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| © UNICEF, 2006/Alena Svirid |
By Janusch, Germany
12 July 2006
Pushkin (St. Petersburg), Russia
“All of us have the possibility to change something within the next three to five years, but we need to start now“, stressed Andrey Fursenko, the Russian Minister for Education, yesterday.
The discussions on “education“ started with a presentation by Minister Fursenko. Later, all the young people had the opportunity to ask him questions. They wanted to know, for example, if the Russian government is willing to support developing countries with financial funds to give poor families access to education. Although the minister did not really respond to the question, he was aware of the problem and wanted to address it.
The Junior 8 opening press conference, attended by eight young people, UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Sir Roger Moore, conveyed an even stronger message: We have the opportunity to change something and we will use this chance.
After the press conference, the delegates had a question and answer session with Ann Veneman and Roger Moore about the topics of the Junior 8 summit and the goals of UNICEF. Ms. Veneman pointed out that “one third of all humans are children. 115 million children do not have access to education. Changing this is one of the main goals of UNICEF“. Everybody was touched when Ms. Veneman told the children about the sad experiences of child soldiers.
The students had the opportunity to chat with Sir Roger Moore. Happy faces could be seen everywhere – nobody will forget this experience. “Roger Moore is a legend. He is 78 years old and involved in so many UNICEF projects. I always see him travelling for UNICEF all over the world, he is fantastic!“
The delegates discussed HIV/AIDS with a lot of passion and produced a first resolution for action. The delegates also decided to start a discussion on the internet, as their first contribution to helping solve the problem.
During discussions about education, the young people started to think of ways that politicians, parents, teachers and children in developing countries can help to raise the global level of education. One of the proposals is to use the interest on bank loans for development to buy school supplies and to build schools.
That evening, the young delegates had the opportunity to meet Evgenyi Pluschenko, a Russian figure skater and the 2006 Olympic Games champion. Pluschenko said that it was a great experience for the children to meet all together in St. Petersburg: “I am really interested in what you are doing here, because I am also young, and your future is also mine.“
The day concluded with a song on the bus ride home that captured the main challenge facing all Junior 8 delegates: “It is not your fault that the world is like it is, it would only be your fault if it stays like this“.
