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NAYD’S future
Thanks to all those who took the time to complete the questionnaire and an
extra thanks to those who volunteered to help in some way, whether with
INSPIRE, as a Country Co-ordinator or with the WEB. The results are available
to download as a PDF file on the news page. As we approach our 3rd anniversary,
with nearly 700 members worldwide it seems appropriate to remind ourselves
why
NAYD was established.
NAYD’s vision is to help make Africa a safer and more developed place for
all, including women and children of all ages through the joint efforts of
youths. The way forward is paved with determination, hard work, and togetherness
for all African youths exploring meaningful opportunities for our future
generation.
Core Objectives
• To promote and encourage the work done by young Africans in effecting positive
change on the continent.
• To facilitate exchange between youths involved in development, by creating
a network of exchange.
• To further the networks formed by and for young Africans for the development
of the continent.
• To promote recognition of, mobilize and enhance the capacity of young Africans
internationally and provide them with leadership skills to take action against
poverty.
To achieve its vision, NAYD works with associations and groups of youths
across the African continent and beyond to educate, inform and inspire others
to use their power, privilege, skills and abilities to create a better world
for current and future generations.
As we move forward let us join hands and work hard towards making Africa
a great continent to live and work in, a land with equal opportunities for
all, free of corruption and discrimination at last. ¦ PAUL SHAW
Farmers Forum for Trade & Social Justice
he “Farmers Forum for Trade & Social Justice” (FAFOTRAJ) is a Malawian
registered non-governmental organization established in October 2007. Our
intention is to release a quarterly newsletter to share and update partners
and key stakeholders of past achievements, present activities and future
plans for working towards a society that promotes, respects and protects
the rights of smallholder farmers in Malawi.
Despite the stipulation of human rights in the constitution of Malawi and adoption of the international human rights instruments such as the universal declaration of human rights, the convention of rights of Children and other internationally agreed covenants, farmers rights to fair trade practices in Malawi have not been given adequate attention and this has resulted in absolute poverty of the smallholder farmers operating in a sector which is ironically the back bone of our economy, generating 80% of foreign exchange earnings, contributing almost 39% of the GDP and employing 80% of the national workforce.
It is our hope that issues raised in FAFOTRAJ will go a long way to encourage a shared analysis and reflection of our approaches, interventions and practices so that they meet the needs and aspirations of smallholder farmer population we directly serve on the ground.
In future editions we urge the reader to engage with issues raised beyond the realm of your formal interaction with FAFOTRAJ and our partners. We aim to develop farmer-centered initiatives that create wealth and economic investments to smallholder farmers for their sustainable livelihood through on-going social research, capacity building, social mobilization and advocacy at both local and national level while promoting their visibility and linkage at international level.
Finally, we recognize the valuable contributions from farmers, research units and field and support staff whose commitment makes it possible for us to enrich the experiences shared in our newsletter. ■ Calvin Kamchacha
Editor – the first issue of FAFOTRAJ can be downloaded from the NAYD Group attachments
Safe Water and L.E.D. Lighting Operatives Worldwide
Water filtration project in Nyando District, KENYA
joint effort between Safe Water and L.E.D. Lighting Operatives Worldwide
(SWALLOW) Canada, Students for Global Sustainability - University of Nairobi,
health care workers in Nyakongo Dispensary, and members of Nyakongo village
(Nyando District) which focused on biosand filter construction, training
and installation took place in December 2009.
This first project in Kenya was conducted in Nyanza
province within NYANDO District, 
Wawidhi (see adjacent map). The area is
generally hot and humid, with average diurnal temperatures of 28 o C.
It experiences two rainy seasons: long rains between March-May and short
rains between September-October.The
area is bound by Lake Victoria and the Rift Valley highlands which creates
a tropical micro-climate and is supplied with two major permanent rivers
(Nyando and Awach) and a number of seasonal rivers and water ponds.
Access to clean and safe water is a concern to many of the locals all year. Most of these sources dry up during the dry season making perennial water shortages an ongoing problem forcing residents to walk over long distances in such of water for daily needs. Nyando Basin is one of the two districts in Kenya adversely affected by annual floods during the long rainy seasons. There are very high incidences of water-borne diseases like cholera.
Twelve filters were built and installed in the homes of local HIV-positive patients of the Nyakongo Dispensary. Twenty people received training in the filter construction, use and maintenance as a means to disseminate the technology. Strong interest was shown to continue the work and local members identified themselves as wanting to be involved in future projects. ■ Otieno Nickson Otieno
A full report can be downloaded here
Global Youth Service Day (GYSD)
his
years Global Youth Service Day is to be held between 23 to 25 April 2010.
