September 15, 2009: Participants of the All-Russian Boomerang Forum have replenished the ranks of Young UNICEF Envoys
A gala opening of the 2009 session of the All-Russian Boomerang Forum of Children’s and Youth Screen Activity was held at the Children’s Centre “Orlyonok” located on the Black Sea coast. Over 5,000 young film makers and TV journalists aged 5 to 17 years old from 83 Russian regions had to compete for their right to participate in the Forum’s final round. During the whole week, children and adolescents representing about 70 film and video studios were attending master-classes arranged by well-known TV presenters, film directors and film actors. For the second year running, UNICEF has been one of the principal partners of the Boomerang Forum. It was at the Forum’s session held last year that the idea to set up a network of Young UNICEF Envoys was born. At that session, boys and girls from various Russian regions put forward the initiative to set up a group comprising young people who were willing to promote among their peers the real understanding of principles and values advocated by UNICEF worldwide. The Code of Young UNICEF Envoys was elaborated, with one of its provisions highlighting the need both for young people and adults to respect and observe the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This year’s session of the Boomerang Forum has again brought together young UNICEF envoys. The young people shared their experience gained during the past year and discussed the challenges they had encountered while implementing their social projects. 12-year-old Mareta Abadiyeva from Ingushetia and her friends had assisted a girl with physical impairments in getting her enrolled at an art school. “It’s not important how many people have received your assistance. We were so happy to give assistance to one specific person as if we had saved the entire world!” Mareta said.
Young people from the Vladikavkaz-based Children’s Studio “Erassik” decided to release a special youth newspaper “Golos” (Voice), where young people could discuss various issues and matters of concern to them. 15-year-old Khitag Chigoyev and Valery Gadziyev from Vladikavkaz were sure that such a publication targeted at young people was timely and highly relevant. “Not all children find it easy to share their concerns and feelings. For some of them, it is easier to put them down on paper rather than speak about them”, the young people said. “Such a newspaper could become an efficient means of communication between those boys and girls who tend to bury their problems deep inside as a way to cope with them”. Similar to last year, a series of training sessions was arranged for children and adolescents at the Orlyonok Centre. During those sessions, young journalists and film makers were taught how to design efficient social projects and trained in various ways of conflict resolution; they gained new knowledge on how to promote a culture of peace and tolerance among their peers. At this year’s session of the Forum, some 30 boys and girls from different Russian regions expressed their wish to join the ranks of Young UNICEF Envoys. Each of them had taken part in the development and implementation of a social project aimed to address a specific problem facing their region. 15-year-old Olesya Sveridova from the City of Samara provided the following explanation of her wish to become a young UNICEF envoy: “One must not remain indifferent to the challenges that young people are faced with today. Most of my peers are not even aware of the fact that they are entitled to the rights set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A large number of problems could be resolved through the dissemination of knowledge about these rights among children and adults”. “You and your views and opinion are particularly important for your peers. Thanks to your creative activities, you become our young envoys capable of making a positive impact on the people around you,” Bertrand Bainvel, UNICEF Representative in the Russian Federation, said greeting the participants of the All-Russia Boomerang Forum of Children’s and Youth Screen Activity. For more information, please contact:
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