The Search for Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Youth Champions

PROJECT PROPONENT: UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES

Brief Background:

In the Millenium Summit held in 2000, 189 world leaders adopted the UN Millenium Declaration promoting the 8 goals to help developing countries improve their socioeconomic conditions. The Philippines is one of the signatories. After 10 years of the Declaration, the achievement of the MDGs by 2015 is paramount. It is in this connection that this search is being undertaken. Its purposes are:

To select 8 youth champions for each of the MDGs. Each shall embody the respective MDG that he/she will promote and advocate.
To be able to reach the grassroots through the MDG Youth Champions who will actively collaborate with the LGU's to mobilize and create change in the lives of the Filipinos and realize the MDGs by 2015.
To work with all sectors of society - the Government, NGA's, NSA's, CSO's, GOCC, Religious and the Academe in the realization of the MDGs.
To measure the quantifiable statistics accomplished through the influence of the MDG Youth Champions.
Who Can be an MDG Youth Champion?

An individual duly nominated by an institution or association with the following qualifications:

Must be a Filipino Citizen
18 to 35 years old
An emdodiment of a community role model who can positively promote the MDG.
He/She must be articulate, in written or oral communication.
He/She must be willing to travel around the Philippines for from 2009-2010 as the MDG Champion.
He/She must be able to inspire people to take action and create positive change in their lives and communities.
He/She must be well-versed about the MDGs and the mandate of the UN.
Who May Nominate?

Any institution or non-state association may nominate at most three youth champions.

Who are the Partners in this Search?

The UN agencies, UNAP Institutional Members, NGA's, LGU's, NSA's (Corporations with CSR), CSO's, GOCC's, the Government, Media, World Bank, AD, Religious and Academic Institutions.

Role of each Partner

A MOA signed amongst partners will outline the role of each partner.

What will the Champion Gain?

An Orlina Glass Sculpture or an Abueva Sculpture
Scholarship Grant
Study Tour to UNHQ
Automatic Delegate to the Asia-Pacific Model UN Assembly
Free Travel around the Philippines
Length of the Champions' tour of Duty

The Champions selected will serve until October 2010.

Who will be the Judges in the Search?

They will be selected from multi-disciplinary fields.

Manner of Judging
Preliminary Screening based on all submitted documents
Nationwide extemporaneous speaking contest on the MDGs as the first elimination round for all the nominees to select the 3 semi-finalists for each MDG.
Semi-Finalists will undergo final selection through a panel interview by the Final Judges.

Calendar of Search Activities

December 16, 2008 - Soft Launch
December 16-March 4, 2009 - Search
March 4, 2009 - Last day of submission of Nominations
March 5-7, 2009 - Collation of all Nominations
March 8-15, 2009 - Preliminary Screening
March 16-April 18, 2009 - Nationwide Extemporaneous Speaking Round
April 19-25, 2009 - Final Judging
May 8, 2009 - Announcement of Champions
January 2010 - Start of selection for the Second batch of MDG Champions
October 2010 - Gabi ng Parangal at Pasasalamat

MDG Projects

Sustainable projects that will result from the information dissemination campaign of the MDG Youth Champions will be done as separate activities to fast-track the realization of the MDGs by 2015.

Submission of Nomination

Institutions or associations may send in their nominations for an MDG Youth Champion to represent any of the eight Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) on or before MArch 4, 2009 by completing the nomination form. Each institution or organization may nominate a maximum of three.

For more info, contact;

United Nations Association of the Philippines
2nd Floor, 11 West Building, West Capitol Drive, Pasig City
Tel. No.: 634-2950
Website: www.unap1947. org
Multiply Site: mdgyouthchampion. multiply. com
Email: mdgyouthchampion@ yahoo.com

The Civil Society Fund in the Philippines

The deadline for submission of applications for the Civil Society Fund in the Philippines is February 28, 2009. The theme for this year is social dimension of climate change.