It is a time in the year for youth to come together and focus on the world's
attention on the contributions being made by young people. During GYSD, millions
of youth around the world organise community service projects to address
the needs of their local communities, taking part in a global youth service
movement. For more information, visit www.gysd.org. Young People We Care (YPWC) will be serving
as the Regional Lead Agency for the Global Youth Service Day events and celebrations
in Central and West Africa. Interested organizations and individuals who
would like to work with YPWC to observe GYSD are welcomed to send an expression
of interest email to: gysd@ypwc.org.
Global
Youth Service Day International Volunteer
Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is the largest annual celebration of young
volunteers. Millions of young people in countries around the world carry
out thousands of community improvement projects. Young People We Care has
received a grant from Youth Service America to as it will be working as the
Regional Lead Agency for West and Central Africa. We are looking for 2 –
3 volunteers to assist with event preparation, promotion, implementation
and evaluation of YPWC coordination of events.
Responsibilities:
- Assist in coordination of logistics for conference of 120 youth participants. This may include venue selection, venue set-up, volunteer coordination, food/drink purchase and planning, transportation issues and/or schedule creation. Create and send promotional reminders and invitations to youth organizations, attendees and guest speakers via email or regular mail.
- Assist in the production of event materials that are accessible to people with all levels of reading ability.
- Develop a means of evaluation with the assistance of YPWC staff (i.e. questionnaire, small post-event focus groups or one-on-one interviews with a selected group of participants).
- Implement evaluation tool and compile evaluation results.
- Other duties as assigned by Global Youth Service Day Project Manager.
Desired skills/interests include:
- Strong oral and written communication skills
- Strong attention to detail
- Excellent organizational skills
- Knowledge of Microsoft Office (especially Excel)
- Experience working cross-culturally
- Flexibility is a must for this position
- Event planning and publication design experience a plus
If you feel you have what it takes to succeed as a Global Youth Service Day International Volunteer, please forward your resume and a cover letter outlining why you are interested in this position to YPWC International Volunteer Programme at vip@ypwc.org. You can expect a response within five to seven business days.
For more information about Global Youth Service Day, visit: http://www.gysd.org .■ Michael Boampang
Global Unification Gambia – ‘Advancing humanity’
lobal
Unification - The Gambia (GU) is a legally registered research and development
association and an associate member of Global Unification International.
GU - The Gambia was conceptualized and formulated in the University of The
Gambia and officially registered on 15th November 2006.
Currently, the association is operating in three regions of The Gambia with 120 volunteers who are directly engaging poor and underprivileged people within our communities, supporting them in their struggle to offset their poverty situations.
Our
Dynamic Team Members
Our
Our objective is to improve the capacity and efficiency of individuals and groups, in the delivering of quality services, utilizing best International Practices and Standards, to meet the needs of our local communities.
GU integrates professionals,
institutions, and organizations with the latest available technology in systems
and applications, designed specially to improve performance in acceleration
of sustainable development in poor communities in the
Professionals now have the historically, unprecedented, technological capacity to improve the standards of living of our people.
Our vision: We believe in the unity of mankind – that all people matter, and that the world is run under one system, as one planet, ensuring mankind’s survival.
We
believe that the word ¨Poverty¨ should be removed from our dictionary
and that there should no longer be poor countries or poor people on our planet.
We believe that the differences between us, which make life interesting, and that we should cherish these differences, not ignore them.
When it comes down to it, is the people of the world who have to change our world, and we can only start with ourselves.
Our Priority Program: To achieve our objectives, we have divided our work into five priority programs called domains. These are:
1. Information Communication Technology
2. Youth Affairs
3. Women Affairs (with reference to HIV/AIDS, Gender Based Violence and FGM)
4. Advocacy, Lobby and Campaigns (With reference to Environment, Climate Change, Africa Unity, Democracy and Good Governance)
5. Children Affairs
Contact us:
www.globalunification.com and www.myspace.com/gugambia
ASASS Burundi
n 2009 ASASS-Burundi partnered with the Humanitarian initiative
Sight and Life and received grants for Micronutrient deficiency combating,
hidden higher and nutritional anaemia as well as Vitamin A deficiency alleviation
in Burundi and among children and women.
