Second week and results of COP-15

Today I can say that COP-15 has become a part of history. It finished 2 days ago.
It was unforgettable experience for everybody who took part there, who was inside or outside the Bella Center.

It's hard to judge the results of COP-15. Copenhagen Accord of course is not the best result and was the worst prediction of COP-15 but it's better than nothing. World leaders came to the Bella Center during the last two days and gave their speaches. But 2 days could not be enough as 2 weeks for getting a good solution and result.

I agree with the words of Russian President Medvedev that we are going to have long and deep work. And it's only our first step.

The full text of Copenhagen Accord you could find on the unfccc.int website.

In the end I would like to share with you the youth voice at the Plenary sessions at COP-15:

GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION_day 6

Demonstrations on the roads of COPENHAGEN.

Today is the Global Day of Action.

more informations here:

SURVIVAL IS NOT NEGOTIABLE

Today I would like to tell you about my 2 good friends: Anna C Keenan from Australia and Sara Svensson from Sweden. It seems to me that I know them for ages.

( Anna and Sara on the photo)

Anna: ClimateJusticeFast is a moral and principal action to give politics a major wake up call!


These two brave girls are on hunger strike. Today is the 37th day of Global Day of Climate Action in Copenhagen!

more details: ClimateJusticeFast .

Video for COP-15: ~SURVIVAL IS NOT NEGOTIABLE~ written by Emma Lilliestam

some actions during COP - 15

Climate Action Network (CAN) regularly judges three ‘Fossil of The Day’ awards to the countries who perform the worst during the past day’s negotiations at UN climate change conferences. The slightly sarcastic yet highly prestigious awards are presented by Avaaz.org daily at 6pm during climate talks, followed by presentation by local activists at winning embassies in capital cities around the world. The Fossil of the Day awards were first presented at the climate talks in 1999 in Bonn, initiated by the German NGO Forum.


http://avaaz.org/

http://www.fossil-of-the-day.org/

first photo report from COP 15

Some photos from Bella Center:

Climate Wall:

people are working, discussing, eating and relaxing at the same time!!!

Plenary session salle:

at COP 15_day 5

Everything is related to COP-15 in Copenhagen. And I really like it. I feel the atmosphere of the conference not only at Bella Center where I am working during the day. People are so friendly ouside and inside Bella Center.

Signs and indicators are everywhere in the city! You could not be lost! Everybody is ready to help you!

There is a feeling that we are big big family who is ready for big deal and changes.

travel and arrival to COP15_days 2,3,4

Eventually I am in Copenhagen. I am in Bella Center now. Lots of, lots of people are here. The real feeling that you have is trying no to loose yourself and concentrate on your plan which you have with you.

I am a bit tired. I took a train from Brussels to Copenhagen. It took me 15 hours to get here. But it was so excited! I met different people in the train and most of them, of course, are attending COP15.

I am happy that I am here. I have already met my friends, met new people and expected to get more and more new faces on my facebook friends page ;)

I am going to have photos from the Bella center and get news for you!

packing for COP15_day 1

Today I sorted all my things together in my to-do-list for my trip to Copenhagen. I am going to be a part of fantastic event COP15 - The UN Climate Change Negotiations in Copenhagen (the 7th of December - 18th of December 2009).

I am accreditated by 350.org as a youth climate change observer. I prepared my plan of events which I am going to attend. The huge amount of different meetings concerning to climate change are going to be during these 2 weeks.

Today is the opening of COP 15. Diplomats from 192 nations are attending it. Denmark's prime minister said 110 heads of state and government will attend the final days of the two-week conference and President Barack Obama is among them.

I am really inspired, motivated and excited of my participation in COP-15.

Youth Health Initiave: Blog for your health!

Youth Health Initiave: Blog for your health!

