MAGIC news archive
June 2005

AWARDS
Macedonian Students Flown To United States to Be Honored for Their Work in Public Service

PROMAX&BDA 2005 was the backdrop for a very special presentation as editor Eleonora Veninova, producer Ivana Bidikova and cameraperson Aleksandar Mickov were honored for their work in public service. The Macedonian college students won UNICEF's Voices of Youth 'Make a Difference' One-Minute Video Contest for the one-minute PSA entitled "Youth of the World, Youth for the World."
Their video submission was part of a competition that attracted 78 unique and moving entries from young people all over the world. As part of the top prize, the three-member team was flown to New York where they took the stage Thursday to accept their award and discuss the project.
The Voices of Youth competition which was open to anyone under the age of 25 anywhere in the world asked contestants to demonstrate how young people are speaking out, taking action and making a difference in their community and the world at large. Although 10 talented finalist entries were chosen, the Macedonian team's compelling spot stood out and stole the hearts of an international committee that included both youth and adult judges.
FULL TEXT
WINNING VIDEO ON THE VOY WEBSITE - LOW or HIGH

OPPORTUNITIES
Japan Prize 2005 - TV stations urged to send in their educational programmes before August 31st, 2005

MORE INFO

EVENTS
Regional workshop for children's media initiatives to further child rights in South & Central Asia - 17th - 21st July 2005 in Kathmandu, Nepal
Save the Children members with their partners, as well as other agencies in South & Central Asia have involved themselves in a number of media related activities, which have been led by children. While some children’s media initiatives revolve around traditional media like theatre and puppetry, others have encouraged children to use contemporary media like newspapers, TV and radio.
However, most of these innovative initiatives exist in isolation and/or face challenges in sustainability, as there is not enough space or support to ensure that these efforts are maintained over time. There is a need to recognise, acknowledge and encourage children’s media initiatives and support them to become stronger and sustainable. Child journalists have identified the need for additional capacity building in advocacy, media literacy and increased support to build partnerships between the media/policy makers/civil society and children’s own media initiatives.
Moreover, amongst children and development workers there is great interest in learning from existing experiences, developing networks amongst children’s media groups and enhancing partnerships with children’s organisations and the media at different levels nationally and regionally.
In this connection, Save the Children Sweden, Regional Programme for South and Central Asia is organising a children and media workshop which aims to promote children’s effective and sustained participation in the media and build linkages amongst initiatives.
Please send all your queries to Neha Bhandari, Regional Consultant, with a copy to Y. G. Bhavani, Regional Advisor Child Participation and Positive Discipline.

COMPETITIONS
MediaCorp's Arts Central launches contest for new story ideas
MediaCorp's Arts Central is launching a competition to search for new story ideas for TV documentaries, comedies, dramas and children's programmes.
Called Project Pilot, it aims to provide a platform for budding directors, producers and writers with three categories of competition. (...)
In the Media Students Category, the winning school will get $3,000 and the student team offered a one-year employment contract with MediaCorp.
The public can take part in a 3G competition where they can submit a simple fun one-minute clip shot on digital video. (...)
"The whole idea of Project Pilot is three-fold. We hope to excite the production houses, we hope to excite students and we hope to excite viewers at large in Singapore," said MediaCorp TV12 CEO, Alice Tan.
FULL TEXT FROM Channel NewsAsia

INTERNET
Young people and cyber-hate in Belgium
The Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism (CEOOR) acts against the small minority of Internet users who promote hate and discrimination. It only resorts to legal action in the most extreme cases.
For young people, the Internet reflects the real world. It is a place to meet and interact, and hateful or provocative material is rare. As in the real world, a small minority of websites do promote hate, for example against Africans, Muslims and homosexuals. The mass distribution of hate mails blaming immigrants for violent attacks is also an alarming phenomenon.
The Centre reacts to this kind of content even if it is often intended as a joke. The danger is that society might become more accepting of racism if everyone distributes messages of this kind.
FULL TEXT

