NEWSLETTER – JUNE 4, 2007____________________________________________________________

Interview with Amy from the Cultural Group(by Abbie Banczyk-Sturkeuon, UK)

Abbie: "Do you enjoy working in your group?"Amy: "Yes, I enjoy working in my group because you get to learn about other people and other countries and their culture. It's fun planning what the teams are going to do."

Abbie: "How do you feel the cultural group adds to the J8 experience?"Amy: "I think that the activities that we prepare help all the teams get together and get to know each other better. It helps people to know more about the

different teams."

Abbie: "What have you planned so far?"Amy: "We have planned for each group to give a presentation about their country. So we can learn about differences and similarities between the different countries."

Impressions of the German team(by Olga Peshekhonova, Russia)

It was getting late. We were coming back from the sailing trip; looking at the shining waves and feeling like the Pirates of the Caribbean and Titanic passengers at the same time.

The impressions of the first day were all mixed up in my head. But I knew one thing for sure. I like the German food and the German team!

The host team is responsible not only for themselves but also for other participants - for The German Junior 8 team 2007

Amy (left) and Abbie from the UK team in a working session.

welcoming them and making them feel comfortable. I think Jonas, Lisa, Thomas, Steffen, Eva, Hyeon Su, Franzi and Miriam are doing a really great job. They are all very friendly, helpful and easy to talk with.

They like different kinds of music. For example, Thomas is in a rap band. Probably everybody remembers his amazing song that the German guys sang at the official opening ceremony. It seems unbelievable but it took him only one hour to write it! All the German participants go to the same boarding school, so they had known each other before the J8 competition started. Now they are a real team and as in every team there are inside jokes and funny nicknames. They like making fun of each other but they take it easy and laugh all the time.

Their expectations of the J8 are to express their opinions about these extremely important topics that we are here for. As for the G8 leaders meeting, they want to give their place to one of the non-G8 countries participants. The Germans think that it is very important for children from non-G8 countries to go to the meeting and share their views. Although the hosts are not sure that they will be allowed to do that, they still hope to make it possible. I wish the German team good luck and really hope that they will make the most of this summit. I am also looking forward to meeting participants from other countries and making friends with people from all over the world. We are going to make the word a better place... TOGETHER!

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Produced by the Junior 8 youth media team in Wismar, June 2007:

Julien Tremblay & Sophie Casgrain (Canada) – Stéphanie David and Cyril Gaillard (France) – Lisa Marie Ullrich & Hyeon Su Kim (Germany) – Claudia Turatte & Jenni Provenzi (Italy) – Michelle Nakajima & Yutaro Miwa (Japan) – Gleb Nikitin & Olga Peshekhonova (Russia) – Ellen Smith & Abbie Banczyk-Sturgeon (UK) – Kritika Kailash & Rohit Nalamasu (USA) – Ismahane Benamar (Algeria) – Isaya Yunge (Tanzania)

The J8 Evening News – June 5, 2007(produced on the bus returning from Berlin...)

J8 meets 007 – Press conference with Roger Moore in Berlin

(by Kritika Kailash & Rohit Nalamasu, USA)

Representatives from the J8 Summit met with the media in Berlin this morning to discuss what has been going on at J8 Wismar 2007. Kids were asked questions ranging from global issues to their personal opinions. We interviewed one of the talented kids chosen to

represent the J8 community, Steffen Parth from Germany.Q: How did you feel about the media?A: ”I was really nervous, because we entered the room and there were 10 cameras. It was shocking!”

Q: What questions did they ask you?A: ”They asked us whether we could decide on these issues and our solutions independently, and I said that we definitely were and that our chaperones were not there. They also asked what advice we would give to other young people. We responded that

they should speak up and share their opinions with other people, to cause change.”