More than 3.5 million children under 5 die from malnutrition. ASASS-Burundi advocates that everyone has access to their fundamental needs: nutrition public health awareness, enhance capacity of Trainer of Trainers (TOT), nutrition community animators, and medical researchers and empower students in various universities. It also provides basic medical services and healthcare including protection and nutrition counselling.
Over than 9.450 children and young people within communities and schools were reached through community outreach programs, gatherings, workshops, and campaigns and emergency intervention in both rural and urban communities and primary schools.
(1) ASASS-Burundi works to help children, poor youths, women and various vulnerable including older.
(2) Young members conduct field research to understand the current state of affairs in Burundi and identify the most pressing needs and then create programs to address these needs.
(3) ASASS-Burundi advocate for better live and approaches for the future sustainability live hoods, particularly in the marginalized areas, which are basically viewed as a possible means of creation of opportunities for young people participation, create youth employment and generate income for charity programs as well as the ownership of assets and social inclusion to reduce the vulnerability of the rural poor and all urban people live in unacceptable condition of poverty, public health diseases and social plagues (HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria, Malnutrition, reproductive health and family planning problems)
(4) ASASS-Burundi believes that improved youth leadership and increased youth participation in program planning, needs assessment, in decision making and in implementation of programs will translate into a better family, a better community for all.
(5) It advocate to run awareness and increase basic community healthcare and affordable information and accessible medical services
(6) Strengthen the capacity of human Resource and train member of the communities and promote ICT.
ASASS-Burundi linking under the same umbrella a wide range of activities and organizations supports the achievement of the 8 MDGs goals and African youth charter starting at the grassroots level, where needs are most felt and human rights are often ignored:
- End Poverty and Hunger
- Universal Education
- Gender Equality
- Child Health
- Maternal Health
- Combat HIV/AIDS
- Environmental Sustainability
- Global Partnership
ASASS-BURUNDI is entirely youth based. Since 2008,
we have increased the number of PHD Doctors collaborators as well as medical
students and doctors volunteers who contribute to the humanitarian projects
of the organisations.
With Partnership established with IWITH.ORG Foundation of Spain, ASASS-Burundi has sent its member to Europe for sustainable development dialogues. It provides exciting opportunities to directly engage youth Coalitions, NGOs worldwide, students in Universities and PH.D Doctors Internationally.
ASASS-Burundi counts on more than 30 active members and the participation of over 10 National youth Coalitions, councils and organisations.
Jean-Claude KAMWENUBUSA-President of ASASS-BURUNDI and NAYD Country Coordinator Burundi Email: info@healthwelfarework.org www.healthwelfarework.org
United Youth for Peace Project
ldoret is one of the towns in Kenya that was
hardest hit by the post election violence that erupted after the 2007 General
Elections. Eldoret recorded the largest number of Internally Displaced Persons
(IDPs) with property worth hundreds of millions of Kenya shillings being
destroyed, including residential structures.
Although every one involved in the violence suffered in one way or the other, the worst affected were women and children. Many of these watched their husbands and fathers hacked to death and the trauma that resulted was unbearable. In many families in Kenya, fathers are traditionally the bread winners while women are majorly home makers. This however had to change as many women either lost their husbands during the violence or had them incapacitated as a result of the fights. The mothers were therefore forced to assume the unfamiliar role of providing for their families.
This
was made even difficult by the fact that these families were displaced with
most of them still living in camps. The children, having been displaced from
their schools had to settle for makeshift schools in the camps where fellow
displaced people volunteered to teach them. Most of the volunteers were not
qualified teachers but their contribution was very important, especially
for the children who were preparing for the national examinations later in
the year. With few volunteers and overwhelming number of students, the volunteer
teachers concentrated on the candidates leaving the other students with very
little or no attention at all.
Although the government has made a lot of efforts to resettle the internally displaced persons, very little has been achieved in terms of restoring normalcy in the lives of these people. The money that was assigned for the resettlement exercise was too little and many displaced persons used it all in less than two weeks, without even putting up their houses. The exercise was also marred with several irregularities and up to now, a large number of displaced persons are still living in tents at the Eldoret Show Ground.
Above
all these problems, there has been a lot of suspicion between neighbors for
those who managed to go back to their former areas of residence. With the
bitterness of losing loved ones and having to live with those who participated
in the loss of their family members and the destruction of their properties,
the tension is great.
It was in this background that the Students for Global Sustainability – University of Nairobi partnered with two College of Notre Dame, Maryland students to undertake a “United Youth for Peace Project in Eldoret”.