About the Fund

The Civil Society Fund or CSF (formerly Small Grants Program) supports activities related to civic engagement by providing small grants administered through World Bank Country Offices.
The CSF seeds and supports activities that empower and enable citizens to take initiatives to enhance and influence development outcomes. Activities strengthen mechanisms for inclusion, accountability, and participation. Activities also strengthen partnerships with public sector, other civil society organizations, and the private sector.

Before you Apply

The World Bank CSF is able to fund only a very small percentage of the requests it receives. Many requests are declined, not because they lack merit, but because they do not match either the current objectives, or the criteria of the CSF as closely as the selected proposals. Your activity may fall within the objectives and criteria, but the demand far surpasses the availability of funds. Before applying, please take time to read the Guidelines to determine if there is a match.

Who can apply?

Civil society organizations based in the Philippines and working on issues of development
Civil society organizations must be in good standing and have a record of achievement in the community and record of financial probity;
Priority will be given to organizations not supported by the CSF in previous years (organizations are not eligible for more than three grants from the CSF within a five-year period).

What activities are supported?

The CSF supports activities whose primary objective is civic engagement. A thematic focus is adopted each year to complement the Bank program in the Philippines. For FY 2009, the theme is social dimension of climate change. CSF ‘09 shall support innovations on dissemination of information or promotion of knowledge sharing on social dimensions of climate change particularly in terms of their implications to vulnerable Filipino families/ households and communities.

In addition:

Activities may include, but are not limited to workshops and seminars to enhance civic engagement skills and/or knowledge; appropriate communication campaigns to influence policymaking or public service
delivery; or innovative networking efforts to build the capacity of the particular sector.

The activity should be completed within one year of the date the grant is awarded.
Priority shall be given to organizations that have not been supported by the Program in previous years.

What size of grants are awarded?

Maximum grant per project shall be $10,000. CSF ‘09 expects to support about 2-3 proposals. The Grant should fund only a portion of the project cost, and therefore prefers that its grants help leverage additional contributions from other sources. Applicant organizations are asked to describe how a grant from the World Bank might help them to raise matching funds from other donors. A cash or in-kind counterpart from the applicant-organization of, at least, 20% of total cost required and should be reflected in the proposed budget.

For further info, click here

2009 UNU-IAS Fellowship Programme

Every year UNU-IAS offers PhD and Postdoctoral fellowships to provide young scholars and policy-makers, especially from the developing world, with a multi-disciplinarily context within which to pursue advanced research and training that is of professional interest to the successful applicant and of direct relevance to the research agenda of their selected UNU-IAS or UNU-ISP
programme.

About 8-10 fellowships will be awarded in total in 2009 for three types of fellowships: PhD Fellowships, Postdoctoral Fellowships and JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellowships.

The closing date for applications is 31 March 2009 (17h00 Tokyo time) for fellowships beginning on 1 September 2009.

Interested and eligible candidates are invited to complete an online application form, which can be downloaded as a Portable Document Format (.pdf) file, and completed electronically or printed and completed by hand. The preferred method of application submission is electronically by email together with all supporting documents attached.

For more information and to apply, see http://www.ias.unu.edu/fellowships
or choose from the list below:

* UNU-IAS Fellowship Programmes

* Types of Fellowships offered in 2009


* PhD Fellowships


* Postdoctoral Fellowships


* JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellowships


* Research Programmes Accepting Applications in 2009

* Guidelines for Research Proposal
s

Contact: fellowships@ ias.unu.edu

____________ _________ _________ __

6F, International Organizations Centre

Pacifico- Yokohama

1-1-1 Minato Mirai

Nishi-ku, Yokohama 220-8502, Japan?

Tel:?+81-45- 221-2300

Fax: +81-45-221-2303


http://www.ias.unu.edu

Third African Programme on Rethinking Development Economics

3 – 17 September 2009
Durban, South Africa

Supported by The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti)
And the French Development Agency (AFD)
With the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS)

We are pleased to announce that the 2009 African Programme on Rethinking Development Economics (APORDE) will be held in Durban (South Africa) from the 3rd to the 17th of September. Building on the success of the first two editions of APORDE, in 2007 and 2008, we are seeking applications from talented African, Asian and Latin American
economists, policy makers and civil society activists who, if selected, will be fully funded.