EDITORIALS
Media's responsibility towards children by Munima Sultana from Bangladesh
(...) Bangladesh, being one of the member states that ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child of the United Nations (UNCRC), is bound to ensure child rights. These include the rights to expression, thought, and freedom to religion, rights to life and play, rights to association and club, rights to information from the state and media as well as rights to knowledge and information. Not only this, the nation is committed to meet eight challenges of Millennium Development Goals, most of which cover child rights. Besides, implementation of Palermo Protocol, ILO Convention on Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour, decade for peace and non-violent cultural decade 2001-10, etc., have put the responsibilities on the journalists. (...)
FULL TEXT OF THE EDITORIAL
THE FULL CRC TEXT IN ALMOST 50 LANGUAGES

RESEARCH
TV & Radio lose out to Internet among Youth audience - EIAA research reveals increasing and more sophisticated usage of the Internet among 15-24 year olds
London, 21st June 2005 – 15-24 year olds across Europe are spending less time watching TV and listening to the radio as a result of using the Internet, according to research from the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA), the pan-European trade organisation for sellers of interactive media. Almost half of 15-24 year olds (46%) are watching less TV, preferring instead to browse the web while 22% are listening to less radio. A third of those questioned are even reading less, choosing to consume information over the Internet.
MORE INFO HERE: THE EIAA WEBSITE OR MAGIC RESOURCES

OPPORTUNITIES
Become a UN youth delegate
Some countries already have programmes to select youth delegates, but unfortunately, most don't. One of the easiest ways to find out whether or not your country does, is to check our interviews with past delegates. If your country has had a past representative, chances are they have a programme to select future ones. In the interviews, past delegates explain how they were selected.
MORE INFO FROM THE UN WEBSITE

EVENTS
3rd Kids For Kids Festival

The 3nd edition of Kids For Kids Festival showed an enthusiastic participation from around the world, it made us realized once again the enormous potential of the project and its ability to encourage and motivate not only the young filmmakers, but also the adults who work with them, and to create worldwide links. This 3rd edition will take place in Naples, Italy, from June 30 to July 1. In all, 350 films from 59 countries were registered. The pre-selection committee selected 45 films from 27 countries, which will be presented at the official competition in Italy.
FESTIVAL WEBSITE

PROJECTS / CHILDRENS' ART
Healing Arts for Tsunami Survivors - Artwork

Qanita's artwork shows children studying in a tent, because their schools were devastated by the tsunami - Qanita Qamarani (9) & ICAF, 2005
The artworks on this page were created by child survivors of the Asian tsunami. They express their fears, worries, hopes and daily life experiences in their art.
Healing Arts for Tsunami Survivors is an art therapy program to help the 1.5 million child survivors of the tsunami tragedy. An initial three-phase program has been developed to help the children heal and resume normal lives. Your donations and support will help the program reach as many children as possible.
MORE ON THIS PROJECT

RESEARCH
TV & Radio lose out to Internet among Youth audience - EIAA research reveals increasing and more sophisticated usage of the Internet among 15-24 year olds
London, 21st June 2005 - 15-24 year olds across Europe are spending less time watching TV and listening to the radio as a result of using the Internet, according to research from the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA), the pan-European trade organisation for sellers of interactive media. Almost half of 15-24 year olds (46%) are watching less TV, preferring instead to browse the web while 22% are listening to less radio. A third of those questioned are even reading less, choosing to consume information over the Internet.
SOURCE AND MORE INFO

AWARDS
Science journalism contest to honor coverage for children
An annual science journalism contest has announced a new category for 2005: excellence in reporting news on science for children. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) organizes the Science Journalism Awards to recognize outstanding coverage of the sciences, engineering and mathematics. Most of the categories are open only to U.S. news media. However, the new category is international, and is open to print, broadcast and online journalists worldwide whose work is geared toward children, including young teens.
Entries, due August 1, must have been published or broadcast between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005. English-language translations of international entries are requested whenever possible. Committees of reporters, editors and scientists will judge entries based on scientific accuracy, initiative, originality, clarity of interpretation, and the ability to foster a better understanding of science.
SOURCE - INFO IN SPANISH - INFO IN PORTUGUESE

