Peace = Future, the math is easy

Youth for Peace and Development

In commemoration of 2010 as the International Year of Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding

This year, the International Day of Peace (21 September) falls within the same time period as a major summit on the UN Millennium Development Goals, the world’s largest anti-poverty campaign. The Summit brings world leaders together at the United Nations in New York from 20 - 22 September.

The United Nations is looking for stories from young people around the world who are working for peace.

Send your stories to Anna Fritzsche at ousg-dpi@un.org and Eleonore Kopera at kopera@un.org.

Youth, peace and development are closely interlinked:

·Peace enables development, which is critical in providing opportunities for young people, particularly those in countries emerging from conflict.

·Healthy, educated youth are in turn crucial to sustainable development and peace.

·Peace, stability and security are essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, aimed at slashing poverty, hunger, disease, and maternal and child death by 2015.

Apply to be a Faiths Act Fellow: MDGs

Apply now to join the 2011 Faiths Act Fellowship

The Faiths Act Fellowship is a year long paid opportunity for young leaders to work towards the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to end the scandal of extreme poverty.

After one month of training in London, Faiths Act Fellows are placed into pairs and matched with development organisations and NGOs in local communities. There, they work for the rest of their Fellowship year to build partnerships across faiths and mobilise communities in support of the MDGs whilst developing their own interfaith leadership skills.

Faiths Act Fellows can demonstrate how faith can play a hugely positive force in the world through an exciting, motivating, demanding and moving experience.

Applicants must be between the ages of 20 and 27 and citizens or legal residents of Canada, India, the United Kingdom, or the United States.

We're looking forward to another amazing year of the Faiths Act Fellowship. I hope you'll be a part of it - either by applying yourself or by spreading word of this amazing opportunity to an extraordinary young leader you know.

Thank you,

Hannah Wallace
Faiths Act Programme Manager

World Council of Churches Stewards Programme 2011

Apply now: Stewards Programme 2011

Young Christians from around the world are invited to apply to the World Council of Churches (WCC) stewards programme for one of two hands-on learning experiences at major ecumenical meetings in 2011, the WCC Central Committee meeting, 8-24 February, and the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation, 12-26 May. Applicants must be between the age of 18-30 years.

During the meetings stewards will work in the areas of worship, conference room, documentation, press office, sound, and other administrative and support tasks.

The WCC Central Committee meets every 18 months in Geneva, Switzerland to monitor and set directions to the Council's work. The meeting brings together about 150 church representatives, advisers and observers from WCC member churches and associated organizations worldwide. Twenty stewards will help to make this event happen.

The International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) will gather some 1000 participants from all over the world in Kingston, Jamaica. Participants of many different backgrounds will witness to the peace of God as both gift and responsibility of the entire human family. The IEPC stewards programme will have 45 participants, with one third of them coming from Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Before the meetings, stewards follow an ecumenical learning programme which exposes them to the key issues of the ecumenical movement worldwide. The last phase of the stewards programme, following the meeting, focuses on designing ecumenical projects which stewards will implement back home.

Being a steward means hard work, but it is also a unique ecumenical experience of togetherness with young people from different churches, countries and cultures.

Applicants are invited to send in the application form:

· by 30 September 2010 for the Central Committee

· by 30 November 2010 for the IEPC

Download the application form HERE.

Violent Actors, Peaceful Alternatives: A Faith-Sensitive Training Toolkit for Youth

Open publication - Free publishing - More youth

International Year of Youth: their year, their voice

From the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs:

The International Year of Youth, commencing on the United Nations annual Day of Youth, 12 August 2010, celebrates and focuses on the importance of youth around the world. The contributions of youth to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are fundamental for success and Youth Conferences with the United Nations reflect the role youth play in achieving development. Youth are the future of the UN, and the future of all development. Events surrounding this year aim to make young people more visible in the international development agenda.

To read more click HERE.

Youth Forum Representative Stijn Van Bever on Vatican Radio

A step forward in the fight against the global arms race has occurred, with the Oslo treaty banning cluster munitions or submunitions entering into force on Sunday 1st August.

Cluster munitions contain hundreds of bomblets, can be dropped over a large surface area, and not all explode on impact. This poses a major threat to civilians long after conflicts have ended. Today, the global stockpile of these bombs has risen to more than one billion according to the Coalition Against Weapons Munitions. The Oslo treaty has so far been signed by 107 countries but only 37, including France, have ratified.

What does this entry into force mean and what will be the outcome? Stijn Van Bever, working on the issue of disarmament at Pax Christi International, speaks to Vatican Radio on this issue.

The interview is in French but you can access it by clicking HERE. You will need Real Media Player to access the recording.