Q: How do you feel about media involvement in J8?A: ”I think it is very good to talk to the media, because if you give opinions to media, there will be more pressure for change, but at the same time, you can avoid them if you don't like them. I also don't like TV crews, because they take too much time. I find it better to talk to a newspaper or radio reporter.”Steffen also mentioned his awe at the speeches of his peers and that of Sir Roger Moore,who was, as Steffen put it, "funny, and there for the kids.”

Salwa, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Sir Roger Moore, Olga and Steffen

at the press conference in Berlin

Behind closed doors with German Chancellor Merkel(by Adriana Solovei, Moldova)

Today a very important and very special event was on the Junior 8 agenda for us: The meeting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The doors were closed for the national and international media, so this is the only media report about the meeting. At the beginning, we made a group photo with Chancellor Merkel. It was amazing! Lots of flashes everywhere and the cameras focused only on us. We felt like stars. After a few minutes of “star feeling“, we all went into the round meeting room at the Chancellor's Office where the discussion started. After Chancellor Merkel's speech about how important the meeting with us is for her, it was our turn. The J8 Master of Ceremony, Franziska Malsy from the German team, introduced us, talked a little bit about us and what we discussed at the plenary sessions in the Zeughaus. Then the two G8 and non-G8 delegates that we had chosen yesterday presented their three minute speeches about the issues we discussed at the Junior 8 plenary sessions. Aminata from Sierra Leone made the start. Her speech about HIV/AIDS was very interesting and straight to the point. Then Lauren from Canada talked about IPR and CSR. Then I spoke about Climate Change and I was followed by the last presenter, Rachel from the USA who talked about Economic Prospects for Afica. After that the German Chancellor asked some questions concerning each issue. She was really interested in what the G8 countries can do to help and support the developing countries in our opinion. The German team then asked Mrs Merkel if it was possible that a non-G8 youth delegate could take their seat at the J8-G8 table in their place. The Chancellor said that she would like to have her country's representantive next to her, but that she will allow an extra spot for a non-G8 youth delegate at the meeting on Thursday. This is great news for all of us and we really appreaciate this and want to say a big, big thank you to the German team for the suggestion and to the Chancellor Angela Merkel for making it possible.

Produced by the Junior 8 youth media team in Wismar, June 2007:

Julien Tremblay & Sophie Casgrain (Canada) – Stéphanie David & Cyril Gaillard (France) – Lisa Marie Ullrich & Hyeon Su Kim (Germany) – Claudia Turatte & Jenni Provenzi (Italy) – Michelle Nakajima & Yutaro Miwa (Japan) – Gleb Nikitin & Olga Peshekhonova (Russia) – Ellen Smith & Abbie Banczyk-Sturgeon (UK) – Kritika Kailash & Rohit Nalamasu (USA) – Ismahane Benamar (Algeria) – Isaya Yunge (Tanzania) – Adriana Solovei (Moldova)

The J8 team with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin

The J8 Evening News – June 6, 2007

Short profiles of the nine youth delegates to the G8 meeting tomorrow in Heiligendamm

Marion Guay-Arcand (17) from Quebec, CanadaHobbies: Writing, reading, music, meeting friends

I am excited to go to the G8 meeting because We will have the unique chance of carrying the voice of the Canadian and in fact of the world’s youth to the ears of the most powerful leaders of the world.

I will tell my Prime Minister that during the time I’ve been working here, I clearly realized that the most important message from the youth to the leaders is to Act NOW. Stop talking, start acting.

Anne Charlotte Bonetti (16) from Montaigu - FranceHobbies: Reading novels and newspapers, travel, movies, music

I am excited to go to the G8 meeting because we will meet the G8 leaders and present out Junior 8 declaration. It's a very unique and rich experience. I'm very happy to speak for all the children and I want to give them my voice.

I will tell my President that I really hope that he, Mr, Sarkozy, will listen to me and the other young people.

Lorenzo Cinieri (16) from Milan, ItalyHobbies: Sports (football, tennis), cinema, house music

I am excited to go to the G8 meeting because this is a unique experience to make.