We encourage everyone with an interest in development to read and distribute this call. We also encourage those who feel they meet the criteria specified below to apply: APORDE is a fully-funded programme, so money should not be an issue when considering whether to apply. However, by the same token, entry into this high-level programme will be very competitive and only 26 applicants will be selected.

APORDE is a joint initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry, the French Development Agency and the French Institute of South Africa. Alice Amsden (MIT), Michel Aglietta (Institut Universitaire de France), Ha-Joon Chang (University of Cambridge) and Ben Fine (SOAS) are among the lecturers who will teach on the programme. Nicolas Pons-Vignon (IFAS) is the APORDE Course director and Thandi Phele (The Dti) is the Deputy Course director.

For more information, visit www.aporde.org.za

APORDE is being conducted in a climate when there is much greater contestation of ideas around the possible options for economic development and industrialisation than in many decades. An initiative like APORDE can make a very important contribution in offering us new insights and reflections on the critical questions of building a developmental state and mounting a serious industrial policy.Dr. Rob Davies, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry

Background
While there has been an increased questioning of the neoliberal domination in policy making, the supply of critical and constructive responses remains poor. The situations in most developing countries are particularly preoccupying, since governments and civil societies are weakly equipped to respond critically to external initiatives aimed at their development and to generate endogenous strategies. Due to, among other things, resource constraints, researchers and students from developing countries tend to rely on a small number of standard textbooks and the publications from the multilateral financial institutions, which severely restricts their exposure to alternative approaches. Sub-Saharan Africa is probably most affected by the poor availability of cutting-edge research and teaching in non-orthodox economics. The influence of neoclassical economics in the continent has precluded the exploration of more proactive state involvement to
support economic development and reduce poverty. The tide is, however,
gradually turning: the need for "more" (rather than merely "better",
which in neoliberal terms has proved to mean "less") state
intervention in economic affairs is increasingly recognised.
Crucially, economic take-off appears bound to remain a pipedream if it
is premised on unabated liberalisation rather than developmental trade
and industrial policies. The latter would represent a qualitative leap
in the nature of state intervention, which is currently typically
limited to "creating favourable conditions".

The shortcomings of "populist", or neopopulist, alternatives to the
neoliberal orthodoxy will also be discussed. These alternatives, which
tend to focus on specific issues, for instance the environment or
"extreme poverty", have caught the public's attention and contributed
to the ongoing reformulation of the mainstream development discourse.
One of the most striking examples of the (sometimes combined) failure
of both neoliberal and neopopulist theories is land reform, which will
be discussed in APORDE.

APORDE
APORDE will allow talented academics, policy makers and civil society
representatives from Africa (and, to a lesser extent, from Asia and
Latin America) to gain access to alternatives to mainstream thinking
on development issues and to be equipped in a way that will foster
original thinking. Participants will receive intensive high-level
training, interact with some of the best development economists in the
world and with other participants. All costs incurred by participants
– travel, accommodation, conference fees and per diem – will be
covered.

The seminar will be held in Durban from the 3rd to the 17th of
September 2009. The venue will be confirmed at a later stage.

APORDE will cover essential topics in development economics,
presenting views that are critical of the mainstream. Topics will
include industrial policy, poverty, financial crises and violent
conflict and development. Lectures will equip participants with key
information pertaining to both mainstream and non-mainstream
approaches. Day lectures will last for three and a half hours, while a
number of shorter lectures will also be organised. Several workshops
will be held around overarching themes.

Applications
It is necessary that participants demonstrate first-class intellectual
capacity and (at least some) prior knowledge in economics, as well as
proficiency in English. However, the objective of APORDE is to draw
participants from a broad range of backgrounds; persons who have
demonstrated exceptional capacity in their professional lives are
invited to apply.