The project aspired to involve a diverse group of young Kenyans in the process of national reconciliation through voluntary service in terms of workshops that foster sustainable community development. As a result, the participants of the United Youth for Peace contributed to peace building by gathering ethically diverse members of the struggling Langas community of Eldoret for the common cause of personal development, such as practical adult workshops on health awareness, sustainable development and national reconciliation, entrepreneurial guidance to an organized group of women, and daily Mathematics, English and Social Science classes to children who have no access to education. ■ Otieno Nickson Otieno
Email: otienonickson@gmail.com Web: www.wscsd.org or www.unitedyouthpeace.webs.com
A full report with many pictures showing this peace making project can be downloaded here
OPINION – Africa’s Natural Resources
he increasing investments in Africa have made
our resources in danger. We have opened all our doors while theirs remain
closed. The corrupt African leadership in collaboration with foreign investors
continue to exploit both human and natural resources to the extent that we
Africans have lost control of our valuables. They take more and give
us little in return. Our minds are mindless and we can't see that we are
being exploited and when we do see we can't speak loudly to serve our resources.
Those who know are watch dogs of foreign investors.
In Africa today as investments increase poverty grows as well. The countries which have high foreign investments have also high levels of poverty. The First President of Tanzania Mwalimu J.K. Nyerere said African leadership and its people must work hard to make sure that resources are kept safely until people are educated enough to use them. But recent African leadership has abandoned this valuable argument and adopted foreign policies which put our resources in danger. This young generation cannot wait to speak even if Africa Youths are said to be a Nation of Tomorrow. No! We are the nation of today. Because we are said to be the nation of tomorrow in Africa the most unemployed people are the educated youths. If youths speak out AFRICA will be GREAT. ■ Victor Mwaipungu, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Editor – an article titled ‘Are Africa’s Natural Resources a Hindrance to Peace and Development? can be found in INSPIRE 11
OPINION - Pledoyer pour la democratie ou les etats des resistances passives
Etat, que j’appellerais « des résistances passives » dans
le monde arabe, induit à mon sens deux clichés qui ne peuvent échapper à la
critique constructive que je préconise. Pour commencer, il y a le constat
navrant qui frappe le bon sens et qui caractérise les sociétés non démocratiques,
celui du total « vide d’acteurs » 
civils et sociaux, associé à d’autres
aspects tout aussi caractéristiques que galvanisants comme l’autoritarisme,
le militarisme ou les tiraillements des Etats de la région qui n’ont pour
corollaire mécanique que la confiscation rédhibitoire de tout espace autonome
contestation sociale et de mobilisation citoyenne. 
En second lieu commun, se profile hélas cette vision simplifiée et réifiée de ceux et celles que j’appelle les « fous de Dieu », figure qui vient figer et surdimensionner la rhétorique religieuse dans ce qui est à considérer comme l’épuisement de l’essentiel des formes protestataires dans l’espace sociopolitique arabe.
Il est évident que dans ce jeu politico-religieux, les contradictions supposées intrinsèques entre mouvements islamistes et dynamiques de modernisation sociale et politique sont fixées a priori dans une logique d’attentisme et de vide d’alternative de changement.
Or, alors que dans le monde arabe, les réalités des résistances à l’ordre établi et aux inégalités sociales apparaissent à la fois plus denses et plus complexes, à un deuxième niveau de lecture, force est de constater que l’échec des politiques de développement mimétique, l’essoufflement des moteurs idéologiques (socialisme, nationalisme, panarabisme) des Etats postcoloniaux, associés aux crises laissées ouvertes par la libéralisation économique, la mondialisation et la géopolitique du pétrole nourrissent sans cesse le mécontentement social et ouvrent la voie à la (ré)émergence de sociétés civiles identitaires et nationalistes.
Face à une telle débâcle, les réactions des pouvoirs contestés, mis en demeure, oscillent entre éradication, répression cachée, cooptation sélective, pseudo-ouvertures et intégration neutralisante à la scène politique. ■ Abdallah Rouhli, Belgium
Thanks to NAYD!
Dear All,
The Board & Entire membership of Youth Alliance The Gambia wish to extend thier sincere gratitude and appreciation to you and your various organisations in joining and contributing to the success of our 4 day capacity building youth Camp which was held at the Gambia College 18th-21st Feb 2010. Without the support of people like you, we would not have been able to reach our goals. Thank you once again for your generous support of our alliance and for your continuing support. It is through the positive efforts of people like you that we can Change a Lifetime for youths in need.
Sincerely, Youth Alliance-The Gambia