I will tell my Prime Minister that young people are very important and I will ask him to take into consideration all the topics where young people are involved.

Michelle Miki Nakajima (15) from Tokyo, JapanHobbies: Dancing, singing, hanging out with friends

I am excited to go to the G8 meeting because we can share our views as students with world leaders who can take action.

I will tell my Prime Minister that we should all work together globally to make this world a better place.

Lisa Marie Ullrich (16) from Mainz, GermanyHobbies: Everything that has to do with music - singing, playing the flute or the piano or just listening to music (pop)

I am excited to go to the G8 meeting because we have to make a good impression to the G8 leaders with a representative of a developing country, so that it can be continued next time. Actually, it must be continued next time.

I will tell my Chancellor that we do not expect that the G8 will carry out huge projects. It is more important to start little projects which they can really live up to. Accomplishing many little steps is often better than only half-done huge steps.”

Gleb Nikitin (16) from Pskov, RussiaHobbies: Snowboarding, music, playing saxophone

I am excited to go to the G8 meeting because I will have a chance to present the opinions of the young people on extremely important issues of today's world.

I will tell my President that I am proud to represent the Russian Federation at such an important meeting. My questions to Mr Putin will be whether or not the Russian government is doing enough to fight HIV/AIDS.

Ellen McCloy Smith (14) from Haddenham (near Oxford), UKHobbies: Dancing, music (piano & singing), sports (cricket), reading

I am excited to go to the G8 meeting because we will get to meet world leaders and tell them the views of the youth of my country and the world on topics that have and impact on all of us and really matter.

I will tell my Prime Minister that these topics are very important to us and teenagers around the world. We hope that they will listen to us and take into account our views, even if they don't act upon them.

Kavitha Narra (16) from San Jose, USAHobbies: Tennis, playing the piano, shopping, hanging out with friends, playing with my puppy

I am excited to go to the G8 meeting because I have the opportunity to help represent the youth of the world and convey our ideas to the most influential world leaders.

I will tell my President about the urgency of the global problems and the importance of youth action through the solutions proposed in our declaration.

Isaya Yunge (17) from Mwanza City, TanzaniaRepresenting the non-G8 delegates at the Junior 8 SummitHobbies: Playing football, music

I am excited to go to the G8 meeting because it's a great chance for a young person, especially from a non-G8 country, to have a face to face dialogue with the G8 leaders and to express our ideas, present our problems and ask them for their

help.

I will tell the world leaders my views about important things that affect the developing countries: 1) Economic prospects for Africa, 2) HIV/AIDS and 3) Climate change and its effects in Africa.

Produced by the Junior 8 youth media team in Wismar, June 2007:

Julien Tremblay & Sophie Casgrain (Canada) – Stéphanie David & Cyril Gaillard (France) – Lisa Marie Ullrich & Hyeon Su Kim (Germany) – Claudia Turatte & Jenni Provenzi (Italy) – Michelle Nakajima & Yutaro Miwa (Japan) – Gleb Nikitin & Olga Peshekhonova (Russia) – Ellen Smith & Abbie Banczyk-Sturgeon (UK) – Kritika Kailash & Rohit Nalamasu (USA) – Ismahane Benamar (Algeria) – Isaya Yunge (Tanzania) – Adriana Solovei (Moldova)

The J8 Evening News – June 7, 2007

Junior 8 delegates take the heli to Heiligendamm (by Abbie Banczyk-Sturgeon)

”You're going on a helicopter???” was our first reaction when the nine delegates representing us at the G8 meeting told us they were going on choppers to the G8 meeting. After the initial shock and the reassurances that they would be safe, we all screamed, laughed and celebrated. Not many people get to go on a helicopter to meet some of the eight most influential people in the world! It added to the excitement that we had already felt at the J8 Summit.

