Inspire Inform Involve 		Dispatch 8.3
April 2008
"Genocide" 		 Read Past Issues
Welcome to the Dispatch

TakingITGlobal's Featured Issue this month is 'Genocide' a controversial and sensitive topic. The definition varies, but is generally understood to be the deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people defined by religion, ethnicity, race, or nationality. The use of the term 'genocide' is carefully considered, as once an act has been labelled genocidal, according to the UN Security Council Resolution 1674, the UN Security Council has a responsiblity to act in protection of civilians. There have been many instances, since the legal term for 'genocide' was coined following World War II, where arguments have erupted at international and national levels over the use of the term. A current example is the conflict in Darfur, which was referred to as 'genocide' by the United States Secretary of State at the time, but has since been declared by the UN Security Council as "not following a genocidal policy".

To learn more about this complex issue, please visit the Issue page.

The TakingITGlobal Team
dispatch@takingitglobal.org

Featured Country: Russia

Featured Country: RussiaThe Russian Federation is the largest country in the world and is spread across two continents, Europe and Asia. It is also a country of great diversity. The terrain encompasses coniferous forest, grassland, subarctic tundra, and mountainous regions. The Russian people are similarly diverse in culture, ethnicity, language and religion. There are 160 ethnic groups in Russia, 100 languages, and Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism are all recognized religions.

TakingITGlobal recently ran workshops in Moscow as part of the Youth Voices Project, you can comment on the artistic submissions from the Russian youth participants here.

Visit the Russia country page on TIG.





Commit Application launches on Facebook

Commit Application launches on Facebook TakingITGlobal's Commit to a Better World section will now also be available on Facebook as an application! Once you get the application the commitments you support and create will be a part of your Facebook profile as well as your TIG Profile, and youth will also be able to create new commitments through Facebook. The Commit Facebook Application is a way for TakingITGlobal to reach out to the Facebook community and spread the vision behind the Commit to a Better World section. Effectively tapping into the collective resources, experiences and ideas of the largest online community of engaged youth in the world and translating this collective dedication to action into Commitments that each one of us can make to a better world. Each commitment you make does not merely represent your own individual action, but all the actions of those who inspired you to make a commitment to a better world and those who will be inspired by you.

Add the Application on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=8214876170

A Discussion of Genocide Education and Prevention

On April 11, 2008 Be The Change will host a discussion between Arn Chorn Pond, a survivor of the Cambodian genocide who has devoted his life to peace education. The event will be recorded and made available on the TakingITGlobal site as a podcast on Monday April 28th on the event page.

Remember to bookmark this event page in order to check back for the finished podcast at the end of April! You can also be a part of the dicussion that will be taking place on April 11th by participating in this discussion thread.



'1001 Actions for Dialogue'

1001 Actions for Diagloue 1001 Actions is a major campaign initiated by the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation and its network of over one thousand civil society organizations, for the mobilization of people and actions dedicated to the promotion of mutual knowledge and respect in the region. Throughout 2008 actions for dialogue will take place across the Euro-Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Portugal to Lebanon and Turkey, from Latvia and Poland to Greece and Egypt. Actions will be diverse in terms of size and thematic but will all focus on promoting knowledge of the other. The key event of the campaign will be the Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue Night on 22 May 2008. The event, which will be held in synchronization in thirty-seven countries, will be an opportunity for people of the Euro-Med region to unite in one common voice for dialogue.

Learn more about '1001 Actions' here:
http://orgs.tigweb.org/30103

Visit the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation page:
http://orgs.tigweb.org/12203



Important Days this Month

Important Days this Month World Health Day on April 7th celebrates the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) and is a day dedicated to raising awareness around health-related issues.

Learn more: http://days.tigweb.org/23

April 22nd is Earth Day, it began in 1970 as part of a grassroots campaign to promote the environment as an important issue to be put on the national agenda in the United States. It has since expanded into an internationally recognized day celebrated by environmental activists and their supporters all over the world!

Learn more about Earth Day: http://days.tigweb.org/49

Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is April 25-27, 2008 and is an international celebration of youth volunteers! GYSD aims to promote youth participation, educate the general public on youth contributions, mobilize more youth and adults to volunteer in their communities, and share learning experiences on youth engagement and volunteerism.

Are you holding or attending a GYSD event in your community? Don't forget to add it to TakingITGlobal's event database:
https://www.tigweb.org/resources/events/



The TIG Widget!

The TIG Widget Have you been using the new TIG Widget? The TIG Widget is the small grey box next to all content on TakingITGlobal that allows you to 'Rate', 'Bookmark', 'Send to a Friend' or 'Report'. 'Rate', 'Bookmark' and 'Send to a Friend' are all ways to give content on TIG that you like positive reviews! Using these buttons will make that content more 'popular' and will give it more prominence on the site! For example, soon each site section homepage will show a list of the most 'popular' events, Panorama articles, TIGblogs, etc, and these will be determined by the amount of times that content has been rated, marked as a favourite or sent to a friend, by YOU! Any time you use the 'Bookmark' button a link will be stored in the 'Bookmarks' section of My TIG, making it easy for you to go back to it later. The 'Report' button should only be used to report content you think is inappropriate or offensive in some way. Remember each time you come across awesome content on TIG be sure to rate it, favourite it or share it with a friend!

To learn more about some other cool new features on TakingITGlobal, check out the Site News TIGblog:
http://www.tigblog.org/group/tignews/post/327287



Wrap Up

Your interest, support and involvement with TakingITGlobal helps our community to grow and encourages more young people to become inspired, informed and involved everyday! In being a member of TakingITGlobal, you are part of a community that is 180,000 strong coming from over 250 countries and territories. Thank you for having a vision of positive change. Your work makes a difference!

In friendship,

The TakingITGlobal Team



Copyright 2008 TakingITGlobal

The TakingITGlobal Dispatch is the official newsletter of TakingITGlobal, electronically published via email, and compiled from various events and news from within the TakingITGlobal network. Contributions should be sent to dispatch@takingitglobal.org. Please include your full name, age, and your TIG username.