PARTICIPATION
Online forum for the UN Study on Violence Against Children (Regional Consultation Europe & Central Asia)
The Regional Consultation for the UN Study on Violence Against Children is ongoing and there climax in a big event in Slovenia in early July. There will be 25 children/young people representing the youths from Europe & Central Asia. You can contact these young "ambassadors" now in an online forum on the UNICEF Voices of Youth (VOY) website. Tell them what messages you want to make heard at the Regional Consultation Conference!
SPEAK OUT ON VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN

NEWS
TV or not TV? Children's work code to decide - Australia
Television viewers will remember Sean Wemyss, 6, as the boy who ran after the cow to try to make the best ice-cream. Radio listeners will recognise his cute voice as Rex Hunt's sidekick "Little Billy" in real estate advertisements.
Until now, the way Sean has worked in Victoria has been largely unregulated, but overseen by his parents, Stig and Megan, who are actors.
This is about to change when the Victorian Government approves a code of conduct for the entertainment industry. A working party of film and TV producers, media unionists and government experts developed the code.
FULL ARTICLE

PROJECTS
Blind and Visually Impaired Youth Introduced to ICT at Nepal CMC
Lumbini Community Multimedia Centre (CMC) has recently organized a one-day orientation programme for blind and visually-impaired students of Shri Shanti Model Secondary School in Manigram, a village in Western Nepal. Shri Shanti local government school has about 850 students twenty-eight of which are either blind or visually impaired.
"For me, the computer was entirely new. I had never used it before. The centre here not only gave me an opportunity to know about ICT, but also arranged training for me and other students," said an excited Kamal Tharu. Kamal is a visually impaired student in class nine of Shri Shanti School, who has participated, together with seven other students, in the ICT orientation organized by Lumbini CMC.
FULL ARTICLE

TRAINING
A team of young journalists from Moldova will become trainers in mass media activities

15 young journalists, ages between 17-25, chosen in a contest, met Friday, June 10th, in the first step for developing trainers in mass media activities. The training was held in Chisinau, (June 10th-14th) by 2 national experts in the field. During the training, the participants achieved knowledge and abilities to conduct a media course for youth who activate at school radio stations and newspapers.
In the second month of summer, the team of young trainers will meet again in the second step of instruction (July 12th- 16th). After the end of these 2 sessions, the young trainers will have the chance to apply their knowledge in a summer school where 60 young people from school newspapers and school radio stations from all around the country will meet.
This training of trainers is the first activity in the project "Promoting young journalist from Moldova, including Gagauzia and Transnistria in Multiculturalism", started off by the Youth Media Centre, supported by IFA and Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, sponsored by Germany.

COMPETITIONS
Poetry competition launched by UNICEF UK
UNICEF UK together with the Eastern Daily Press are looking for short poems written (in English) by children from around the world on the theme of 'The Future'
All entries should be sent to carolineg@unicef.org.uk together with a picture and a brief biography of the writer. Closing Date is June 24th 2005.
For any questions or further information please email us.

EVENTS
Jugendmedienevent 2005 in Essen, Germany & Brussels, Belgium

WEBSITE

TECHNOLOGY
Mobile phones ring silent but true in Thai school for the deaf
Most Bangkok schools have banned cell phones in the classroom, after students were caught using text messages to cheat on tests. But at the city's first school for the deaf, students are encouraged to bring their phones to classes where SMS text messages have become a valuable teaching tool.
In this strikingly silent school, where bells don't ring and students chat with their hands in the hallways, students are to be seen busily using their thumbs to speak to friends, teachers and their families.
Teachers at Sethsathien School, which opened in 1953, have steadily incorporated the phones to help children's education and their efforts to communicate better with the outside world - and each other.
Rungravee Ditchareon, an art teacher for four years at the school, says students are allowed to bring their mobile phones because the technology can have an important effect on their lives.
FULL ARTICLE