The European Youth Forum is working closely with the European Commission again on the Youth Health Initiative. Since the success of this summer’s health conference that brought together 150 young delegates in Brussels, the initiative will now be kept alive by means of a blog. http://ec.europa.eu/health-eu/youth/index_en.htm The latter, which is moderated daily by the European Youth Forum will be the tool for bringing young people together from all over Europe to talk about their health.
Known as ‘Be healthy, be yourself’, the youth health initiative blog raises important public health issues in an attractive way. From sociology to simple tips on hygiene, the portal is an interactive way for young people to have their say on topical or forgotten health issues. As we all know, there is a huge social gap between people within member states, the EU and the whole world so the blog is a way to remind people of these shocking realities. Youth is a priority for the European Commission and they do wish to involve us more in EU health policies so by counting on the European Youth Forum to update this blog, they are taking a postive step forward. By doing so, the EU hopes to strengthen youth partnership in the decision making process, involve other sectors across EU policy areas and at national level on the implementation of prevention programs targeted at young people and support Member States activities on the health of young people.
Young people juggle studies, sport, part-time jobs, internships, relationships and socialising all at the same time. Due to low salaries or precarious job situations, it is often difficult to strike a healthy balance. For many, there is no time or money to invest in preparing a decent dinner. And for others, the financial crisis, education, social background play a huge role.
So, the blog is an attempt to cater for all. It is not a portal that aims to lecture on giving up smoking, the dangers of drinking or the amount of fat in take-away chips, but rather a meeting point to gather facts, learn about doing things in moderation and above all, learn to love our bodies. So, topics like lifestyle, physical acitivity and mental health will be explored through the blog as well as obesity, sexual health and chronic disease.
For the moment, the blog is made up of simple text and photos but over the next few months it will be getting a makeover. More interactive and innovative tools will be used on the blog so that youth opinion reaches out to as many as possible. Users will be able to send in their very own videos and photos and take part in some more hands-on debates and workshops over the coming year. To ensure this success, the blog does need a sigfinicantly high level of participation bringing about a daily, lifely, virtual debate. So, feel free to join in, raise topics or add comments by visiting the blog at the following link. http://ec.europa.eu/health-eu/youth/index_en.htm

Youth Call for Entries- the 2nd Children's environmental health project competition

Dear Friends,

Five years after the launch of the “Children Environmental and Health Action Plan for Europe” (CEHAPE) at the Budapest Ministerial Conference, we are now seeking entries to the second CEHAPE Good Practice Awards.

As the health and environment youth coordinator, I am practically interested in hearing from youth related projects or projects in schools or being led by youth, as these are two of the competition categories. The entry form is only two pages, and will enable your project to feature on our CEHAPE website.

In March 2010, the Fifth Conference of Ministers on Environment and Health - "Protecting Children’s Health in a Changing Environment" - will take place in Parma, Italy. The Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health is the next milestone in the European environment and health process. Focused on protecting children’s health in a changing environment, the Conference will drive Europe’s agenda on emerging environmental health challenges for the years to come.

Keeping children’s health in the spotlight: Awarding good practice
Children’s health continues to be a leading concern; their health is at risk from a changing environment. The second CEHAPE Awards aim to uncover and highlight inspiring and innovative projects that promote children’s environment and health. Entrants must be based in one or more countries of the 53 in the WHO Europe region (map with full list of countries)
The winners of each category will be award 1,000 Euros towards their project, and will be invited to present their project at the Parma Ministerial.

How to enter: Tell us your story
To enter the CEHAPE Good Practice Awards, we want to hear about your projects and campaigns in children’s environment and health.

There are eight individual categories for entry:

• Water and/or Sanitation,
• Accidents and/or Physical Activity,
• Indoor air and/or Outdoor air,
• Chemicals and or Radiation,
• Youth participation,
• Mobility,
• Climate protection,
• Schools

If you are involved in a project to protect children’s environmental health, please send us a completed entry form to Olivia Radu (olivia.radu@wecf.eu).
Information about the call is available in English, Romanian, Russian, Kirghiz, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian, Armenian and Georgian. However, the entry form can only be filled out in English and Russian.
You can find out more about the competition and the entries from the 1st Children’s Environmental health project competition on the website.

KEY DATES:
• The deadline for submission of entries is 7 December 2009.
• The winners across the eight categories will be announced on 22nd January, 2010.

The 2nd CEHAPE Awards have be developed jointly by Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF), Health & Environmental Alliance (HEAL), ISDE Austria and European Eco Forum, and are sponsored by the governments of Austria, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, and supported by the European Commission.

(On the photo: Sascha Gabizon WECF, Genon Jensen HEAL at the IMR, Vienna, June 2007)

Please help us by disseminating this announcement through your own networks.


Good luck, we look forward to receiving your entries!


Alina Bezhenar

Choosing our Future

The “Choosing our Future” comic strip highlights – in a humorous and simple way – the recent evidence of harm to health from certain widely used chemicals.