The main body of participants will be drawn from Africa, but we
welcome applications from Asians and Latin Americans who have research
or work experience related to Africa.

Prospective applicants should send:

- a Curriculum Vitae;
- an official transcript (showing courses taken and grades obtained);
- 2 (two) letters of reference, where possible 1 academic referee and
1 professional, which should be sent directly to aporde@ifas. org.za or
faxed to +27 11 836 5850;
- an essay of no more than 1500 words stating how they would benefit
from APORDE;
- for those whose main medium of instruction or work is not English,
some proof of English proficiency will be necessary. Results of
standard English proficiency tests (e.g. TOEFL or IELTS) will be
preferable, but other proof may also be accepted (e.g., a sample of
written work in English).

Applications, accompanied by a covering letter indicating the
applicant's full contact details (including the e-mail address and
telephone numbers), should be sent to aporde@ifas. org.za to the
attention of Nicolas Pons–Vignon. The application should actually
reach Nicolas Pons-Vignon by Sunday 15 March 2009 at midnight at the
latest. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

Please note that individual acknowledgement of applications will be
sent by e-mail only. Candidates will be notified by e-mail of the
outcome of their applications by the end of April 2009.

Project Management and Leadership Training Programme

11 – 15 March 2009
Kanagawa, Japan

IMPORTANT: Apply by 12MN of 08 February 2009 (Sunday)

Who can apply?

If you are:

Filipino, aged 20-35 years old
have a ready six (6)-month valid passport for travel
informed on Climate Security topics and
active in Climate Change advocacy
Then we want you! We want young leaders who will implement plans, motivate others to join them and make a real difference in their fields.


What will the training workshop be like?

The selected participant/s will join young leaders from the UK, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore and other countries in the region.

The workshop is a 5-day interactive schedule of activities aimed at enhancing leadership and project management skills, which will be delivered through presentations, interactive discussion, site visits to organisations working in the field of sustainable development, and cultural activities.


What will the participants do in the workshop?

Participants in the Training Workshop are expected to:

Inform and inspire others about their countries, with their views on Climate Security
Participants are asked to bring with them a presentation and/or video to represent a climate solution project that they have been involved in or are interested in starting. Participants will be invited to make a 5-minute presentation to the rest of the group. No specific format is specified, but projection facilities for Power Point will be available
Contribute actively in the workshop process with their thoughts, ideas, knowledge and experience
Develop their project idea during the workshop into a proposal for implementation
Make a commitment to engage in project work and the Climate Cool network after their return to their country.

If you’re up to the challenge, download the Application Form and submit by 12 o’clock midnight on 08 February.

Submit applications forms to britishcouncil@britishcouncil.org.ph


We will shortlist candidates on the same week and selected participants should be available to file their Japanese visa applications by 16 February.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/philippines-know-our-projects-current-projects-climate-cool-japanworkshopapplication.htm

Bridport Prize

Competition Rules
Closing date for receipt of postal entries: 30th June 2009

Closing date for online entries: 30th June 2009 Midnight GMT

Maximum of 5000 words for short stories

Maximum of 42 lines for poems


Eligibility
The Prize is open to anyone, including non-UK applicants, over 16 years.
Entries must be entirely the work of the entrant and must never have been published, self-published, published on any website or online forum, broadcast nor winning or placed in any other competition (as at 22nd November 2009).
Entries submitted posthumously will not be eligible.

Fees
Entry fee is £6 per poem or £7 per story (you can send as many entries as you like).
Fees are payable in sterling by credit/debit card, cheque or postal order. Cheques must be from a UK bank and should be payable to The Bridport Prize with the sender's name and address on the back.
Online entries are paid as you submit, using the WorldPay system.
Postal entries from overseas can only be paid by credit/debit card or in cash (notes only, NO coins) - either US dollars or Euros at the current exchange rate.
Overseas cheques, money orders or drafts will not be accepted.