About 12 hours later, we were standing on a patch of grass with expectant looks on our faces, the wind ruining our hair. Then the helicopters started to land and our emotions exploded. Memories of our experiences that led to this day and this moment ran though our minds, and we could not keep the smiles off our faces. When they touched down on the grass, we all looked at

each other - all our nervousness was replaced with pride for our friends and colleagues from around the world that were representing us in front of the world leaders. They were our views, the views of people in our countries, and the views of the world.

The nine delegates walked towards the helicopters, looking important but small against the big black bulk of the aircraft. Now that the blades had stopped spinning, they looked rather bendy and thin in the bright blue sky.

As the delegates got into the helicopters, our shouts off 'good luck', 'have fun' and 'J8' filled the air, adding to the excitement that

was there already. Then as they started to go into the air, everyone started taking pictures to remember the moment. Some people started crying and others cheering. After many days of hard work, our communique was finally done and our ideas were going to the people who could make them reality.

Then as suddenly and as noisily as they had come, they lifted into the air, looking like something from the American war movie 'Black Hawk Dawn.' As the helicopters flew away into the distance, we had only had one thought on our minds: would they listen to us and would they act on our proposals and ideas...

The big moment – Junior 8 delegates meet G8 leaders and present their Declaration

It all happened behind closed doors in Heiligendamm, but German TV brought it live into the living rooms of millions – and also to the 65 Junior 8 delegates who did not fit in the helicopters. Here are

Bye bye for now...

Gleb & Michelle in the chopper.

some of their first reactions and statements, collected by Olga Peshekhonova.

Claudia from Italy: “I really liked it that the leaders listened to our opinions. I did not like that the time was limited and that the Italian and Canadian delegates didn't have time to speak.”

Manja from Germany: “I was proud of all the J8 presenters. They were all very confident and well prepared. I'm also very glad that Isaya was there and that he had a chance to express his opinions. What I did not like was that some of the leaders did not directly comment on what the J8 delegates presented. I had the impression that some of them were not very interested in the meeting.”

Anna from Russia: “Most of all I liked listening to President Putin. I really respect him and in my opinion he's a very good leader. I didn't like that some of the J8 representatives were reading and just looking at the document when they were presenting. I think that when people try not to read but to talk, their message becomes stronger and clearer.”

Andrea from Canada: “I really liked how the leaders welcomed the J8 delegates. I did not like that there was no time left for questions, so there wasn't real interaction between the young people and the leaders.”

Wismar team meets with First Ladies & the German Chancellor's Husband

After the meeting with the G8 leaders, the Junior 8 team that had stayed in Wismar had a chance to meet with the First Ladies of the world leaders and the only man in the “spouses group“, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's husband, Prof. Joachim Sauer. Hyeon Su Kim reports.

His world consists of atomic structures from aluminium or oxygen that can work as catalyzers. Prof. Joachim Sauer is a professor for physical and theoretical chemistry in Berlin. Since Germany is the host country of the G8 summit, Mr. Sauer accompanied the other spouses to Wismar to have a discussion with the J8 delegates. We were very interested whether it is more difficult to be the only woman among the G8 leaders or to be the only men among the G8 spouses. Prof. Sauer answered that he thinks our Chancellor probably has the tougher job. He also thinks though that it is not unusual that he is the “odd one out” in the spouses meeting. When he has a conference or a seminar or just a dinner, his wife Angela Merkel accompanies him, so he did the same now.

Prof. Sauer cannot stay very long in Heiligendamm. Actually, he had to hold a chemistry lecture a few hours after our meeting. Prof. Sauer is not a politician and therefore he has not dealt much with the topic “Africa” so far. Instead he asked us, what we did concerning Africa and what we have learned. Normally, Prof. Sauer does not give any interviews about topics that have nothing to do with his academic work. So we are very privileged and very thankful that he gave us answers to our more “off-topic” questions.

At the end of the meeting, Prof. Sauer congratulated us to our work and said: “The Junior 8 is a very good idea and I think your work is already highly sophisticated.”

