Some of you may already know about this, but I thought I'd share anyway. I received an email from our local environmental organization today that seemed like a really great opportunity for young people who are passionate about the environment. The UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) is apparently developing a youth network in North America. They're looking for 16-20 university students from the U.S. and Canada to take part in UNEP's new Kick the Carbon Habit Education Campaign, who would be invited to attend a conference in the fall of 2008 and work together to launch this campaign around North America with the help of UNEP.

The application deadline is July 28 (soon!). If you have any questions, the contact is unepyouth.na@gmail.com. I don't think it's possible to attach stuff to TIGblogs, but if anyone is interested, let me know, I can forward you the email and the application form!

-------------Information form cut and paste from attachment in email---------------------------------
KICK THE CARBON HABIT EDUCATION CAMPAIGN YOUTH NETWORK

Are you interested in being part of a new environmental youth network in North America?

If so, the United Nations Environment Programme is now accepting applications from dynamic youth who would like to be part of its new Kick the Carbon Habit Education Campaign Youth Network.

UNEP recognizes education as a key part of understanding and mitigating climate change. This campaign will help empower and educate youth and the general public on ways to conserve resources. In collaboration with UNEP, representatives of the youth network will play an active role in spreading this educational effort around the country.

UNEP’s goal with the Kick the Carbon Habit Education Campaign is to set in motion an ongoing effort by university students to educate their communities about methods of conservation in a world where natural resources are becoming increasingly scarce. As the network grows, representatives will create a self-sustaining network of youth leaders around the country.

Sixteen to 20 youth from around the U.S. and Canada will be selected for the 2008-2009 school year to launch the Campaign. The aim of this nation-wide campaign is to increase awareness of resource conservation, and will be led by university and high school students who will use educational events to reach out to their communities. Three audiences will be specifically targeted: children ages 8-14, youth ages 14-22, and the general community. University and high school students will engage these audiences in events such as a resource conservation fair at an elementary school or handing out eco-friendly bulbs to homeowners around a university campus.

Youth Network representatives will play a unique role in this campaign, as they will not only be the direct connection to UNEP, they will also be the distributors of the campaign “start-up kit.” The campaign will kick-off with a conference in November, where this pioneer group will learn how to reach out to solicit new involvement in the campaign and distribute “The Kit”. They will liaise with UNEP and with each other to develop strategies for the growth of the campaign, write and distribute a monthly e-newsletter to update volunteers on activities taking place within the network, and play a leadership role in deciding future goals of the network.

This campaign is new, but not unique in its efforts to educate the public about climate change. Youth who have had experience in organizing grassroots activities or other educational campaigns are encouraged to apply; however, such previous experience is not necessary.

كشاب/ة عربي/ة ما هو التغيير الذين تحلم/ين به في الوطن العربي؟ كيف يمكن للشباب ان يكونوا جزء من هذا التغيير؟ ما هي أفضل الاستراتيجيات للتطوير قدرات الشباب ومهاراتهم القيادية حتى يصبحوا أكثر وعيا بالقضايا التي تهمهم ويقومون بالعمل الفعال في مجتمعاتهم. كيف يمكن للشباب ان يكونوا عناصر أساسيين للتغيير؟

شارك/ي بآراءك حول هذا الموضوع المهم في الدردشة الحية بعنوان " تمكين الشباب كعناصر التغيير في المجتمع" التي هي جزء من مشروع" شباب من أجل التغيير"


انضم معنا، فانت جزء من التغيير.

Hello Everyone,

We would like to remind you with the “Youth for Change” project Mini-Grants, as the deadline for applying is May 25th.
If you are from one of these 10 countries: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Qatar, Yemen, UAE, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, and have a youth-led project that you need to fund, and haven’t applied yet, do that NOW! You might be the winner of one of the mini-grant awards and also receive a scholarship to attend the World Youth Congress taking place in Quebec City ) Canada) in August 2008!


You can find the application form here:
http://projects.takingitglobal.org/youthforchange/docs/



We also hope you can help us in promoting these mini-grants to active youth within your network.



Thank you and looking forward to read your projects!