Entry Format
Entries must be in English, typed, single sided, with pages numbered and securely fastened; each entry on a new sheet
Stories to be double spaced and a word count noted at the top of the first page, poems to be single spaced
Entries must show no name, address or identifying marks other than the title
Entries are not returned, keep a copy
No corrections can be made after receipt, nor fees refunded
Please ensure that you use the correct postage.

Receipt of entry
Enclose a stamped addressed postcard marked 'ACKNOWLEDGEMENT' if you require acknowledgement of receipt of your postal entry
Online entries are confirmed by the email receipt of your payment to WorldPay
It is not possible to confirm receipt of entries by phone or email
Overseas entrants : please send an international reply coupon from your Post Office rather than stamps.

Results
To receive the judges' reports (winning entries only) and full results in November 2009 - enclose an A5 stamped addressed envelope marked 'RESULTS'
Alternatively, check the website for details after 22nd November 2009
Overseas entrants : please send an international reply coupon from your Post Office rather than stamps.

Copyright
Worldwide copyright of each entry remains with the author, but the Bridport Prize will have the unrestricted right to publish the winning poems and stories, (including runners up), in the annual anthology

Judging
The judges' decision is final and no individual correspondence can be entered into
Judges are unable to comment on individual entries
Judging is fair and unbiased. Experienced readers assist the named judges in selecting the shortlists, headed by Jon Wyatt for short stories and Candy Neubert for poems.

Prizes
Prizes for both short story and poetry categories are:

1st £5000
2nd £1000
3rd £500
plus 10 supplementary prizes of £50 each


No competitor may win more than one prize in each category
The Dorset Award for the highest placed writer resident in Dorset is £100
Prizewinners / prizegiving
Prizewinners will be notified in writing by beginning of October 2009
The list of prizewinners will be displayed on the website after the prizegiving ceremony in November
Prizes will be awarded on Sunday 22nd November 2009 during the Bridport Literay Festival
Entry implies acceptance of all the rules

Failure to comply with the entry requirements will result in disqualification

Print entry form fill in and then post with fee and entry

OR

Enter online http://www.bridportprize.org.uk/rules.htm

Postal entries should be sent to:

The Bridport Prize
PO Box 6910
DORSET
DT6 9BQ

Tel: 01308 428333

2009 Worldbank International Essay Competition

WANTED: The Next Generation of ‘Green’ Entrepreneurs

Climate change has been identified as one of the biggest global threats of our time. Scientists agree that global warming and extreme climate phenomena can be increasingly attributed to human activity - in particular, heavy emission of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, resulting from industrial processes.

Solutions to those pressing problems could lie in the rapidly growing ‘green economy’: environmentally sustainable enterprises, technological innovations (new sources of clean, renewable energy), energy efficiency measures, economic incentives for low-carbon choices, etc. How can youth contribute?

The Essay Competition 2009 invites youth to share ideas on:

How does climate change affect you?
How can you tackle climate change through youth-led solutions?

Please answer both questions:

1. How does climate change affect you, your country, town or local community? How do you think it will affect you in the future? Think about the consequences for employment, health, security and other areas of your life.

2. What can you do, working together with your peers, to address the problem of climate change in your country, town or local community? Think specifically about the role of youth-led initiatives in the ‘green economy’.

http://www.essaycompetition.org/

BBC World Service International Radio Playwriting Competition 2009

Applicants are invited to write a radio play of approximately 60 minutes in length, on a subject of their choice. The play must be the original, unpublished work of the person or persons submitting it.

The competition is open to any writer who is not normally a resident of the United Kingdom. The play must be written in English but can be translated by a third party (we are not able to offer any assistance with translation costs) Translated work must be identified as such, and the translator must be credited.

Application period is from 18 October 2008 to 31 March 2009.

*British Council Philippines deadline for accepting entries is on 27 March, 12:00PM, Friday. This is to ensure that applications reach our UK office by 31 March 2009.

Deadline for online application is on 31 March 2009.