Produced jointly by HEAL’s Chemicals Health Monitor project and Mouvement pour les Droits et le Respect des Générations Futures (MDRGF) in English and French, the publication and associated website aim to provide readers with what is currently known about the links between health and man-made chemicals and examples of individual action and EU policy opportunities that can help produce changes for the better.




French comic strip designer, David Ratte has created the stories that bring to life contemporary concerns about the man-made chemicals found in our bodies that are implicated in certain cancers, brain development disorders, asthma, allergies, immune deficiences and falling male fertility. The facts behind the dialogue are explained and supported by scientific and governmental references.

Our aim is provide advocates and the wider public with examples of individual action and European Union policy opportunities that can help change our future for the better.

to know more information and download book in English and French click here

Part 7 of the History of Youth participation in the process of environment and health policymaking

Since the fist Declaration Drafting group meeting [Brussels, June 2008] youth delegates started to participate in preparation the Declaration for the Fifth Ministerial Conference.

In Luxembourg in January 2009 the Thematic meeting on healthy environments was held. It was a part of the preparatory process towards to the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health to be held in Parma, Italy, in 2010. It addressed respiratory diseases, obesity and injuries through spatial planning of health promoting environments. The participants discussed technical issues and advanced the drafting of the Declaration of the forthcoming Conference.

The Third High Level Preparatory Meeting in Bonn [27-29 April 2009] was the last high level meeting in the series of EEHC events for Member States in preparation for the Fifth Ministerial [Conference on Environment and Health, to be held in Parma, Italy, on 10-12 March 2010.
Participants were informed on the proceedings that are expected to take place during the Conference as well as on the activities and products to be delivered at the Conference. They commented on drafts conference papers - notably the Conference Declaration - and on events. Precedence was given to discussion on the main topics on the Conference agenda: CEHAPE priorities, climate change and socioeconomic and gender inequities.

to download the Report of the Third high-level preparatory meeting in English click here

With the kind support of the Ministries of Health and Environment in Serbia our plan was to hold a youth preparatory meeting in June 2009. This meeting would have as its agenda some worksessions on skill building, such as proposal preparation, working with ministers and high level officers in ministries of Environment and Health, making presentations as well as technical workshops on CEHAPE and preparations for our participation at the Ministerial Conference in Parma 2010. Unfortunately the funding we hoped would be in place for the June meeting failed to materialise, although our Serbian hosts had worked hard on our behalf to prepare the ground. In support of this, we co-opted Jovana Dodos from Serbia to be our international Youth Delegate link in the country. Although our efforts for our meeting in Serbia did not work out, we can announce that now our preparatory meeting will be held 8-10 January 2010 in Brussels with funding from DG SANCO and and support from HEAL.

Part 6 of the History of Youth participation in the process of environment and health policymaking

During the Second High Level Preparatory Meeting in Madrid [October 2008] youth met their new WHO coordinator of the youth network David Rivett.
This preparatory meeting was dedicated to preparing for the 2010 Ministerial Conference in Italy. It addressed Regional Priority Goals III and IV of the Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) which concern ensuring clean air and protection from chemicals, noise and other harmful exposures.

A coordination meeting for the youth involvement process was held during the lunch breaks of 23 and 24 October to plan activities towards the 2010 Conference.

Young delegates made a successful presentation to the representatives from ministeries about "Current Madrid Participation in the CEHAPE process".

to download the presentation click here

The meeting in Madrid was also part of an Environment and Health Week and took place back-to-back with the International Public Health Symposium on "Science for policy, policy for science: bridging the gap".

Part 5 of the History of Youth participation in the process of environment and health policymaking

New CEHAPE Youth Delegates [Alina Bezhenar, Ildiko Almasi, Rena Javaid, Kyle Worgan] started to participate in the high-level preparatory meetings and Declaration drafting group meetings for the 5th Ministerial Conference since IMR elections in Vienna.

They took part in the 24th EEHC meeting in Bonn in October 2007 where they presented a successful presentation about "Current participation of youth".

To download this presentation click here

Also in Bonn the priorities of the CEHAPE process were endorsed. And they include:

- inequity in environment and health;
- gender issues;
- specific needs of the Newly Independent States and countries of south-eastern Europe;
- working with new stakeholders including local authorities, the private sector and young people;
- synergies and new opportunities in working across boundaries, with a particular focus on climate change (established political processes will also be addressed under this priority);
- understanding the influence of the economy on environment and health policy making.

In Milan [March 2008] during the First High Level Preparatory Meeting was held. This meeting focused on safe water and sanitation and on injury prevention and promotion of physical activity, two of the four priorities of the Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE). It also helped set the theme and agenda of the Ministerial Conference of 2010.