If you need any clarification about the mini-grants or any other activity related to the project, please feel free to ask Tala Nabulsi tala@takingitglobal.org

مرحبا جميعا

أود تذكيركم بالتقدم للمنح الصغيرة التي يقدمها مشروع شباب من أجل التغيير، حيث سيغلق باب التقديم يوم 25 مايو. وللتذكير أيضا فإن هذه المنح الصغيرة تستهدف الشباب من عشر دول عربية هي: مصر، الأردن، المغرب، تونس، قطر، اليمن، الإمارات، العراق، لبنان، وفلسطين، الذين يملكون أفكار لمشروعات شبابية طموحة. لذا إذا لم تكونوا قد تقدمتم بالفعل، فلتقوموا بذلك الآن، فربما تكونوا احد الفائزين بالمنح و تحصلوا أيضا على فرصة لحضور مؤتمر الشباب العالمي في كيبك/كندا في أغسطس 2008
توجد استمارة التقديم لهذه المنح هنا
http://projects.takingitglobal.org/youthforchange/docs/



كما نامل ان تساعدونا في نشر المعلومات عن هذه المنح، لشباب آخرين ضمن شبكتكم، حتى يستفيدوا من هذه المنح أيضا.



شكرا ونتطلع لقراءة مشاريعكم!


إذا كان لديك أي سؤال أو استفسار عن المنح أو أي جزء آخر عن المشروع، فالرجاء الارسال الى تالا النابلسي Tala@takingitglobal.org

hi

مرحبا جميعا

أود تذكيركم بالتقدم للمنح الصغيرة التي يقدمها مشروع شباب من أجل التغيير، حيث سيغلق باب التقدم يوم 25 القادم. وللتذكير أيضا فإن هذه المنح الصغيرة تستهدف الشباب من عشر دول عربية هي: مصر، الأردن، المغرب، تونس، قطر، اليمن، الإمارات، العراق، لبنان، وفلسطين، الذين يملكون أفكار لمشروعات شبابية طموحة. لذا إذا لم تكونوا قد تقدمتم بالفعل، فلتقوموا بذلك الآن!
توجد استمارة التقديم لهذه المنح هنا:
http://projects.takingitglobal.org/youthforchange/docs/


وإذا كان لديك أي سؤال أو استفسار عن المنح أو أي جزء آخر للمشروع، لا تتردد/تتردي في طرحه. هذه هي الصفحة التي يجاوب فيها منسقي المشروع على الاستفسارات:
http://projects.takingitglobal.org/youthforchange/discuss/thread/30719

Hello All,

I would like to inform you about the Youth for Change project mini-grants.
If you are from one of these 10 countries: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Qatar, Yemen, UAE, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, and have a youth-led project that you want to fund, then why dont you apply for the mini-grants, NOW!

You can find the application form here:
http://projects.takingitglobal.org/youthforchange/docs/

And if you need any clarification about the mini-grants or any other activity related to the project, please feel free to ask. This is the page for questions:
http://projects.takingitglobal.org/youthforchange/discuss/thread/30719


Thanks,

Tala Nabulsi

Back to Ottawa, getting into the swing of studying full time this summer (which means procrastinating by all means necessary instead of working on an essay that's due in 2 days that I have barely begun).

But, I just found out that I got accepted into a project in Togo in August! C'est pour travailler avec des étudiants primaires et secondaires dans un village rural qui s'appelle Kouma Adame. Je suis super contente là, ce sera ma première fois en Afrique. Je suis actuellement en train de suivre un cours de vie politique en Afrique, qui est très intéressant, mais bon, les articles academiques sont guère comparables à une expérience sur le terrain. J'ai super hâte!

In other less exciting news, I came to the realization yesterday following my first jazz class that I am a terrible dancer.

The first ever scheduled caste Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has done justice to his duty. Despite the caste and political emotions running high and strangulating his judicial work, Justice. K.G. Balkrishnan has safeguarded the supremacy of the guardian of the Indian constitution. In the 27 percent reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the central universities case, the bench has pronounced a very objective verdict. It is true that the caste factor is still operational in most parts of the country. It is also true that some of the Indian population has benefited from the reservation in the past 60 years. Those who got enough economic means and cultural capital using the backward caste card are considered as the creamy layer. Taking note of these trivial troubles, the bench has given the green signal to the quotas with certain conditions. One, the creamy layer should be excluded from the quotas. Two, the government should reexamine the backward classes list with better scientific methods. Three, the quota cannot be given to the graduates from the backward sections. Four, the reservation cannot go on for ever. Five, steps should be taken to empower the backward sections within an agreed time frame. Any sane person will consider this judgment as the landmark one.
Through ample education, political empowerment and employment opportunities certain OBCs have moved up in the social ladder. This kind of people cannot be called as “backward” and provided reservation in the government concessions. Unfortunately this is what the rich and mighty from the so called backward castes are claiming for. The political parties are singing the caste tunes to garner votes. This drama is going on from the first Independence Day in 1947. In the move to create an egalitarian society which is enshrined the constitution there is no symptom of reducing the caste discriminations. Instead of taking steps to dilute and eliminate caste, the governments have successfully perpetuated this social evil. After the dusted off and stage-managed Mandal commission report presentation by the V.P Singh, the caste crime has increased. One can verify this trend from the growth of caste based political parties after 1990s. Although most of these parties got rejected by the public and most importantly by their own caste people, these parties pose a grave blockade to the extinction of caste.
One can gather the knee-jerk reactions of the political parties. The Government’s quota raja, Arjun Singh directs all the central universities to implement the verdict from this academic session. With only two months in hand, it is impossible for the central institutions to double up the infrastructure and accommodate 27 percent more students. To add salt to the wound, the University Grants Commission has informed that it has only Rs. 565 crores to be distributed among the nineteen institutions. With less than Rs. 20 crores how can a central institution implement 27 percent increase in the intake of students? For instance, Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice Chancellor, Prof. B. B Bhattacharya demands Rs. 250 crores to fulfill the OBC quota verdict. However the UGC says not more than Rs.15 crores. Who and what will suffer can be left to the guesses of the thinking human being.