Application form can be downloaded at http://www.britishcouncil.org/philippines-common-about-us-our-events-bbc-radio-playwriting-competition.htm


Submissions and application forms can be emailed to radioplay@bbc.co.uk

or can be mailed to

British Council
10th Floor Taipan Place
F. Ortigas Jr. Road
Ortigas Centre, Pasig City


Prizes
There are two main prizes given: to the best play written in English as a first language and to the best play written in English as a second language. The two prize winners will each receive £2500 sterling and a trip to London to see their plays being recorded and to attend a prize-giving evening. There are also additional prizes of digital or short wave radios being given for the best radio play to be written from each of the following geographical areas: The Americas; Europe; Africa and the Middle East; South Asia; Russia and the Caucasus; Asia and Pacific. All writers whose plays reach the judges' final shortlist will receive BBC goodie bags.

SEAPA opens applications to 2009 Journalism Fellowship Program

SEAPA opens applications to 2009 Journalism Fellowship Program

Deadline: March 15

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is now accepting applications for the 8th SEAPA Journalism Fellowship Program, centered on the theme, "The Challenge for Democracy and Human Rights Under the New ASEAN Charter."

For three weeks in May, SEAPA will provide journalists, including freelancers, from Southeast Asia with the opportunity to explore common issues affecting their communities and nations. The program will include two three-day workshops, and two weeks to cover a Southeast Asian country.

Journalists interested in taking part in the program should submit an application form downloadable from the SEAPA website, along with a story proposal (no more than 1,000 words) in line with the given theme. Story ideas can center on profiling people, communities, policies, events, or issues that can illustrate human rights challenges in the context of the ASEAN Charter.

Applicants must also submit two articles published from 2007 to 2009, a picture ID, CV, and certification of employment from their media company. (Freelancers may submit certification from editors of publications where their submitted clips appeared.)


For more information and application forms, visit http://www.seapa.org

Application forms can also be accessed at http://www.seapabkk.org/newdesign/images/SEAPAnFellowship2009Application.doc or http://www.seapabkk.org/newdesign/images/SEAPAFellowship2009Application.pdf

Interested applicants may submit all forms and documents via e-mail at fellowship@seapa.org

Nordic Youth Film Competition

NUFF 2009 - call for entries
Nordic Youth Film Competition

International Film Program
For films made by young filmmakers between 15 and 25 years old from entire world from the last two years.

All genres, not longer than 20 minutes!


Deadline For Submissions:
1 April 2009

Enter your film online at http://www.nuff.no/Pages/entries.php

The Bloomsbury Colleges offers £60,000 International Development PhD Studentships for 2009

Closing date: 25 February 2009

Talented students eager to contribute to international development research are invited to apply to leading colleges in London for scholarships worth more than £60,000 each. Five three-year PhD Studentships are available and cover a range of specialised areas, including HIV/AIDS and human rights in sub-Saharan Africa, workforce migration, and Rift Valley Fever in Senegal. Each project will begin this autumn and will involve field work abroad. The five development-related Studentships are part of a larger scheme of 12 annual Studentships offered by The Bloomsbury Colleges - a consortium of six University of London colleges.

Successful applicants on the joint PhD programmes will study at two of the Bloomsbury Colleges (Birkbeck, Institute of Education, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Royal Veterinary College, School of Oriental and African Studies, and The School of Pharmacy). Each student will be guided by two academics - a lead supervisor from one of the Bloomsbury Colleges and a collaborating supervisor from another.

Funding for the Studentships, including tuition fees and a stipend, is provided by The Bloomsbury Colleges* consortium. Field costs totalling £29,000 across the five development-related Studentships are provided by the London International Development Centre (LIDC) - a collaborative initiative which brings together social and natural scientists. The total value of each of the development Studentships is more than £60,000.

* These five Studentships are related to international development and include additional funding for field research. For further information please click on the following link:

http://lidc.bloomsbury.ac.uk/newsdetail.php?newsid=46

If enquirers have any problems with obtaining advice or papers, they may contact The Bloomsbury Colleges Facilitator, Terry Bishop, on t.bishop@bloomsbury.ac.uk .