EVENTS
4to Festival Internacional de Cine Nueva Mirada Para La Infancia Y La Juventud - in Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 27 - November 2, 2005

WEBSITE

GRANTS
International Deaf Children's Society (IDCS) Small Grants Programme
Round 4 of the International Deaf Children's Society (IDCS) Small Grants Programme opened on 1 June 2005. SGP offers grants of up to £10,000 for projects that offer measurable and sustainable improvements to the individual lives of deaf children and their families. This could be through:
- empowering deaf children, young deaf people and their families by bringing them together to discuss common issues and advocate for the improvement of services
- developing or improving services which empower deaf children, young deaf people and/or their families in the areas of early years support, education, emotional and social development, vocational training and youth programmes
All projects must include activities which are either led by parents or young deaf people or which work towards the full participation of parents or young people. Organisations registered in one of the SGP eligible countries, and that can demonstrate a capacity to manage the grant funds can apply to Round 4 of SGP. Applications are only accepted if they are in the SGP concept note format and they must be submitted before 31 July 2005.
MORE INFO

NEWS
Malaysian ST Media Club sends 11 students on three-day trip to KL - Budding journalists from Straits Times Media Club visit major Malaysian newspapers and interact with media club members
Eleven students from six secondary schools, all members of The Straits Times (ST) Media Club, left Singapore yesterday to meet their counterparts in Kuala Lumpur.
The three-day visit is the first overseas youth exchange programme organised for the club by The Straits Times. The students, ranging from Secondary 2 to 5, will meet the management, editors and journalists of Malaysia's top two English dailies: The Star and the New Straits Times. They will also get to see the newspaper production room in action and visit a local secondary school.
However, the highlight of the trip for these students, who are mainly the editors and presidents of their school newsletters or media clubs, will be meeting the two newspapers' own youth media clubs.
"I'm excited to see how youths in other countries run their media clubs and how we can learn from them," said 15-year-old Desmond Chew. The Secondary 4 student from Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) will give a presentation on IN, The Straits Times' youth paper. Desmond is president of the IN Crowd, The Straits Times' student advisory panel for IN.
FULL ARTICLE FROM THE STRAITS TIMES

ATICLES
Can Teens Save the Newspaper Business? - Radio and online journalism have embraced youth media. Print publications need to get with the program
Early last year I attended a conference, hosted by the Time Warner Foundation, for adults who help teens produce their own media. One of the writers I'd worked with, 20-year-old Miguel, came with me. He listened intently when a panel of editors and producers from mainstream media outlets mentioned their desire to appeal to a younger audience. It's a hot topic, as newspapers and television news have steadily lost young readers and viewers for the last two decades.
Miguel sensed that he might be part of the solution. His articles for Represent, the magazine by teens in foster care, which I edited, were among the most popular with its young readership. Miguel asked how he might get one of his stories reprinted in a glossy publication. One editor politely explained that magazines like hers do not reprint stories-they want original material-but Miguel was welcome to pitch a story to the magazine directly. If they liked his pitch, Miguel could write it on assignment.
FULL ARTICL

TRAINING
TV Producers Training HIV/AIDS In Benin
Eleven young television producers representing eight countries in Francophone West Africa embarked on a pilot networking and television programme exchange project yesterday in Cotonou, Benin.
This is the second African workshop to take place under the title "You, Me and HIV/AIDS" as part of the Global Network for Young TV Producers on HIV/AIDS project.
The objective of the workshop is to increase young people's involvement in producing high quality television productions that reflect the challenge and the positive spirit of people affected by HIV/AIDS.
FULL ARTICLE

RESEARCH
Media Violence May Affect Children's Minds - Exposure to Media Violence May Alter Brain Activity in Nonviolent Children Watching violent television programs or video games may affect children's minds even if they don't have a history of aggressive behavior, a new study shows.
Researchers found nonaggressive children who had been exposed to high levels of media violence had similar patterns of activity in an area of the brain linked to self-control and attention as aggressive children who had been diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorder.
FULL ARTICLE

OPPORTUNITIES / PROJECTS
Youth OUT LOUD! - If you have a story to tell, then join us,
and we will help you tell the world!

