntaria@catalunyavoluntaria.cat
www.catalunyavoluntaria.cat