Part 4 of the History of Youth participation in the process of environment and health policymaking

Youth Event in Vienna, June 2007

Youth Conference held in Vienna, June 2007, in parallel with the Intergovernmental Midterm Review (IMR) of progress made since the Budapest Conference. The Conference gathered 51 young people from 28 countries. Youth had discussions and elaboration about future steps up to the 5th Ministerial Conference in Parma, Italy, March 2010.

Young people had a presentation of youth views and a youth-friendly version of the CEHAPE (YFC) during the review meeting to the European Environment and Health network.


The videos were also shown to the youth delegates and government officials gathered at the IMR to spark discussions and give an audio-visual testimony of what young Europeans have to say regarding health and environment issues.The videos were produced in a five-day workshop organized in Belgrade by WHO/Europe, UNICEF and the One Minutes Foundation, with the support of the WHO Country Office in Belgrade and the Department of Health and Children in Ireland.

New youth delegates were elected for the period of 2007-2009 for participation in High-level meetings, decision and policy-making processes, for developing youth network, having the youth preparatory meetings for the 5th Ministerial Conference in Parma, 2010.


The purpose of youth participation:

1. Bring in the youth point of view
2. Participate actively in decision-making processes and in their preparation
3. National youth network to maximize participation through local projects
4. Raise awareness of the CEHAPE and the European Environment and Health process among youth




To download YFC click here

To know more about ideas for implementation of YFC click here

To read Official WHO Meeting report about Youth conference during IMR click here

Part 2 of the History of Youth participation in the process of environment and health policymaking

Youth Workshop in Luxembourg, March 2007

Youth workshop brought together near 40 young people from 25 WHO Member States in Luxembourg, in March 2007.

Young people started the process of creating the Youth Friendly CEHAPE (YFC). This document reflects the youth view about CEHAPE document. Young people worked in a small groups and then presented their ideas to others. They agreed that for better work after such productive meeting in Luxembourg they need to launch their own youth health and environment network.

The European Youth Health and Environment Network (EYHEN) is experienced in children and young people's environment and health issues. It consists of young people between the ages of 16 and 23 from all over Europe. The EYHEN is able to inform the local network of how young people participate in relevant decision making processes in their own countries. The members of EYHEN are willing to participate, if necessary, in the further development of national plans and the European Plan.

The working languages are English and Russian

You can join the network writing to cehapeyouth@gmail.com

Part 1 of the History of Youth participation in the process of environment and health policymaking

"Our health cannot be negotiated. It is a precondition of our personal development and happiness. Nobody should make money on the back of other people's ill health. We need and deserve a fundamental human right to a clean and healthy environment. We also need access to information and education to most effectively take care of our health."

Budapest Youth Declaration, 24 June 2004

Youth Declaration was presented by young people to the ministers from 53 Member States, calling for youth representation on the European Environment and Health Committee (EEHC) and on the Task Force for the Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) during the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in Budapest in 2004. Youth Parliament and 30 official youth representatives from Member States were participated at this huge event.

You can download the Youth Declaration in English, in French, in German, in Russian.



I was personally involved as youth participant at the 4th Ministerial Conferene in Budapest. I was participated in the video project It’s our world, our future too. This seven-minute video produced in 2004 contains the voices of young people from Russia, UK and Belgium - and explains why listening to them is important. The children and students describe how the environment is affecting their health, and what they think can be done for a better future. Three themes are highlighted: urban environment and mental health; water, chemicals and air quality; and, other issues, such as racism, drugs and violence.

To watch the video "It's our world, our future too" click here

Welcome post!

Dear Friend, Partner and Guest,





I would like to welcome you to my official blog which is supported by HEAL (Health and Environment Alliance). My name is Alina Bezhenar. I am 21 years old. I am originally from Moscow (Russia). I grew up there and got my Bachelor Degree in Economics at Moscow State University (June).


Since October 2009 I have been moving to Brussels for 6 months where I am doing my internship programme at HEAL. I work as health and environment youth coordinator.


My main role here is to mobilize European youth and get information support for them about health and environment issues in Europe. My blog will be the first of its kind to show youth activities, youth voice and youth opinion to everybody in health and environment process.



Several times a week I would write new posts with information, photos and videos, interesting stories and news about health and environment in Europe.

Welcome!

p.s. you could always reach me by email: alina@env-health.org