Youth OUT LOUD! is an independent news service where youth from across the globe can have a powerful voice in the mainstream press. Through the Youth Empowerment Alliance (YEA), a worldwide network of youth-serving organizations, Youth OUT LOUD! obtains and distributes weekly youth-generated stories to international media outlets, with its network of youth story tellers in more than 150 countries. YMN invites youth to express viewpoints on current events, social issues, pop culture and other topics important to them. The collected responses are offered to mainstream media as stories for publication in magazines, newspapers, websites, etc.
Issues arise daily that affect youth; however, these voices are rarely heard. Youth from an affected region can provide a first-person story of events that have affected their lives, such as living with a parent with AIDS, the Asian tsunami, living in Iraq during the war or what happens at your school when a crisis occurs. Youth from around the world are invited to write about their lives: what their daily life is like, what they fear and their dreams of the future. Several of these stories can culminate in an in-depth, global perspective on a particular issue. The topics may be light, such as "how we celebrate Christmas at my house" to more serious issues as "the day I heard my parent was killed in the war" or "living with cancer." All of these stories from youth can be compiled into a collection of articles, surveys, opinion pieces, diary entries, location updates, youth profiles, or be subject to inclusion in larger works by journalists.
Youth OUT LOUD! invites YOU to tell us your stories, by first registering on the TIG groups website and then sending us your stories. The website moderator will ask for your input and experiences on a variety of topics throughout the year. Some of your stories may be selected as: Feature Stories, Snapshots and Postcards and sent to media outlets worldwide!
For more information about the Youth Empowerment Alliance, go to: www.yealliance.org
Download the Youth OUT LOUD! flyer (6 MB, pdf-file)

EVENTS
Experts Meeting on Violence in Cyberspace - !2-13 June 2005 in Bangkok, Thailand
The ECPAT International Secretariat is holding a meeting of international experts on violence against children in cyberspace, virtual settings and through new technologies. ECPAT International is coordinating information on this topic for the UN Study on Violence against Children. The experts will advise on the various forms of violence against children in these virtual settings, including sexual abuse and exploitation, bullying and psychological manipulation. Some of the expert advisors will also participate in the workshop on Violence in Cyberspace at the East Asia Pacific Regional Consultation on the UN Study on Violence against Children, 14-16 June, 2005 in Bangkok.
For more information, contact:
Karen Mangnall
ECPAT International
Tel: + 66 2 215 3388
Email: karenm@ecpat.net
Project website

TRAINING
"OneMinute for my rights" training-of-trainers workshop in the Caribbean

