Preparations for the Junior 8 Summit 2009 are well under way12 May 2009, GENEVA - UNICEF National Committees and country offices are in the final stages of selecting the winners for the fifth annual Junior 8 (J8) Summit, a meeting of young people aged 14 to 17, linked to the annual Group of 8 (G8) Summit. This year, the G8 Summit will be held in L’ Aquila, Italy, from the 8-10 July, with the heads of state from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, as well as a number of invited heads of states from other countries (Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mexico and South Africa). In its fifth year, the UNICEF-organized J8 will bring the winning teams from G8 countries together with participants from the invited non-G8 countries sending a clear message to leaders that children from all over the world are equally affected by G8 decisions. Countries will be represented by teams of four young people, who will be selected based on their entry submissions and/or experience of working on the topics that will be discussed during the J8. The selection process will be completed in May and the winning teams will be announced at www.j8summit.com. The finalists will then participate in preparatory workshops in their home countries and travel to Italy in July. J8 participants will start to collect information and discuss their ideas on topics on the G8 agenda using a specially developed online platform ahead of the summit. Participants will then take their recommendations to the leaders. The primary focus of this year’s J8 will be on climate change, HIV/AIDS, and poverty and development in the face of the global financial crisis.
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