Produced by the Junior 8 youth media team in Wismar, June 2007: Julien Tremblay & Sophie Casgrain (Canada) – Stéphanie David & Cyril Gaillard (France) – Lisa Marie Ullrich & Hyeon Su Kim (Germany) – Claudia Turatte & Jenni Provenzi (Italy) – Michelle Nakajima & Yutaro Miwa (Japan) – Gleb Nikitin & Olga Peshekhonova (Russia) – Ellen Smith & Abbie Banczyk-Sturgeon (UK) – Kritika Kailash & Rohit Nalamasu (USA) – Ismahane Benamar (Algeria) – Isaya Yunge (Tanzania) – Adriana Solovei (Moldova)

Prof. Sauer and Eva from the German Junior 8 team

The J8 Evening News – June 8, 2007

The final issue

Junior 8 Comes To A Close In Wismar

After a long and exciting week, the Junior 8 2007 comes to a close in Wismar today. The 74 delegates from the G8 countries, Brazil, China, Moldova, India, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Algeria, Tanzania, the Central African Republic and Ethiopia thanked the Mayor of Wismar, Frau Dr. Rosemarie Wilcken for the support and the hospitality of the city throughout this week.

The Junior 8 team presented a picture of the meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Sir Roger Moore, signed by all participants as well as the banner with the handprints of the Junior 8 team, to the Mayor or Wismar.

After a “chill-out afternoon visit” to the island Poel near Wismar, the Junior 8 participants conclude the Summit with a wild (?) party on the sailing boat which has been their “home away from home” for the last week. We wish all participants, their chaperones and facilitators safe travels when they leave for their home countries tomorrow!

Junior 8 Insight – The Meeting With The G8 (by Ellen McCloy Smith)

Yesterday was, as you all know, a momentous day. Especially for those of us who had the opportunity to meet the world leaders at Heiligendamm. I was one of those lucky nine children who you selected to go to the G8 Summit. The day kicked off with a lot of nerves and lack of sleep as we had all been up late the night before, writing and preparing for our speeches.

The Junior 8 delegates met in the Captain's Room after breakfast to go through our speeches agains and then we were ushered off the boat towards the field where the helicopters were due to land. It must be said that the prospect of helicopters was extremely exciting

The banner with the J8 handprints is presented to the

Mayor of Wismar.

Ellen and Abbie giving an interview to The Guardian on

the mobile phone.

but the best part was the send.off we received. On behalf of all of us who went to the G8, I would like to say thank you for your support and excitement. After a quick photo session we boarded the choppers. The helicopter ride was great and quick and we got the chance to see just how beautiful this area of Germany is. We landed in a field near the hotel which had a red carpet rolled out leading to several armoured vehicles. We drove and then walked to the pavillon where the meeting would be held to discover that we had an hour to wait for the meeting with the G8 leaders. We used the time to calm down and to run through our speeches together yet again.

All too soon, the meeting was due to start, but there was a very relaxed and calm atmosphere and we gradually became more comfortable. The meeting itself was probably the most amazing event of our lives. We stood in a line as one by one the most powerful and influentiol people in the world shook our hands. There was little time to talk before the meeting and we were asked to sit down to the left of our leaders. Then the meeting started with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Lisa Marie from the German Junior 8 team.

The atmosphere was very laid back so when I came to speak, I didn't feel as nervous as I was before. When I had finished, Mrs

Merkel asked if anyone had a response to my speech. There was and awkward silence and then she put Prime Minister Tony Blair on the spot. Now as much as I like Tony Blair, he did waffle on at it! Everyone gave their speeches very well, but I feel that we were all a bit surprised about how relaxed the leaders were. I don't want to mention any names, but I don't think we had all of their attention for the whole time. Nonetheless, it was amazing and a truly unforgetable experience.