OneMinute For My Rights workshop in Suriname - UNICEF Suriname / 2005
Paramaribo, Suriname May 30 to June 3, 2005 - UNICEF and the Sandberg Institute, with the support of the Surinamese Academy of Arts and Higher Learning (AHKCO), sponsored a one week training of trainers workshop, tutoring a selected group of allies, on how to conduct oneminute video workshops for adolescents.
The original idea of oneminute videos came to life after two students from the Sandberg Institute asked their friends to turn a minute into "oneminute for freedom" or "oneminute for an idea of your own". The result was a surprising though serious programme which became a monthly program on cable television, engaging participants and followers from around 40 European countries.
Then in 2001, ECF, UNICEF and the Sandberg Institute, successfully launched "The Oneminutes Junior" for young people in Europe, this inspired the link to a Latin-American and Caribbean "Oneminute for My Rights" initiative.
A group of people representing eight Caribbean countries were greeted by their Surinamese colleagues in Paramaribo, and together they met their two Dutch instructors from the Sandberg institute who volunteered their vast experience with "Oneminute" and "Oneminute Jr. in Europe".
The instructors interacted with twenty talented young video professionals, including four XChange mentors, who with the support from the UNICEF Caribbean Country Offices helped build the foundations for the first "Oneminute for My Rights" initiative in the region. After having traveled long hours to be in Paramaribo and despite the age differences - from 19 years old to 30 years old -- the participants enthusiastically received important feedback from UNICEF about the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the reasons why we believe audio visual technology know how is an important asset for the Caribbean and Latin American children.
The Adolescents' Declaration from the 4th World Summit on Media for Children and Adolescents concludes that it is important to discuss the democratization of production, the use of the media, and of information. This Declaration also states that "instead of changing the media, it should be used to eradicate violence, poverty and to facilitate access to education". "Oneminute for My Rights" will empower adolescents to express themselves to a broader audience, and it will open spaces within their communities for a better and meaningful participation.
The group also had the opportunity to discuss the XChange Movement with some of the mentors from Guyana, Belize, Jamaica and Haiti. XChange was launched last March, 2005, in Trinidad for young Caribbean people to build their own new identity, a culture of peace, and learning. It is intended as an alternative to violence providing them with the necessary values and competences to promote a positive transition to adulthood.
With this in mind the participants toured the tropical city of Paramaribo, filming places and people who happily agreed to perform for their "Oneminute for My Rights" videos. The workshop ended with a presentation of the first twenty Caribbean "Oneminute for My Rights" videos to UNICEF Suriname's counterparts, opinion leaders and other very important guests in a meaningful evening of camaraderie and plans for following up this valuable project.
Further information:
Robert Cohen
Regional Communication Officer
UNICEF TACRO (The Americas & Caribbean Regional Office)
e-mail: rcohen@unicef.org
Direct Phone: (507) 315-7484
Fax: (507) 317-0258

CALL FOR ENTRIES
Prix Europa SPOT- Call for entries

The Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany is calling upon all young talented European film-makers to enter spots of up to one minute in length for the Prix Europa SPOT "My Europe" competition.
We are looking for spots, advertising Europe and transcending national, cultural and language borders. They should communicate a very personal vision of Europe - of Europe as a place of opportunity and change, as a source of hope, confidence and dynamism.
Participants entering spots should either be training in the media field or have recently completed such training. The films must be up to one minute long and should rely more on strong images than on long dialogues.
The Prix Europa SPOT will be awarded by a special jury. Deadline for entries is 1 August 2005. Online registration and details on www.prix-europa.de. The award will consist of prize money amounting to €6,000, a certificate, the PRIX EUROPA Trophy and the German Foreign Office's intention to use the prize-winning spot to advertise and promote Europe. The donor and patron of this prize is the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

RESEARCH
Children and young people in the Argentinian press - Ninez y adolescencia en la prensa Argentina
La investigación del Capítulo Infancia de Periodismo Social. Un estudio sin precedentes en el país, basado en el análisis de 23 mil noticias publicadas por 12 diarios nacionales y provinciales. El informe completo en el documento PDF adjunto.

RESEARCH
Rates of Computer and Internet Use by Children in Nursery School and Students in Kindergarten Through Twelfth Grade
This Issue Brief describes the percentage of students in grades 12 or below who used computers or the Internet in 2003. The Brief highlights the fact that computer and Internet use is commonplace and begins early. Even before kindergarten, a majority of children in nursery school use computers and, and 23 percent use the Internet.
FULL RESEARCH DOCUMENT

RESOURCES
'MediaRelate: Understanding Media Images of Love, Sex and Relationships'
Media Relate is a practical media and sex education project that has resulted in the publication of a set of teaching materials, including a booklet, a DVD and a website. The project emerges from our earlier research in this field, which demonstrated young people's enthusiasm for learning about personal and sexual issues from the media rather than from parents or school. (See the report, 'Children, Media and Personal Relationships' (www.mediarelate.org), and book, 'Young People, Sex and the Media: the facts of life?', by David Buckingham and Sara Bragg (2004, Palgrave Macmillan)).
CHECK OUT THE RESOURCES ON THE MEDIARELATE WEBSITE