Some cartoon characters who are masquerading as public representatives and policy makers cross all the limits and demand the OBC quota in the private sector. If the aim is to empower the backward sections and push them forward then the blank quota recommendation is of less use. An economic empowerment and education support from the basic school level is the best possible means to achieve the wider national goal of social equality.
As almost all political parties are in the same boat with the caste vote bank as the destination only the judiciary can save the country. In this sense, the quota verdict breaks the political hurdle and sets a new ray of hope for the people.

TakingITGlobal is currently seeking to recruit a focal point in Qatar for the"“Youth
for Change" project.

If you are a young active person from Qatar and interested in this position, please check the link below.

Youth for Change focal point- Qatar.

Thanks.

Tala Nabulsi

ينظم TakingITGlobal والمنتدى الوطني للشباب والثقافة – شباب الاردن منتدى مفتوح بعنوان " شباب من أجل التغيير " وذلك في مقر جريدة الدستور، عمان

وسيتم خلال المنتدى مناقشة تحديات مختلفة يواجهها شباب ضمن مجموعات عمل للخروج بمشاريع عملية
لمزيد من المعلومات والمشاركة انظر هنا
شباب من اجل التغيير

سيشارك ممثل عن TakingITGlobal في الاجتماع الثالث لمجموعة إيڤيان فيIMD (الـمعهد الدولي للتنمية الإدارية) للشباب بالمنطقة العربية والذي سيعقد بالاردن ، ولذلك ارتاينا ان نضع بين ايديكم محاور النقاشات ، لكي نستطيع ان ننقل تصورات الشباب حول القضايا التي سيتم مناقشتها. للمشاركة اضغط هنا:

discussion board.

لمزيد من المعلومات عن مجموعة إيڤيان انظر هنا: http://www.eviangrouparabregion.net

سيشارك ممثل عن TakingITGlobal في الاجتماع الثالث لمجموعة إيڤيان فيIMD (الـمعهد الدولي للتنمية الإدارية) للشباب بالمنطقة العربية والذي سيعقد بالاردن ، ولذلك ارتاينا ان نضع بين ايديكم محاور النقاشات ، لكي نستطيع ان ننقل تصورات الشباب حول القضايا التي سيتم مناقشتها. للمشاركة اضغط هنا:

Arabic discussion board

لمزيد من المعلومات عن مجموعة إيڤيان انظر هنا:
ُEviangrouparabregion

سيشارك ممثل عن TakingITGlobal في اجتماع مجموعة إيڤيان فيIMD (الـمعهد الدولي للتنمية الإدارية)الثالث للشباب بالمنطقة العربية والذي سيعقد بالاردن ، ولذلك ارتاينا ان نضع بين ايديكم محاور النقاشات ، لكي نستطيع ان ننقل تصورات الشباب حول القضايا التي سيتم مناقشتها. للمشاركة اضغط هنا:

Arabic discussion board

لمزيد من المعلومات عن مجموعة إيڤيان انظر هنا:
ُEviangrouparabregion

Just saw a documentary as a part of the 5th Human Rights Watch Film Festival in Toronto on abandoned children living with HIV/AIDS in Romania and their foster parents.
Before the screening, a lady from CANFAR (Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research) gave a short speech, and she mentioned something that might be interesting to fellow Canadian youths who are interested in HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns. CANFAR runs a program called Have a Heart, which is organized in conjunction with high schools across Canada in all provinces and territories. CANFAR provides to schools HIV/AIDS materials to raise awareness and also supplies to create "heart o'grams" for fundraising, which goes specifically towards youth-related HIV/AIDS research. Sounds pretty cool: I just checked out the website, and apparently the registration for 2008 has closed, but there's always next year!
Have a Heart link here!