After the meeting, we were meant to walk down to have our family photo done. I will let you into a little secret: Straight after the meeting, Tony Blair walked off and I was left alone standing by the table. I asked President Bush where he had gone and I received the answer of “bathroom”. Or “loo” as you say in England! We started walking and Tony Blair came running after me and said: “Sorry about that, I was absolutely desperate. I've been drinking coffee all morning.” I was chatting with my Prime Minister about why he needed the bathroom! A bizarre experience...

After the photos were taken, we went to the press conference and then some of us went back to Wismar and some went to more press conference and interviews. It was, without a doubt, one of the most important moments of our lives.

Flooded By Interview Requests – Huge Media Interest In Junior 8 Summit

The Junior 8 generated a lot of media stories and it was hard for the UNICEF media team to keep journalists, especially TV crews, out of the Zeughaus to guarantee a smooth J8 process. Epecially the German team, but also selected representatives of the other countries, had to give numerous interviews to explain to journalists and to the public what the Junior 8 is all about. Here is a short account of how it is to be interviewed, written by Hyeon Su Kim.

Journalist: “Mr. Kim, could you please describe your feelings about giving an interview?”

The official "J8 meets G8" photo.

Lisa Marie, Marion and Ellen are off to the chopper.

Hyeon Su: “Well, it is fortunately not the first interview. If it were, I would surely be excited and well, it’s actually quite difficult to describe… I probably would have thought things like ‘I mustn’t make any mistakes. I have to try to express myself as clear as possible’ and if it was even a camera team, I would have cared about my outer appearance, additionally.”

Journalist: “So you would say that an interview on television is more difficult?” Hyeon Su: “I don’t know whether you can say that. But I think it is somehow true. If you are talking to a newspaper journalist, you do not have to care whether your language is 100 percent correct. I mean, you can check afterwards or talk to the journalist and ask him for a draft. On radio it is a little bit different, too. But – as I’ve already mentioned – you don’t have to care about your appearance.”

Journalist: “And what do you think about a live interview, just like now?” Hyeon Su: “Frankly, I was very preoccupied at first. I am really not allowed to make any mistakes. Everybody may watch me now on TV. But just at the moment, I have realised that it’s quite cool, so to speak. I mean, we are now talking about interviews in general and I hope (laughing) that I haven’t made any mistakes yet.”

Journalist: “Can I tell you a secret? We are not live on the air yet...” Hyeon Su: “I obviously know, I have been correcting my sentences all the time… I mean I am just writing this interview myself.”

It is more than obvious that the J8 summit is watched closely by the media. Especially, the team of the German channel “ZDF” stayed near the ship to film as much as possible. Thus, interviews are nearly inevitable. It is of course a great experience. But it is important, that you still have in mind that (for those of you taking Latin): Errare humanum est!

Changing Sides (by Adriana, Lisa Marie and Claudia of the J8 Media Team)

Some journalists had already interview us, but for the first time in the long long history of the J8 Summit 2007, we interviewed a journalist: Stefan Klein from the German daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, who had come to the Zeughaus to observe how we, the young people, were working with each other. You now have the unique chance to read what he told us.

Q: "Why did you come and see us?“ A: “The G8 Summit is really important and your summit is linked with it. It is interesting to listen to young people's ideas and opinions. With your point of view they can influence and finally change the future.“

Q: “So what are your first impressions?“ A: “It's definitely not boring and it seems to me that everybody is involved in the discussions.“

Q: “And what do you think about our discussions?“ A: “It's good that the groups are mixed because there are lots of different perspectives from young people who come from different parts of the world. Your ideas are really good and I'm sure they're useful for the G8!“

Hyeon Su in a live TV interview in front of the boat.

Lisa, Adriana and Claudia in the interview with the German

journalist - changing sides.

The Youth Facilitators

Short interviews with the youth facilitators Manja, Natsuno and Tony – who worked really hard this week and deserve our very special thanks!

Interview with Manja (Germany):

Q: “How was the J8 2007 as a youth facilitator compared to the C8 in 2005 where you were a participant?” Manja: “It was interesting to see it from a different angle. It was a lot of work, a lot of headaches. I learned a lot, but it was surely hard work.”