TRAINING
Youth journalists and photographers (Myanmar)
During 2005, UNICEF Myanmar will be training a team of youth journalists and photographers who will be teamed with professional journalists working for private publications, and who will report on the issues and events that are important to them. Their work will appear on this page.
UNICEF Myanmar sends young journalist to Regional Children's Conference
28 March 2005 - UNICEF recently sponsored a young journalist from Myanmar - Kyaw Hsu Mon of Flower News - to attend the 7th East Asia and Pacific Ministerial Consultation on Children, during which 20 countries from the region made commitments on a range of children's issues, including disparity, child survival and adolescent development.
Kyaw Hsu Mon reported on the regional Young People's Forum preceding the Consultation, as well as the Consultation itself. "It was a good chance to meet other young journalists around the Mekong region, and learn how media work in other countries," said Kyaw Hsu Mon, who, along with 21 other Myanmar journalists, received UNICEF-sponsored training last year on international-standard reporting skills, child-focused reporting and media ethics.
SOURCE

MEDIA CAMPAIGNS
"Be Smart.Be Safe." Government of Lao PDR, UNICEF launch media awareness campaign to protect young people from dangers of trafficking
VIENTIANE , 6-1-2005 (UNICEF) - The Government of Lao PDR and UNICEF today launched a multi-media campaign designed to raise awareness of the risks posed by trafficking and protect those most at risk from its dangers. Lao youth music celebrities will perform a concert in Vientiane, the nation's capital, to mark Children's Day and promote the campaign's themes.
Targeting mainly young Lao people, the Be Smart Be Safe campaign includes a music CD and video, posters, billboards, pamphlets and TV and radio dramas. The media materials, dubbed "The Box of Hope", were developed by young people for young people, following a series of youth consultations which revealed that trafficking is one of the five top youth concerns in Lao PDR. The other youth priorities cited were access to education, HIV/AIDS, drugs and family problems.
Be Smart Be Safe is one of several anti-trafficking initiatives developed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and UNICEF following the release of the first national trafficking study in 2004 which revealed that trafficking is an important problem for Lao PDR which requires urgent action.
FULL TEXT

WEBSITES / EVENTS
UN Study on Violence Against Children, Regional consultation meeting in Slovenia (for Europe & Central Asia), Slovenia - July 5-7, 2005

Violence Study website - Europe and Central Asia

BROADCASTING
Ofcom acts to protect under-18s from TV sex and violence
Controversial new rules aimed at protecting 16- and 17-year-olds from explicit scenes of sex and violence on television were unveiled today by Ofcom.
The regulator says broadcasters must not transmit material that might "seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development" of under-18s. The new policy goes a significant step further than the traditional 9pm watershed, which is aimed at protecting the interests of children under 15.
FULL ARTICLE

PROJECTS
Bangladesh launches children’s news agency

Dhaka, 30 May 2005: Child journalist Noor Selina Shewley (17) speaks before the audience during the launch of Shishu Prakash. (Photo) Salma Siddique/UNICEF
Dhaka, 30 May 2005: A dedicated news agency for children ‘Shishu Prakash’ (Children’s Express) was launched today to enhance both the quality and quantity of child development news in Bangladesh.
Supported by UNICEF and implemented by Mass-Line Media Centre (MMC), the pilot project aims to empower 640 young journalists (aged from 16 to 18) with the techniques for reporting child development issues.
Ten children (five boys and five girls) in each of the 64 districts throughout the country will identify and write news stories. These stories will be sent to the Dhaka-based Child Rights Desk set up at MMC to provide editorial oversight before the stories are published in ten selected national Bangla and English dailies.
It is envisaged that respect for child and adolescent rights in Bangladesh will improve as a result of the collaboration with pro-active newspapers and social networks.
Apart from regular reporting on children stories, Shishu Prakash will release more than 200 issue-based stories and periodic reports analyzing trends in child reporting by the national media in the pilot project which runs until the end of 2005.
Shishu Prakash will use global standard guidelines and checklists in reporting children’s issues. This is the first such initiative in South Asia.
Praising this initiative, speakers at the launching ceremony hoped that this will also increase children’s participation in the media.
For more information, please contact:
Rezwan-ul-Alam (Assistant Communication Officer)
UNICEF Bangladesh

