Junior 8
Junior 8 , or J8 for short , is a UNICEF program with the support of the respective presidencies of the Group of Eight (G8). It gives children and young people the opportunity to express their positions on global affairs at the summit meetings of the heads of state and government of the G8 countries.
The Junior 8 program includes the Junior 8 competition and the Junior 8 summit . The competition identifies teams of young people who will take part in the Junior 8 summit as representatives of their country. The Junior 8 summit ( J8 summit for short ) has been taking place on the fringes of the G8 summits since 2005. At the J8 summit, the young representatives discuss items on the G8 agenda and topics that are of particular relevance for children and young people. Since the G8 summit in 2006 , the youth representatives can present their final declaration directly to the G8 heads of state and government in a joint round.
Attendees
Young people aged between 13 and 17 from the G8 countries Germany , France , Great Britain , Italy , Japan , Canada , the USA and Russia can take part in the Junior 8 program . Some youth representatives from developing and emerging countries are also invited to the J8 summit .
Junior 8 competition
Groups of students (from the same school) take part in the Junior 8 competition. An essential part of the application is an essay that deals with some of the topics specified by the Junior 8 program. The winners are selected in two stages: First, a jury from UNICEF and the Morgan Stanley Foundation make a pre-selection. From this preselection, a panel of experts appointed by the organizers, to which adults and young people belong, will determine the winners. The following criteria are assessed:
- Fulfillment of the formal requirements
- Originality and quality
- imaginative, innovative and result-oriented work
- clearly communicated and feasible ideas
- Comprehensible research and discussion of the topic
- work in groups
- understand global relationships
- understandable social commitment.
Junior 8 Summit
The winners of the Junior 8 competition in the individual G8 countries take part in the Junior 8 summit. The Junior 8 summit takes place immediately before the meeting of the G8 heads of state and government. There, the winning teams of the competition discuss points on the G8 agenda as well as topics that are of particular relevance to young people.
The J8 summit lasts for several days, during which the participants take part in discussions, workshops and exercises. At the end, the young representatives draft a final declaration which outlines their proposed solutions for the global problems. Since 2006 this final declaration has been presented personally to the heads of state and government by some J8 participants.
Previous J8 summits
- 3rd - 6th July 2005 in Edinburgh , on the occasion of the G8 summit in Gleneagles , with 96 participants from the G8 countries. The main topics were Africa and global warming . In addition, the UNICEF children's conference C8 ( Children-8 ) took place in Dunblane .
- July 7-18, 2006 in Saint Petersburg , on the occasion of the G8 summit in St. Petersburg 2006 , with 64 participants from the G8 countries. The main topics were infectious diseases , energy , education as well as violence and tolerance
- June 3 - 9, 2007 in Wismar , on the occasion of the G8 summit in Heiligendamm 2007 , with a total of 74 participants, 64 from G8 countries and ten participants from ten developing and emerging countries. The main topics were economic development in Africa , HIV and AIDS , climate change and energy efficiency as well as intellectual property and corporate social responsibility as new challenges for the global economy
Web links
- Official website of the J8 summit
- Junior 8 Germany
- Junior 8 Summit Edinburgh 2005: J8 Communique 2005 (pdf)
- Junior 8 Summit St. Petersburg 2006: Final declaration to the heads of government of the G8 summit (pdf)
- Junior 8 Summit Wismar 2007: The Wismar Declaration (pdf; 148 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Junior 8 Germany: Conditions for participation in the Junior 8 competition 2007 in Germany ( Memento of the original from May 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
