The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the UN Volunteers (UNV) ran a fullday workshop for myself and a dozen other young people involved in disaster management on Mobilizing Youth Volunteerism for Disaster Risk Reduction. This workshop was designed to bring together interested youth to explore new and strengthen existing partnership between young people and stakeholders, discuss increasing acknowledgment of young volunteers in DRR, and provide a space to create innovative ideas.
Sam Fellows: Pre SIDS Views
Kia ora, or should I say Talofa,
I am writing this as I am flying to Samoa for what I am sure will be an amazing couple of weeks. With the sun setting beautifully to my left I am getting very excited for what is in store. As you ate probably aware if you are reading this, I am fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to travel to Samoa with an amazing delegation of inspiring young people to participate in the UN SIDS conference.
For anyone reading this who has not read my profile my name is Sam and I am currently a Solicitor at Simpson Grierson in Auckland, previously having completed my law degree and a Master of Sport and Leisure Studies at Waikato University. The main reason I was interested in coming to the SIDS conference was because I believe it offered an excellent opportunity to get a feeling for the real issues facing individuals in our own backyard. I believe it will also be a wonderful opportunity to see what is already happening and be involved in the discussions for what can be done moving forward.
My big passion in the area of development is education and specifically harnessing it to improve the lives of individuals. Additionally as I have studied and participated in a lot of physical activity and physical education I am always interested in ways we can use sport, play, games and physical activity coupled with education to improve overall wellbeing. I strongly believe that education is the best way we can help individual’s lead happy and fulfilling lives. By doing this we do not just help the individual but their families and communities too.
Having never attended a UN conference before I am looking to soak up all the information I can. I am already in awe of my amazing fellow delegates and feel a bit out of my depth, a feeling I am sure I will feel even more when I meet some more of the attendees. But I am looking forward to the challenge. Plus Samoa seems like a pretty awesome place to learn what I can to help make the world a better place.
Keep an eye out for future posts as our trip progresses.
Tofa for now,
Sam
All posts by Institute delegates reflect their own thoughts, opinions and experiences, and do not reflect those of the Institute.
For official Institute updates, take a look here.
Claire Pettigrew: From childhood games to SIDS 2014
My interest in disaster management stems from a board game we had when I was a child. The Red Cross Survival Kit game saw players collecting survival kit items as they went around the board; a torch, radio, batteries, tinned food and so on. My sister and I played this game over and over with various family members and babysitters. The Survival Kit game sparked a passion for disaster preparedness that has continued until today.
Applications open for Small Island Developing States Conference Delegation
The Aotearoa Youth Leadership Institute is thrilled to announce that applications are now open for the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States. Taking place from 1 - 4 September 2014 in Apia, Samoa, this is a fantastic opportunity to gain an understanding of development issues in the Pacific.
Katherine Yip: Why I joined the Aotearoa Youth Leadership Institute
Opportunity. That was the theme for my first year of involvement with the Aotearoa Youth Leadership Institute. I always knew that working in a new youth-led organisation would give me the opportunity to gain a variety of experience that a student or young professional would not be able to gain at university or an established company. But I had greatly underestimated just how many different opportunities would AYLI would present not only to me, but to other youth.
Now hiring!
We're calling for applications to volunteer with the Institute and help us join the next generation of New Zealand leaders.
YOUNGO hand actions
Facilitation is such a crucial aspect to creating a safe space for rich, participatory discussion. I’m a person who has been part of many group projects and I have fallen in love with the hand signals used by YOUNGO – the youth constituency at COP19. Their hand signals are one of the best tools I have seen for enabling facilitation of group discussions. Every morning we have Spokescouncil at 8am in the stadium and this can consist of discussions of well over 100 people with a main speaking body of representatives of around 20. This can easily result in unwieldy conversations but thanks to these hand signals, discussion flows, accessibility is high, and decisions are efficient.
So what are they? Goofy pictures will be best for this.
Saskia McCulloch: The disadvantage of being small.
In the UN system each member state in the voting process counts as one. For example, China, Saudi Arabia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Fiji and New Zealand all have one vote each.
This singular vote is given no matter how large or small the territory or population is, no matter how high or low GDP or poverty levels are, no matter how much each member state has a stake in the negotiations. This values sovereignty as the key identifier of power.