UPCOMING EVENTS
The C8 Children's Forum - July 3-5, 2005

What is the C8?The C8 is a children and young people’s version of the G8 meeting. C8 will be held in Scotland in July. Young people from around the globe will be travelling to Scotland to debate and take action on the most pressing issues facing young people today.
Young people from 8 of the world’s poorest countries will meet with young people from G8 countries, to debate, discuss and firmly place their issues on the agenda of the G8 leaders. They will produce their own recommendations to take to the G8 leaders.
PROJECT WEBSITE

EVENTS / TRAINING
UNICEF to conduct seminar for Kazakhstan mass media
Problems and prospects of covering children's news in mass media will be discussed at the special seminar, initiated by UNICEF office in Almaty May 26 in the capital of Kazakhstan.
The goal of the seminar is to elevate awareness about Convention on children's rights, problems of children and exchange of practice. Representatives of Culture, information and sport ministry, National centre on human rights, leaders of NGOs working with youth and mass media, officials of UNICEF office in Kazakhstan will address the participants. The workshop for reporters covering children's news in mass media is devoted to World day of protection of children in Kazakhstan.

WORKSHOPS
OneMinutesJr workshop in Chisinau, Moldova

Participants of the OneMinutesJr workshop in Moldova - UNICEF/MAGIC - 2005
20 boys and girls from Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Uzbekistan have come together in Chisinau, Moldova, to produce OneMinuteJr videos on "migration".
The young participants will write short stories and then film and edit their movies in the 5-day workshop which ends with a public presentation during the Chronograf International Film Festival.

AWARDS
Macedonia’s Youth of the World, Youth for the World has been named the winner of UNICEF’s Voices of Youth ‘Make a Difference’ one-minute video contest.

Play this video now! low or high

A special award will be presented at the annual PROMAX& BDA Conference on 21-23 June in New York City.
The award goes to the video that best capture the mission of Voices of Youth - to promote and protect every child’s right to know more, say more and do more about the world they live in.
The winning video will become an official public service announcement of Voices of Youth and will be made available for broadcast along with the rest of the finalists in celebration of the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting, 11 December 2005.

WEBSITES / GAMES
Habbohotel 'UNICEF Bus' - UNICEF-Comité Español

The Habbohotel "UNICEF Bus" completed its first year last Friday, April 29th. In order to celebrate this first anniversary, UNICEF created a series of activities and chats concerning "Sports for Development", accompanied by a forum on the website www.enredate.org (Website of the program of Education for Development for UNICEF-Spanish Committee). The theme also coincides with 2005 being the International Year for Physical Education and Sport.
UNICEF and Habbohotel created an alliance in order to carry out chats with young people about important themes such as education or development. Now, thousands of children visit the site to participate in this virtual community, supervised 24 hours a day by a volunteer staff from both Habbohotel and UNICEF, creating a safe environment. Children can get on the "Bus" for 15 minute chats about given themes.
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PROJECTS
"NRW / Japan - My view... Your view?"
"NRW / Japan - My view... Your view?" is a multicultural media project for kids and teenagers which - along with other activities from the German Land North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) - takes place on the occasion of the Year of Germany in Japan 2005/2006. In NRW the Project will be run by the ecmc European Centre for Media Competence GmbH (www.ecmc.de) on behalf of the State Chancellery NRW (www.nrw.de). On the Japanese side, the Nippon Carl Duisberg Association will be in charge of this competition. The Concept: "How do you spend your Saturday evenings? What do you have for breakfast? How is your way to school like? What kinds of music do you like?" - In the frame of the media project questions like these could be asked by children and teenagers in form of 1-minute film contributions. Participants from North Rhine-Westphalia and Japan report about everyday situations and traditions from their home country and call on kids and teenagers from the respectively other country to describe - again in form of a 1-minute film - the presented situation from their own perspective.
On the website www.beiuns-beieuch.de all contributions will be presented and visitors will be invited to view, participate and exchange. The best films will be awarded on the final event of the competition in December 2005.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE

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