Clark to present ‘human face’ story prize to Solomon islands student

Submitted by Narayan24 on Mon, 02/08/2010 - 07:03

titled “Silent cry of John, a village boy”.

Organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the essay competition was open to young people in the Pacific, aged 18-25 years, who were asked to write about how they feel the global economic crisis is affecting them or those around them.

June will receive her prize in Port Vila, from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, Helen Clark on the evening of Wednesday, February 10. Clark will be in Vila to attend the Pacific Conference on The Human Face of the Global Economic Crisis from February 10-12.

UNICEF Social Policy Officer Mereia Carling said: “June’s story was chosen because it was clearly time-bound to the impacts of the economic crisis and it highlighted a number of impacts and the compounding nature of these. She describes the ‘human face’ of the crisis and the struggles made to survive. Her point is made clear – those who are currently on the brink of survival are the ones who will not survive the crisis.”

The essay competition links to the Conference on The Human Face of the Global Economic Crisis where heads of international and regional agencies, heads of Pacific Island states, non-governmental organisations, academics and young people will discuss the impacts of the crisis in their countries, learn from experiences shared and prepare for any future crises.

A pre-conference for Pacific children and youth coordinated by UNICEF, will be held in Port Vila from February 8-9, to prepare delegates for their participation in the main Conference. Young people will have the opportunity to raise their concerns and issues related to the impact of the crisis.

Source: UNICEF/UNDP