Q: “What did you like most?” Manja: “The fact that all 74 participants were so cool, so nice, so motivated. It was really great to work with all of them.”

Q: “What did you not like about the Junior 8?” Manja: “As a youth facilitator, you work almost around the clock, but you get very little appreciation for it. That made me a bit sad, but I guess that's just the way it is.” (Evening News staff: “Manja, maybe the appreciation doesn't show, but it's there, it's definitely there...!”)

Interview with Tony (Russia):

Q: “So, could you please share some impressions of this J8 Summit compared to the one in St. Petersburg last year?” Tony: “I can't really compare them. Everything is so different. The atmosphere, the organization of the events, etc. Last year there was more free time and young people could interact more, but there were also more psychological problems. What was really good about this Summit was that Isaya had a chance to go to the G8 meeting. “

Q: “What was more difficult – to be a participant or a facilitator?” Tony: “Definitely to be a facilitator. You've got so much more responsibility. But if I had to choose between being a participant or being a facilitator in the next Summit, I'd choose to be a facilitator. It's really fun and I loved the job.”

Interview with Natsuno (Japan):

Q: “What was your overall impression of the summit?” Natsuno: “Super! It was tough, challenging, choatic, but it was a great experience. To be honest, i thought i was not suitable for this kind of work,at first, but everyone is happy.”

Q: “If you could change anything about the summit, what would you change?” Natsuno: “I would improve the language and communication between delegates whose native language isnt english. I wantto make a system where particapents can choose what they want to do.”

Q: “Is this your first time as a youth facilitator? If not, was this experience better or worse than the others and why?” Natsuno: “This is my first international experience,but I have been doing this kind of things in Japan

Manja and Tony discussing on the boat.

Natsuno with Andres.

for a while. I can't compare because this is so different.”

Q: “Why were you chosen to be a youth facilitator, would you like to be one again next year?” Natsuno: “I had been doing similar things in Japan or UNICEF, and I speak English as well. I would love to be involved, but I don't know whether I will be in Japan by then, as I am going to Uganda as an exchange student.”

A Hard Working Group – The Junior Drafting Committee(by Abbie Banczyk-Sturgeon)

The key document of the Junior 8 Summit 2007 is surely the “Wismar Declaration“. The group that worked extra hard on getting this document drafted and finalized was the J8 Drafting Committee. To show our special appreciation of their hard work, here is a short interview with Ruth Bryson of the Drafting Committee.

Abbie: “How did you work out what you were including in the draft for the Wismar Declaration?” Ruth: “We looked through all the ideas and chose the ones that came up the most and the ones that seemed to be the most practical and strongest.”

Abbie: “How did you work out who of you should write what?” Ruth: “We all helped to write it all and in the end people whose first language was English copy-edited the document.”

Abbie: “How did you feel when it was finished”? Ruth: “Really pleased and proud that we had done a document that was going to be presented to some of the most influential people in the world.”

The Wismar Declaration is online in different languages at:

http://www.j8summit.com/summit/summit_news.php?id=139

And now on to tomorrow's news...

The signed Wismar Declaration

Members of the Drafting Committee at work.

Produced by the Junior 8 youth media team in Wismar, June 2007: Julien Tremblay & Sophie Casgrain (Canada) – Stéphanie David & Cyril Gaillard (France) – Lisa Marie Ullrich & Hyeon Su Kim (Germany) – Claudia Turatte & Jenni Provenzi (Italy) – Michelle Nakajima & Yutaro Miwa (Japan) – Gleb Nikitin & Olga Peshekhonova (Russia) – Ellen Smith & Abbie Banczyk-Sturgeon (UK) – Kritika Kailash & Rohit Nalamasu (USA) – Ismahane Benamar (Algeria) – Isaya Yunge (Tanzania) – Adriana Solovei (Moldova)

Keep in touch with each other at http://j8.mepemepe.com