NEWS: Teenager Ciara Ierace appointed Children's Commissioner for a day (AUSTRALIA)

BE true, to be you - that's the message from the Perth teen who was appointed WA's Children's Commissioner for the day this week.

As part of a campaign to promote positive body image for youngsters, 13-year-old Ciara Ierace worked with brand and communications agency Meerkats to produce a print advertisement.

Ciara said she wanted to spread the message to young people to be happy with who they are and not to feel the need to become unhealthy or fake.

“You need to remember you are beautiful in every way, no matter what you look like,” she said, after being selected from more than 70 applicants for the Commissioner for a Day Challenge.

Ciara said she learnt that being the Commissioner is a very busy job, but she loved every minute of it.

“It’s hard work but in the end it’s worth it because you get to see kids smile and being happy.

“I could probably see myself doing this job in the future.”

Visiting Meerkats, Ciara worked with creative staff to produce a print advertisement promoting her message to encourage children and young people to be happy being themselves.

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NEWS / ARTICLES: Young People and the Challenges of Rio+20

Children have a remarkable ability to live in the moment, to lose themselves wholly in an activity and take pleasure in the most simple of things. They do not spend time dwelling on the past, worrying about the future or deliberating on the consequences of their actions. That's what adults are for. And yet, as we prepare for the Rio Earth Summit later this month, it is hard not to have a sense that this generation of adults are collectively failing our children.

Yesterday provided an opportunity for a handful of those children to take center stage as over 30 young people aged between 12 and 21 sacrificed a day of their precious school holidays or reading weeks to attend a 'Rio Youth Question Time' event at the Science Museum. The event brought them together with a variety of environment and sustainability experts including broadcaster Simon Reeve and Stern Review co-author Dimitiri Zenghellis to discuss the key issues they want addressed by world leaders at the Earth Summit. In the afternoon they were joined for a lively final discussion by environment secretary Caroline Spelman.

The young people pointed out that unlike many of the political decision makers attending Rio+20, they would still be around for Rio+40, Rio+60 and Rio+80 and they challenged the minister to help instill a long term vision among policy makers for a sustainable future for the planet.

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NEWS: Actively engaging for the future of youth

Young people possess important perspectives and opinions that are often unheard. Active participation empowers them and can play a vital role in their own development. To increase involvement, there needs to be a more collective and improved understanding of what youth participation involves and how it can be realized for children and adolescents.

The UN Programme on Youth and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) hosted a briefing session on Youth Participation, as part of the international Year of Youth, at the UNICEF House in New York on 12 April. The session opened with the video “Young People in Action: A Film on Young People’s Participation”, followed by a panel discussion with young people, civil society and UN experts.

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OPPORTUNITIES: Global Youth Participation Week - Online Consultation

Yparticipate is organizing a Global Youth Participation Week on March 7-13, 2011, to celebrate the participation of young people in decisions that affect them. They are now looking to get your ideas on activities that could be part of the Week, to foster an environment where adults and young people can learn and become more informed about youth participation.

For more information please visit: http://globalyouthparticipationweek.org/ or http://yparticipate.org/

NEWS / PARTICIPATION: Kentfield student addresses Copenhagen climate forum

Rob Rogers

Posted: 12/15/2009 03:59:08 PM PST - Updated: 12/15/2009 11:19:54 PM PST

When the organizers of the UNICEF Children's Climate Forum asked the CEO of a San Rafael-based drip irrigation company to be a sponsor for their conference, they were startled - and pleased - to discover that he was a 17-year-old high school student.

"They invited me to come as an expert and talk about drip irrigation in Copenhagen," said Daniel Weizman, a junior at the Branson School in Ross. "I had three workshops, talking with groups of 25 to 30 students about the water crisis in California and around the world and how it's all linked to climate change."

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